BIG SOCIETY and Voluntary organisations

We hear and read a lot about the Big Society and how it can help voluntary organisations. Well maybe, in theory, if the conditions were right, it might just be a good idea. After all it sounds good to get lots of people to give up some spare time to help charities and voluntary organisations achieve their worthwhile aims without them having to incur costs, does it not.

Only thing is that in an economic environment where jobs are at risk, family benefits are being cut back, inflation is rising, all adults are out working long hours (if they can find a job), and their own children’s needs are paramount when they get home in the evening and at weekends, who can find time to go that extra mile.

And yet in the times of greatest hardship during the great wars, and in the times of the depression in between, many of the charities and organisations which we rely on were founded, and founded by the very people whose needs were greatest- the friends and families of those in need.

Jumble sales, tea afternoons, sponsored walks, bring and buy sales, car washing, bob a job, all of these were the staple of charity fundraising. But the world has moved on. We are stuck behind computer screens and I-pods and other technical paraphernalia and live our materialistic lives forgetting about those less financially well endowed, or flop down on the settee when we get home, switch on the telly and doze off, when we could be helping those in need.

Cosgrove Care has over 100 people with varying degrees of learning difficulty, or autism, living in East Renfrewshire, whom we support, and we urgently need the help of friends and families, local businesses and residents, and those further afield, to enable us to maintain a high quality of service to those we provide for. Local Authorities who have been the major funders are having to cut back, many grant giving bodies are also having to cut back, and the number of wealthy backers, who used to support organisations such as us is diminishing rapidly and not being replaced by a new generation of generous givers. So it is up to us guys and gals, to make that extra effort, to join a committee, get sponsors for a walk, run or cycle, sell raffle tickets, or tickets to a dance, disco or Karaoke evening, in fact to do something original, or not original which will help improve the lives of others. And if fundraising is not your game, what about volunteering- to take an activity class, or befriend a service user and spend some time with them, or help our service users and other volunteers keep our front garden clean and tidy, or help develop our website, or even write a blog to help encourage others.

Whatever you think of the new Government in Westminster, or of that in Edinburgh, there is, after all, some sense in the concept of the Big Society, but it may need a kick start, if not from Governments-why not from you.

Harvey Livingston, Finance and Administration Manager

Hard Times Ahead

A few words from Walter Hecht, our Chief Executive.

I’m sure that people are sick of hearing me go on about the funding cuts soon to hit the charitable sector and our concerns as to how it will affect everyone connected to Cosgrove whether they are services users, families, staff or supporters.

Nonetheless I and my colleagues have to keep banging this drum because even though we haven’t yet been formally given hard evidence of the cuts and what it will mean to the provision of services, we’re only a few weeks away from hearing firm news from our public funders of their budgets cuts for future years. This will then make us better placed to assess the situation and plan realistically for what we can and can’t afford to provide and how we approach funding gaps.

Over the years we’ve prided ourselves on running a tight ship at Cosgrove and as things currently stand we’re in a financially solid position but today isn’t the problem, it’s the prospect of having to cut services in future unless we somehow replace the lost income and that simply has to come from more aggressive and creative fundraising particularly with the help of our families.

We do appreciate that our families have a lot to contend with already, but despite that many of them have come forward and offered to help in whatever way they can as they come to realise what it would mean to their lives if key services were cut.

We must somehow get the other families on board and make them realise that they can’t simply wait to see what happens or expect others to solve the problems because that isn’t fair and it won’t be enough. We have bolstered our fundraising resource by adding to our employed staff particularly a Community Fundraising Officer to raise our profile and gain financial support locally.

Just as importantly we have recruited a Volunteer Coordinator on a voluntary basis himself to identify key volunteers to support the work of the organisation in various areas particularly fundraising, IT and PR and ease the mounting pressure on our staff as we get more involved in a variety of fundraising events. We are in the throes of professionalising our procedures and communications to ensure we’re as well placed as we can be to face the challenges but the bottom line is we need our families to step up.