National Council for Voluntary Organisations

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The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England. NCVO works to support the voluntary and community sector and to create an environment in which civil society can flourish.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Edward Vivian Birchall and the founding of the NCSS

NCVO was originally established in 1919 as the National Council of Social Services (NCSS). Edward Vivian Birchall, who had played a large part in founding the National Association of Guilds of Help, died aged 32 in France during the First World War. Before his death he wrote a note (which is preserved in the Imperial War Museum) to his friend S. P. Grundy, which read:

"If I am scuppered I'm leaving you £1,000 to do some of the things we talked about"

The legacy sustained NCSS in its first precarious year of existence; Grundy went on to become the first honorary secretary to NCSS.

The first definitive step in turning the idea of a national council of social service into a fact was a letter of March 1919 addressed to lord mayors, mayors and chairmen of local authorities sent out from the Local Government Board and signed by Aubrey Simmons, secretary to the board and first chairman of NCSS. This set out the aims of a future national council of social service, together with the names of members and bodies giving their support.

The idea of NCSS was a simple one - that the rich and varied pattern of voluntary societies was worth preserving; but that agencies should come together into an overall council to prevent overlap. A preliminary memorandum reviewed briefly the council's objectives as:

  • to promote the systematic organisation of voluntary social work, nationally and locally
  • to assist in the formation in each local government area representations of both voluntary effort and statutory administration
  • to provide information for voluntary social workers

Captain Lionel Ellis was the one paid officer of NCSS in 1919. Professor W G S Adams took over from Aubrey Simmons as chairman, serving NCSS for 30 years.

[edit] The 1920s to the 1940s

By 1924 NCSS could claim to be soundly established and on 14 May 1928 NCSS gained charitable status in the High Court.

[edit] Rural Work

The founding committee of NCSS shared a deep concern for the social and economic welfare of the countryside. In the early 1920s the aim was that a village hall should be provided as a meeting place in every village and that social, economic and community life should be encouraged.

In the early 1920s, the government endorsed the principle that there should be a rural county council in every county. Grace Hadow became part-time organiser and it was largely due to her pioneering work that the government became aware of the nature of the problems in rural areas.

With the support of NCSS at the centre, the rural community councils were able to support a wide range of services including citizens advice bureaux and marriage guidance councils, and adopt a supportive role to elderly people and people with disabilities. They also provided the secretariat for branches of the National Playing Fields Association and the Council for the Preservation of Rural England, acting as a forum for discussion and co-operation between voluntary organisations and local authorities.

[edit] Village halls

In 1924 NCSS approached the Development Commission and Carnegie UK Trust to enquire whether they would be prepared to give financial aid to villages in need of a hall. By 1928, 20 new village halls had been built with loans. There were no defaulters. In 1944 a grant-aid war scheme administered by NCSS was established for building schemes.

[edit] National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs

The Ministry of Agriculture asked NCSS to join them as partners in developing [National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs|Young Farmers' Clubs]]. In 1929 a national association was set up and in 1931 it achieved full independence.

[edit] National Association of Parish Councils

NCSS provided a parish advisory service to support parish councils. As work in NCSS's rural department increased, it became clear that a national association was needed and in 1946 the National Association of Parish Councils was established, achieving independence in 1951. Three other organisations owed their origins to NCSS's early rural work - the Central Council for Amateur Theatre (1945), the Amateur Music Association (1946), and the British Association for Local History (1948).

[edit] Councils of Social Service

Sir Wyndham Deedes, assistant secretary to NCSS, in December 1929 carried out a survey of 25 local Councils of Social Service. In the course of his survey, Sir Wyndham visited the new housing estates and noted that there was little civic or social life. His recommendation was that locally, and centrally at NCSS, research or intelligence departments should be set up. Evidence of rural and urban problems resulted in the setting up of a joint New Estates Community Committee under the chairmanship of Sir Ernest Barker.

[edit] The Youth Hostels Association

In 1930 NCSS was asked to convene a conference of organisations to discuss establishing holiday hostels for young walkers and cyclists. The interest was so great and the contributions so generous that the Youth Hostels Association was able to begin work immediately as a fully independent national organisation.

