COMMUNITY GIVING TAKEN FOR GRANTED

11-09-2006

News that a disability campaigning groupwas being given the cold shoulder by the Birmingham Council comes as no surprise to Peter Millington. He's seen first hand that it's just the tip of the iceberg...

I was very interested to read the short article about Birmingham Coalition of Disabled People and theresponse from Birmingham City Council

Having been made redundant by another disability organisation in crisis earlier this year, this one a regional group called Disability West Midlands which had been around for 28 years, I am intimately acquainted with just how seriously our statutory authorities take their responsibility for supporting the community and voluntary sector

The Birmingham Coalition and DWM aren't the only local organisations that have gone under in recent months, other groups in our region include West Midlands Disability Arts Forum and Shropshire Disability Consortium, both gone virtually overnight after years of service to disabled people

The crisis is so acute that the Disability Rights Commission itself has raised concerns with government, especially about the demise of user led groups

But if anyone is thinking that the common thread is ‘disability', well that's not entirely true either, just months before Disability West Midlands went into administration, the warning bell tolled when the West Midlands Low Pay Unit felt forced out of existence, affecting thousands of people on low income who are now left without expert representation

I won't name them here, but during the time that DWM were in administration I spoke to dozens of officers and even chief executives of both small and large charities in our region who are struggling financially

These are established and respected names, the people we admire and trust because we know that they work tirelessly on behalf of those in our community who are disempowered, disadvantaged, isolated or in need

About three years ago the Government published a paper called The Cross Cutting Review of the Community and Voluntary Sector

The review recognised the vital role played by the voluntary and community sector, not just in social terms but economic. The Government called on statutory authorities in particular not just to support this invaluable ‘third' sector, but to work with it strategically through service contracts and grants

People unfamiliar with just how big and vital the community sector is may well raise their eyebrows at this elevated claim, how can the little old dear behind the till in the local charity shop be of equal value to the factory worker making car components, the teacher, the nurse or the business executive?

My response is to look at what happened in New Orleans last year, for weeks after the levy burst its banks there was near-anarchy…

Folk were stranded on their roofs, the wealthy fled the scene before the storm arrived, the world's most powerful government was inept in the face of disaster, local police were joining in the looting, health and welfare services looked on helplessly

So who was left to help? The community and voluntary sector sprang into action, self help groups and charities and community organisations and everyday common people started wading across croc infested streets to rescue old people and take food and medicine to their stranded neighbours, etc

You see, it's what us human beings have always done, we're highly advanced community living primates, it's in our genes

Long before the industrial revolution conned us all into believing that society will collapse without town halls and widget making machines people used to do things for one another more or less unconditionally

Profit is the curse of the rich man

Community and voluntary work is still all around us in many different guises and small groups will continue to be there as long as there is human society

The big national charities continue to grow in size and power because they have the resources to hire fund raisers and consultants and marketing people and financial whiz-kids, etc.

The problem is for the medium sized groups, these are the groups that started off small but then became more organised, employed people and broadened their remits, in their attempts to become professional these groups were expected to meet all the regulatory requirements but without the funding for infrastructure

Jump through all these hoops and they'll give you some crumbs

These are the groups that will continue to go under, these are the groups that governments and local authorities continue to ignore

These are also the groups from which an army of consultants have emerged wearing the clothes of the sector… the consultants that the local authorities are currently throwing their money at instead of the sector itself

But how long will it be before those authorities ask just who the consultants speak on behalf of these days?

“Well these people of course…” they will exclaim, turning to point at the void “Heck, where have they all gone?”

In my opinion, community and voluntary sector organisations do still have a role in representing ordinary people, creating innovation, being an independent watch-dog on those with power and money

…but perhaps that's what they're most afraid of? No one likes a dog that bites the hand that feeds it.