Today’s announcement of core grant funding of £1.8m by the Department of Health to organisations in the Community and Voluntary sector underlines the stark mismatch between need and the available funding.
Of the 259 funding applications made, only 25 were successful. We congratulate those organisations who have been awarded funding (subject to final checks), however 90% of applicants to the scheme have been disappointed.
We see every day the resilience, optimism and innovation of Community & Voluntary Sector leaders as they pursue their mission to help those who need it most. Many work with marginalised and minority groups, improving health and quality of life outcomes.
These leaders have already faced down Covid, the end of EU funding, a cost-of-living crisis, rising costs and the upcoming increase in Employer National Insurance. This announcement has left many organisations traumatised and alarmed about where to go next. In CO3 we don’t have all the answers but we are available to listen, to support and to assist if we can as third sector groups deal with the fallout of this funding decision.
The Minister made clear that the applications received amply demonstrated the quality of work and expertise in the community & voluntary sector he praised the “capable, agile and vibrant” sector and expressed his regret that he cannot fund more organisations.
The sector provides vital support across Northern Ireland to some of our most vulnerable citizens, improving health outcomes and reducing health inequalities. Community and voluntary sector health and social care providers help to prevent further cost at a later stage, through reducing presentations at Emergency Departments and GP surgeries.
Despite this, and the recognition that Sector works “alongside statutory services to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland,” the work of the sector is not treated with parity.
The quantum of funding available for services directed to the VCSE sector is wholly inadequate.
This is simply not good enough.
We welcome a funding scheme open to the many, but it must be of sufficient scale to meet the actual needs we face as a region. Improving public health is a responsibility shared not just by the Department of Health but by all Executive Ministers and all elected representatives as well as wider society – it is shaped by social, economic and geographical factors.
We are calling on the First and deputy First Ministers and the Health Minister to lead an Executive wide discussion, urgently, on how to secure and direct sufficient funding for the Community & Voluntary Sector in Northern Ireland to continue to deliver services and support to those most vulnerable in our society. Any other approach represents a failure to meet public health need.
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