By Stephen Craker – Chief Executive, Communities 1st As the world comes together to observe International Youth Day, the spotlight is cast on the profound significance of engaging young individuals in shaping a brighter future. This day serves as a call to recognise and address the unique challenges and opportunities faced by young people. […]
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6 things you need to know about small charities
At the start of Small Charity Week, Jon Dean provides an overview of key pieces of research outlining the value small charities and key issues affecting them. As Small Charity Week starts, it is important to think about the specific contribution that small charities make to communities throughout the UK and across the world. Small […]
Colin Rochester 1942-2023
Obituary of Colin Rochester, 1942 – 2023 It is with great sadness that we are informing you of the news that our friend and colleague Colin Rochester died on 16 February 2023. Colin was an academic, teacher, practitioner, mentor, colleague, editor, author and thought leader with an independent and sharp mind. He helped establish and […]
Details of the VSSN autumn seminar: Women and girls, feminism, and the voluntary sector
A Voluntary Sector Studies Network day event Tuesday 8th November 2022 | 10am – 3pm | Hosted on Zoom and recorded | Free The women’s voluntary sector is operating in a context of both increased difficulty and opportunity. Research points to the gendered impact of significant events such as austerity and Covid-19 (Fawcett […]
Event report: Learning from Failure – Airing our Dirty Laundry
Failure is an inevitable aspect of human experience, but in a social environment that demands success, it tends to be swept under the carpet and forgotten, along with the opportunity to learn from our mistakes. Is it possible to create a space where we can openly share stories of our failures and what we have […]
Voluntary sector data gap to be plugged by new national observatory
By Daniel King Data poverty has been widely identified as a core weakness for the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector. Whilst there is good work going on, ultimately data is disjointed, fragmented and sporadic. This has key implications, where it is argued that “the low quality of data on the sector is hampering […]
Learning experiences of doing small grant events during Covid, by Philippa Davies
I am a PhD researcher at Cardiff University and WISERD and I was lucky to receive a VSSN development grant in 2020. I applied for the grant to disseminate the findings of my study to the policy sector which was the focus of my study; women leaders’ experience in Welsh sport. My results included women […]
Blog: Tot Fosters blog on small charities using video
Telling stories about impact, talking to supporters, reaching out, collaborating with service users….video can do so much for small charities. And in these strange times anything that can help with online communications has got to be good. But there’s a problem – not many small charities are making the most of video. It’s seen as […]
Place Leadership Revisited – Phil Barton
Partnerships in Environmental Regeneration in North West England 1980 – 2010: a Practitioner Perspective There is no longer any doubt that we are facing climate and ecological catastrophe if we fail to change our ways – and quickly. Scientists are agreed – from IPBES to IPCC , from Sir David Attenborough to Sir David King […]
Low-Budget Video Production: Visual Communication for Small Charities
Tot Foster In 2020, Tot Foster was awarded a VSSN Development Opportunity Grant to fund a workshop for charity staff on how to produce videos on a small budget. Here she reflects on the process and sets out how all charities can make use of video, including her new online course. Telling stories about impact, […]