[edit] Unemployment

The winter of 1928 brought unemployment distress to the coalfields and the NCSS called the principal agencies together. Some 5,000 volunteers worked on 500 local committees and nearly £1,000,000 was distributed. By September 1931 unemployment numbered 2,804,000. This was a challenge NCSS felt bound to tackle. The government placed funds at its disposal and in 1932 a large meeting was held in the Royal Albert Hall to attempt to solve some of the problems created by unemployment.

HRH the Prince of Wales, patron of NCSS from 1927, now called upon the whole country to accept the challenge of unemployment as a national opportunity for voluntary social service. Offers of help poured into NCSS's offices and, by the autumn, 700 schemes for voluntary social service were in operation. By the following year 2,300 centres had opened, catering for the 1.25 million unemployed: all owed their existence to local initiative. With the help of NCSS, 19 regional organisations were set up to cover the major industrial areas.

[edit] National Old People's Welfare Committee

The National Assistance Board became aware of the problems of elderly people and turned for help to NCSS. A small group chaired by Eleanor Rathbone came together in the basement kitchen of 26 Bedford Square, in the middle of an air raid in 1940 to make tentative plans for an Old People's Welfare Committee. This was established later that year, in 1944 becoming the National Old People's Welfare Committee, and initially represented 18 voluntary organisations as well as government departments concerned with the welfare of elderly people.

[edit] Country workshops

As far back as 1920, NCSS had shown concern for the economic prosperity of the countryside. In 1940 discussions with government departments took place which resulted in interest-free loans to equip country workshops with modern machinery. NCSS was responsible for administration through the rural community councils.

[edit] Citizens Advice Bureaux

From 1938 it seemed clear that if war came, civilians would need to be guided through a labyrinth of restrictions, provisions and personal problems. Discussions initiated in 1938/39 by NCSS resulted in a national plan for the establishment nationwide of local centres of free and unbiased advice and information. Accurate and up-to-date information would be supplied from the centre. Of the 10,000 men and women who worked in CABx at the height of the Second World War, 99% were part-time volunteers. The contribution of the bureaux to the maintenance of civilian morale throughout the war was incalculable.

A two-way traffic was started between the government and the CABx service to enable the government to have a measure of the problems and anxieties uppermost in people's minds. Finance was initially provided by NCSS until 1940, when the Ministry of Health made a retrospective grant of £6,549. Citizens Advice Notes were established in 1939, providing easy-to-read digests of social legislation. The decision of the government in the early 1940s to halve and then discontinue CABx grant was a grave blow. Members of all political parties paid a remarkable tribute in the House of Commons, strongly urging continued support.

The decision of the first national conference of Citizens Advice Bureaux in 1945 that a service originally set up to meet the emergencies of war would be all the more needed to meet the problems of peace was quickly justified. In the first year of the welfare state, the total number of enquiries dealt with rose to over 1.5 million.

[edit] The Post-War Period and the Welfare State

At the end of the Second World War, the advent of a Labour government convinced many people that the welfare state would make voluntary organisations unnecessary: others thought a conflict between statutory and voluntary agencies was inevitable. But NCSS believed that considerations of public finance would limit the area of state action, and that there would always be new ground to till. Additionally, it believed there was certain work where citizens could best provide for themselves in free associations.

In 1945, in support of a continuance of central government grants on a higher scale, NCSS prepared a summary of its past 30 years. This included:

  • the provision of the administrative framework for the development of rural industries and for the provision or maintenance of 775 village halls
  • the building up of the National Association of Parish Councils
  • a tribute from the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs for NCSS's work in the early days of that movement
  • a notable contribution to the growth and quality of village music, drama and the study of local history
  • contributions to the preservation of the countryside
  • contributions to the provision of playing fields
  • contributions in the development of the health service
  • contributions towards village produce societies.

But, the council emphasised, the work was still in its early stages. Only about two-thirds of the counties in England and Wales had rural community councils (RCCs) or their equivalents. For every village hall there were three more needed.

[edit] Social Welfare

The Central Churches Group brought together representatives of the main Protestant denominations, together with the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish community, to consider with representatives on NCSS the unique contribution Churches could make to the problems of social welfare and the common life of the community. The Archbishop of Canterbury was the first chairman of the group.

