Umbrella groups need to improve their services so they reach out to minority groups, according to Kevin Curley, chief executive of the National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service (NACVS).

Speaking at last night’s Charity Fair debate, organised by the Directory of Social Change, he said: “We know BME groups have less access to funding than white groups, that there are not enough BME chief executives and that there is a growing demonisation of gypsies and asylum seekers. This all demands that umbrella bodies improve their services and become more inclusive to provide support to these groups where wanted and where needed.”

The debate aimed to establish whether umbrella organisations are “truly inclusive or ultimately exclusive”, and included on the panel Ben Kernighan, director of services and development at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), Stephen Bubb, chief executive of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) and Ben Hughes, chief executive of the British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres (BASSAC).

NCVO’s Kernighan proposed a series of tests which could be used to ascertain if an umbrella body is inclusive, which included looking to see if its policy and strategy are devised following consultation of its members, considering if membership costs are reasonable to charities of all sizes and to see if it recognises that it cannot by itself be truly inclusive and so works with others to improve this.

On behalf of ACEVO, Bubb defended umbrella groups, saying that although they are exclusive membership bodies, the fruits of their labour go much wider and reach a large proportion of the charity sector.