NAVCA has published a report that for the first time collates local state of the sector reports produced by NAVCA members to provide an overview of the impact of cuts on local charities and community groups.

The report also includes the findings of a NAVCA members’ survey, carried out in May this year, showing how cuts are also affecting the support available to local charities.

The report establishes several key trends emerging from local surveys of the sector conducted by NAVCA members:

The majority of local charities and community groups have suffered cuts, although some areas are suffering more than others.

Local charities and community groups are facing increased demand for their services and a significant proportion say they are unable to meet these demands.

Children and young people’s organisations are consistently reported as being particularly affected by cuts in funding. In many areas, organisations that work with the most deprived communities have also faced significant cuts or are likely to do so in the near future.

The report also includes findings from the survey of NAVCA members themselves. This survey shows:

Total income of NAVCA members is down by 19% between 2011 and 2012.

40% of NAVCA members have made or are making redundancies.

There is an increased involvement of volunteers, partly to make up for lost capacity but partly because NAVCA members are restructuring the way they work.

NAVCA Members are making considerable efforts to maintain services by exploring the possibility of new sources of funding, restructuring, merging, forming partnerships or adapting services.

Joe Irvin, chief executive of NAVCA, said: “This is the first time we have conducted an analysis of local state of the sector surveys and it is something we intend to develop. Although most of the information was previously available, by bringing it together we can get a clearer picture and stronger evidence of the impact of cuts.”

“As the Olympics showed, people’s voluntary action is a powerful force for good. But support, organisation and resources are needed to make voluntary and community action effective.

“The report shows how important it is to have organisations that know what is happening in their area, in a way only NAVCA members do.

"Through this work they have been able to show that local charities and community groups are suffering from disproportionate cuts. NAVCA will be using this information to continue our work with government and funders to make the case for supporting local voluntary and community action.”

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