During 1948 much time was spent considering from the standpoint of the Church the needs of men and women returning from the forces or factories, and the social needs of the projected new towns.

The pre-war experience of NCSS in promoting community centres and associations on new housing estates was now related to the problem of post-war reconstruction of bombed cities. An NCSS report The Size and Social Structure of a Town was to exercise an important formative influence on post-war town planning. It reinforced the views of town planners who believed the ideal population for a town was about 50,000, divided into neighbourhoods of some 10,000 each.

[edit] National Federation of Community Organisations

Founded in 1945, the National Federation of Community Organisations was soon in touch with nearly 1,000 schemes for community centres. The term 'community centre', previously almost unknown, became a household phrase. NCSS saw that many social problems were associated with new housing estates which had no provision for social life or leisure time.

[edit] National Association of Women's Clubs

The club movement had been established in the 1930s during the depression. It grew out of the difficult period between the wars and used housewives' experience as a springboard for action on a local scale. With the outbreak of war, women had become a focus of community activity, and in 1942 the Standing Committee of Women's Social Services was set up, with NCSS providing accommodation and the secretariat. The National Association of Women's Clubs was formally established in 1950.

[edit] Women's Group on Public Welfare

One of the most active groups in the post-war period, the group's most far-reaching work was the publication of the report, The Neglected Child and His Family[1] in 1946 which eventually led to the establishment of an entirely new child care service, under the Children Act 1948.

[edit] Rural Policy

The first essential was to get the rural community councils into full working order after the inevitable dislocation caused by the war. The Development Commissioners responded encouragingly to NCSS's recommendation to the Treasury that substantial grants from central government should be made to established rural community councils.

Since 1940 NCSS had administered, on behalf of the Development Commission, £17,000 for loans to help rural craftsmen to buy new, up-to-date equipment. In 1946 the Commissioners put an initial sum of £50,000 at the disposal of NCSS to provide loans for this purpose.

[edit] World Assembly of Youth

NCSS was asked to take the initiative in convening an international assembly where work with young people could be discussed. In 1948 delegations from 25 countries, 16 observers from international movements and United Nations agencies attended a conference. The outcome was to establish a widely representative international youth assembly for which NCSS would provide the secretariat. The World Assembly of Youth was thus set up and a British National Committee formed, which became independent in 1951.

[edit] Refugees

With the end of the activities of the International Refugee Organisation, the Foreign Office and relief voluntary organisations asked to see what could be done to set up an organisation which would care for displaced persons. The principal voluntary bodies concerned agreed to establish a British Council for Aid to Refugees in the early 1950s.

[edit] The 1950s

A major enquiry which NCSS promoted in 1950 into voluntary service and the hospitals was vital to the future of voluntary work. Much of NCSS's work at this time was directed to an evaluation of the changes in the social structure brought by new legislation. A report, Voluntary Service and the State: a Study of the Needs of the Hospital Service, published in 1952, concluded:

"we believe then that the voluntary spirit that inspires true voluntary service is something that is of the essence of greatness in man, and that a nation that fails to make use of this gift can never be a great nation."

On behalf of the government, it was proposed to establish a committee to enquire into the law relating to charitable trusts in England and Wales. This was set up in 1950 under the chairmanship of Lord Nathan and produced a report, Charitable Trusts.

In 1955 a white paper was issued setting out the government's policy on problems considered by the Nathan Committee, and in 1960 the Charities Act became law.

In 1958 the government set up the Pritchard Committee to advise on a permanent policy for the rating of charitable properties. NCSS consulted with a wide variety of organisations in order to obtain a broad consensus of opinion to put before the committee. NCSS's main point was that, as the work of these bodies was for the benefit of the community, they were justified in seeking rating relief; these principles were embodied in the Rating and Valuation Act 1961.

[edit] New towns

At the end of the 1950s, the growth of new towns and city redevelopment areas created the need for a full-scale study. The report New Communities in Britain: Achievements and Problems set out a blueprint for the future. Its main conclusion was that the essential aim should be a balanced community, with the optimum degree of self-containment. There should be a partnership between the statutory and voluntary bodies in giving a lead in the formation of social groups. It was important to advise voluntary leaders, and provide suitable meeting places so that the new community might have the encouragement to plan and enjoy its own new social life.

