A look back at 2020
In 2020 Sector3 launched in Stockport, on a mission to provide infrastructure support to the third sector, working with individuals through to large charities.
It was a year that will quite possibly go down in history as the worst year to date, let alone to launch any kind of new service in Stockport, or was it?
As the VCFSE spun into action, often the first responders to this global pandemic, it became evident that the third sector was and still is, to quote the pivotal campaign, #nevermoreneeded.
Throughout 2020 we worked with Stockport’s third sector community to establish how we could best support them during this turbulent time. Through our online forums, events and 1-2-1's the sector told us what was needed and we rose to the challenge.
VCFSE’s expressed a need for a ‘one stop shop’ providing accurate but simple information, advice and guidance in light of the ever-changing operating environment due to Covid.
Taking this on board we launched a new website, sharing accessible resources such as up to date funding news, learning & events and toolkits, whilst using a proactive approach on Twitter to disseminate information across the sector. Plus, a fortnightly bulletin containing the latest Covid updates, funding and learning opportunities condensed into a simple bite-sized format delivered straight to inboxes.
The financial environment was, and remains, challenging for many VCFSE’s. The October 2020 report Respond, recover, reset: the voluntary sector and COVID-19 revealed that 39% of the organisations surveyed reported that their financial position had deteriorated, 39% had stayed the same, however 56% were expecting demand for their services to increase over the next month; demonstrating the need for more funding options and sharper income strategy development to meet demand.
We organised five funding workshops offering VCFSE’s the knowledge and advice to help foster financial resilience as well as offering 1-2-1 support with funding bids – from which successful bids resulted in £100k income secured for the sector.
To inject much needed funding into the sector we launched the #keepstockportcaring fundraising campaign, which raised nearly £45,000 for local VCFSEs. From this, we were able to distribute grants to 48 VCFSE’s via a quick and easy grant process plus the development of online Community Soup events, whilst offering the sector the opportunity to participate in commissioning decisions (the soup also served as a pick me up upon hearing the tremendous work of social action projects in the borough). To help combat the increasing food poverty situation in Stockport we managed funding pots for GMCA with £15,000 invested in VCFSE’s working on food related projects.
The sector identified a need for increased partnership between the public, private and third sector including mentoring, networking and sharing resources. Our partnership with Stockport County FC’s brilliantly executed Food for Christmas campaign raised nearly £208,000 to support early years children, school aged children and young people of 16+.
With delivery moving from venue based services to outreach support the demand for volunteers rose. With no existing borough wide volunteer infrastructure in place and an increase in willing and available volunteers we joined forces with Healthwatch and SMBC to deliver a temporary volunteer hub, a resource that we understand the sector would like to continue long-term.
Through our conversations with the sector it became clear there is still a need for free, accessible infrastructure support services in Stockport, in particular, support that is tailored to meet the needs of all types of organisations ranging from size and age. The sector does not benefit from a one size fits all approach. Some organisations needed more help in determining their support needs so we designed and delivered a diagnostic tool to help them pinpoint what they needed.
With the diverse array of experience and resources available across the sector, a peer network was identified as an important element of infrastructure support. To instigate this we set up a fortnightly informal online forum for VCFSE’s to meet others in the sector, get advice and share concerns. In addition, the weekly cross-sector forums enabled VCFSE’s to obtain crucial updates from SMBC such as Covid guidelines and tools for support.
We are continually evolving and adding to our service delivery to support the third sector in Stockport. 2020 was a beyond challenging year but we made it through the other side. We learnt that by pulling together we can have an even greater impact on our communities.
Looking to 2021 our focus is to continue developing a supportive network for VCFSE’s in Stockport, and to join the dots between sectors; fostering resilience and unlocking opportunities for growth through the storm.
