In January 2011, Voluntary Sector North West responded to the consultation paper Supporting a Stronger Civil Society under the expectation that this would be the starting point for how Office for Civil Society was going to develop its’ strategy for working with VCS infrastructure in the future.  Knowing that the money available would be significantly less, we know how important it is to get the strategy right. Read more »

I can’t remember when the term “third sector” first came into being – probably long ago.  Even before we used this label, it did of course exist. Charities and the concept of charitable giving have existed for many hundreds of years.

For this reason, it’s very difficult to imagine what society would look like in the UK if charities simply did not exist. Would the responsibility of looking after the needs of 60 million people in our country fall solely on government? Taxation would be unimaginably higher for corporations and individuals, and the government machine would need to be substantially larger to take on the incredible range and depth of responsibilities the third sector currently carries. Read more »