[edit] National Old People's Welfare Committee

During the 1950s the NOPWC increased the number of clubs to 3,600. In 1956 it became the National Old People's Welfare Council. During the mid-1950s the NOPWC had become acutely aware that much of the distress and loneliness of old age came less from infirmity, isolation or poverty than from lack of forethought in preparing for the future. A study group was set up in 1955 to explore the problems of elderly people caused by lack of preparation for retirement. This eventually became the Pre-Retirement Association.

[edit] The 1960s

In August 1961 the first seminar on community work was held by NCSS. This represented pioneering work in Great Britain in the study of practical experiments in the community organisation field. The starting point was the experience of the work of the 150 councils of social service. The term 'community organisation' described the method of work by which the social problems of a whole community could be studied and assessed, and suitable community action taken as a consequence. One of the objects of the seminar was to learn what attempts had been made to bridge the divisions and gaps between social groups. Community Organisation: an Introduction (1962) was the published report of the seminar.

[edit] Charities Act 1960

The Charities Act 1960 reconstituted the Charity Commission, which sought NCSS's help in the collection of basic details about the number, type and distribution of charities. This registration involved NCSS's legal department in a considerable increase in its advisory work, since many organisations had unsuitable constitutions or none at all.

[edit] Social sciences

In 1963 the government set up a committee with Lord Heyworth, president of NCSS, as chairman, to look into research into the social sciences. NCSS drew attention to the fact that it had sponsored, or was engaged in, seven major projects in the past six years for which it had secured financial aid of more than £60,000, but that lack of resources had limited work in this field. It pleaded that a Social Science Research Council should be set up. This was accepted by the government.

[edit] The National Bureau for Co-operation in Child Care

At the end of the 1950s leaders in services for children asked NCSS to consider how to improve communication between the multiplicity of services involved. Following a 1960 conference, a representative committee was set up under the chairmanship of Sir John Wolfenden, and in 1963 the National Bureau for Cooperation in Child Carewas founded.

[edit] Social work

In 1962 NCSS launched a major survey to ascertain the numbers and types of staff likely to be needed in social services, the qualifications necessary and the required training. A report, Caring for People[2] was published in 1967 and the Social Work Advisory Service was established in the same year.

[edit] Social service overseas

Social service overseas was the theme of NCSS's annual meeting in 1960. Discussions served to highlight the urgency of providing help and guidance immediately, especially for the many Commonwealth countries reaching independence. As a consequence, early in 1962, a Standing Conference of Voluntary Organisations Co-operating in Overseas Social Service was formed for which NCSS undertook to provide the secretariat. The British Volunteer Programme, again serviced by NCSS, was closely associated.

[edit] Community Care

Community care was the theme of NCSS's annual general meeting in 1961. Central and local government recognised that if the provisions of the welfare state were to be made to work, they could only be effective if they had the interest and support of citizens. Community care was recognised as part of the responsibility of citizenship. NCSS created opportunities for national voluntary bodies to think together about this subject. Partnership on a personal level between voluntary workers and professional trained workers was being addressed. In 1966 NCSS warmly welcomed the opportunity to join the National Institute for Social Work Training in sponsoring a major enquiry into the role, relationship and preparation of volunteers.

[edit] Charity Taxation

In 1964 the government's draft proposals for a corporation tax suggested uncertainty about the future of seven year deeds of covenant. NCSS, with the backing of many major national voluntary bodies, drew the attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the serious effects on the finances of charitable bodies if deeds of covenant were to be inadmissible for tax relief.

The ensuing Finance Bill made it clear that this source of income for charities would be safeguarded. After the 1966 Budget, as a result of the initiative of NCSS following a meeting of some 300 major societies, a strong case was presented to the Chancellor. This resulted in his decision to relieve registered charities by the refund of the selective employment tax.

Towards the end of 1965, a question arose about charities' liability to pay tax on the sale of Christmas cards - a major source of income for more than 150 charities. The outcome of a series of meetings at NCSS was an amendment to the law, exempting charities from the payment of this tax.

[edit] Young people

The Bessey Report (1962) reinforced the view of the Standing Conference of National Voluntary Youth Organisations that there was a basic common element of training appropriate for all youth leaders, paid or voluntary.

