December 8, 2023

Our AGM and Conference took place on 29 November, at Kendal Rugby Club. Nearly 100 attendees gathered to hear about our activity during 2022-23 and to participate in our conference: Health of the Sector and Health in the Sector.

We were joined by guest speakers, whose expertise and presentations provided a fascinating and thought-provoking insight into the state of the third sector in Cumbria and how that relates to the current health provision in the county.

There was also an opportunity for networking, and representatives from local organisations were on hand to engage with guests before the event, during breaks and at lunch.

The morning began with our AGM and a welcome and introduction from Chief Executive, David Allen, who provided an overview of CCVS’ activity during the 2022-23 financial year (which you can read more about in our Annual Review). A financial update from Treasurer, Charles Watt, and a report from the Chair of the HR Committee, Kim Ward, followed. An overview of Trustee appointments and departures was provided, including the handover from retiring Chair, Mike Taylor, to his successor, Sheila Gregory, which you can read more about here.

After a short break, our Conference was opened by Alex Scott, HM Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria, who explained his role and discussed the concept of being a ‘good citizen’, and supporting a thriving third sector. Despite the huge challenges ahead, the Lord Lieutenant highlighted that volunteers and voluntary organisations will help to tackle these, maintaining and improving the health of people.

Professor Tony Chapman, Director of Research, Policy and Practice, St Chads College, Durham University then analysed How the VCSE sector contributes to local health and social wellbeing in Cumbria, looking at recent findings from Third Sector Trends.

With 2,500 VCSE organisation and a sector income of around £508m, Tony spoke of the 52,000 regular volunteers as “the people you can rely on”, despite a small drop in numbers. Whilst Covid-era volunteers have been hard to retain, 26% of the sector is directly involved in health and wellbeing, 27% personal and social wellbeing, and 30% community wellbeing.

Challenges include uneven provision, with more VCSE organisations catering to the needs of the county’s more affluent population, than those in more deprived communities and households.

However, Tony said that the sector is strong and works well together, and the opportunities available through ensuring Public Health strategy accommodates both contractual and complementary styles of working with the VCFE sector.

A question from the audience asked if it a good thing that the voluntary sector campaigns about low pay and contracts. In response, Tony highlighted that the government has been challenging the sector to stay out of campaigning, but that we “shouldn’t give a damn”, with research showing that organisations involved in areas such as mental health and social isolation campaign simply by doing what they do. He concluded that “We have a cumulative effect on social attitudes just by existing”, and encouraged the sector not to be over-cautious.

Ed Tallis, Director of Place – North Cumbria, North-East and North Cumbria ICB was the next speaker, discussing VCFSE collaboration, progress so far and a look to the future.

Ed helped the audience understand the complexities of health provision, highlighting that NENC ICB is huge, covering three million people and utilising £6billion. He said that as a big employer, the ICB should be an “anchor” organisation, working with partners and purchasing locally.

He spoke of the social determinants that affect people before they access the health service, and the need to invest today for results we won’t see for years. Whilst the transfer of data between sectors is difficult, building relationships and understanding of issues will help achieve successful delivery.

Flagging that “we’ve got some amazing local services – we’re just not good at shouting about it”, Ed praised the good working relationships with CCVS and the sector, concluding that whilst it isn’t perfect, we are working on it together.

He added that increasing demand, due to an ageing population, means existing facilities will not be sufficient. Ed stated that investing in up-front preventive activity is key – exploring intermediate care and how we can support people at home.

Jane Scattergood, Director, Health and Care Integration, Lancashire and South Cumbria ICS followed Ed, elaborating on the ICS’s mission to support and enable our communities to thrive, by working together with compassion, openness and respect, to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone in South Cumbria.

Jane then talked about addressing inequalities through priority wards, identifying unmet needs and Poverty Truth Commissions. Future plans will recognise and respect the important role of the VCFSE in improving the health and wellbeing of residents, ensure VCFSE partners are part of a collaborative approach to planning, decision-making and evaluation, and ensure local, meaningful implementation of the partnership agreement between the VCFSE and the ICB.

Highlighting her belief that the VCFSE offers highly valued and, in some cases, unique skills and expertise to support planning and delivery as an equal partner in South Cumbria, Jane explained that this can be achieved by engaging with residents, empowering communities, co-designing as partners and delivering as partners.

In conclusion, Jane said that we need to create a list of priorities together, get the right people in the room (those with lived experience, VCFSE organisations) have a conversation as a working group, and create a compelling case for investment.

Katrina Stephens, Director of Public Health, Westmorland and Furness Council completed the presentations from public sector speakers, discussing what opportunities exist following Local Government Reorganisation.

Highlighting that health and wellbeing is present in all the Council’s priorities, Katrina talked about the need to work together with the third sector to shape priorities, saying “working alongside and with communities, partnership is key – right thing, right place, right time”.

Katrina flagged that the conditions in which we are born, live work and grow are not equal across population, and the huge effect geography and rurality have on health and wellbeing. Stark statistics provided included that life expectancy is below the national average in Furness, but above in Eden and South Lakes. Men in the least deprived areas also live 16 years longer, whilst the number of years people live in poor health is increasing, especially in deprived areas.

In conclusion, Katrina said there is a huge opportunity to make an impact on health and health inequalities, and that developing a strategy will include the third sector. She suggested that “We need to bring our collective power together”, acknowledging that budget is a challenge, with the Local Authority’s being the seventh smallest in the country.

A third sector perspective on health in the county was then provided by Leigh Williams, Chief Executive of CADAS (Cumbria Addictions, Advice and Solutions).

Leigh shared her experiences of frontline delivery, including a packed diary, saying that she is invited to so many meetings she is forced to choose. Quoting the recent movie, she described the pulls on her time as “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once”.

Funding and time are key issues for Leigh and many organisations. There is a need to invest time in looking internally as well as externally, and “Growing to stand still” is necessary to simply provide staff wage increases.

Leigh also spoke of the struggle to meet Full Cost Recovery on projects, and how difficult it is to obtain funding for core and overhead costs. On a positive note, Leigh applauded third sector organisations for being creative at maximising their support, encouraged the sector to consider Social Funding, and explained how organisations are better if they have staff with lived experiences.

Our final speaker was Mike Taylor, in his role as Chair, Action for Health Network (part of Cumbria Third Sector Network).

Mike explained what the Network is and does, highlighting that the relationship with the NHS is too reactive, and that churn of NHS staff is a major concern. He also spoke of a power imbalance, and funding challenges, including that some are very short notice.

A Q&A session then gave the gathered audience the opportunity to ask speakers for their thoughts, before the event concluded with a networking lunch, providing a welcome opportunity for discussion and allowing participants to share issues, experiences and learning.

Huge thanks to all our guests and speakers for making our 2023 AGM and Conference such an interesting and thought-provoking event.

You can watch a video slideshow from our 2023 AGM & Conference below:

All photos by Tom Kay www.tomkayphotographic.com