Commissioned by the New Anglia LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership), ‘A Study into the State of the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector in Norfolk and Suffolk‘ has recently been published by Big Society Funding CIC (September 2015).
The report aims to give a better insight into the current significant contribution the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector makes to the economies throughout Norfolk and Suffolk.
The Report comments that given the challenges presented, the sector has fared remarkably well and remains resilient. Sector leaders display a tangible sense of foreboding about on-going austerity yet believe they have clear and positive messages to communicate about their success and achievements.
Moving forward, they are keen to share the wealth of their knowledge with the New Anglia LEP; this extends to how they can make a real difference to achieving skills and employment outcomes for those furthest from the labour market, contribute to the Green Economy and build even further on the locality’s extensive cultural and heritage offer.
The sector is solutions-focused and desirous of an increased role in the co-design and co-production of services locally – they are experienced practitioners in how to reduce demand through early intervention and preventative actions and feel confident that, given opportunity, they can succeed in delivering significant impact for the New Anglia LEP area.
Effective engagement with the priorities of the public sector, and careful strategic alignment with relevant funding opportunities will be key to achieving this goal, along with strategically driven partnership working both within the Sector and with other organisations. To remain resilient, the Sector will also need to continue to seek ways to diversify income.