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