At the NCSS 1964 annual general meeting there was an open conference on the subject of 'Young People and Voluntary Service'. Over 700 people heard a panel of young volunteers describe their approach and response to some of the social challenges they had faced. Following the conference, more local councils of social service, in co-operation with their local authorities, started projects for young volunteers.

[edit] International

In 1967 NCSS was invited by the Home Office to join with six other voluntary organisations to consider the form and method of establishing a combined welfare and advisory service. This was initiated by the proposed new appeals procedure for immigrants refused entry at sea and airports. NCSS undertook to reassume responsibility for the Standing Conference of British Organisations for Aid to Refugees at the close of the World Refugee Year in 1960, under the chairmanship of Lord Astor. 24 national organisations became members and more joined later.

Councils of social service and citizens advice bureaux were able to make a special contribution to social work overseas. With the increase in Commonwealth immigrants trying to find a footing as an integral part of their neighbourhood, councils of social service recognised that help was needed as an extension of their community work. In 1960 a dozen or more co-ordinating committees for immigrant welfare were sponsored. Close contacts were formed with the representatives of the immigrants' respective governments.

[edit] Women's Group on Public Welfare

By the time of its 21st birthday in 1960, a total of 850 clubs had been started, with 27,500 members. In 1962 the group published a report, Education and Training of Girls[3]. This was undertaken in the light of widespread public concern about the place of women in society. Two other concerns considered were:

  • the prevention of crime and treatment of offenders, a field where there was seen to be wide scope for voluntary help
  • the growth of drug dependence

The potential for legislation for the registration and supervision of coffee bars where drugs were often available to the young was explored.

[edit] Citizens Advice Bureaux

The Silver Jubilee of CABx in 1964 marked their acceptance as an integral part of the social services by both the public and the government. By 1968 the number of bureaux in the UK had risen to 489. Citizens Advice Notes subscribers in the early 1960s included most government departments and local authorities, in addition to the 500 CABx. A larger number of commercial and industrial firms were also subscribers, together with universities, professional and voluntary bodies of many kinds, and individuals.

[edit] Charities Aid Fund

Between 1924 and the end of 1968, the total amount paid to charity through the Charities Aid Fund (later to become the Charities Aid Foundation) was just short of £26 million. In 1969 separate premises were purchased for the Fund, in Tonbridge, Kent. The first edition of the Directory of Grant-Making Trusts[4] was published.

[edit] International and overseas development

In 1969 there were 200 programmes of talks and visits at NCSS for visitors from 58 countries. The Standing Conference of Voluntary Organisations Co-operating in Overseas Social Service ceased to exist. The international department provided the secretariat for the Standing Conference of British Organisations for Aid to Refugees, the British National Conference on Social Welfare, and the British Committee for the International Exchange of Social Workers and Administrators. 1,170 graduates and qualified volunteers were now being sent overseas annually as part of the British Volunteer Programme.

[edit] Counselling

In July 1968 a working party of NCSS was set up to study counselling in the UK. Its report stressed the need for a central organisation to promote consultation and information in this sphere. The Standing Conference for the Advancement of Counselling was formed to provide a body to which all kinds of counselling and counsellors might be represented as a platform for the expression of views.

[edit] NCSS Golden Jubilee

The Golden Jubilee of NCSS was celebrated with a reception in the Guildhall, London in July 1969, given by the Corporation of London. Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, the Lord Mayor of London and over 900 guests attended the celebrations. In Westminster Abbey, on 18 July 1969, a special service of thanksgiving and rededication was conducted by the Dean of Westminster. It was attended by 800 people, widely representative of NCSS and its associated groups. The BBC allocated a radio appeal in November to NCSS as the Week's Good Cause. Voluntary Social Action[5] was published, and a specially bound copy was presented to Her Majesty the Queen, the patron of NCSS.

[edit] Future policy

In 1967 the NCSS decided the moment had come to reconsider its future policy and priorities; what required modification and what new activities should be undertaken. The overall structure of NCSS was examined and reorganisation took place with the review committee concluding that NCSS

should be seen as one living, vigorous entity and not a federation of varied autonomous associated bodies

Within the voluntary sector in the preceding 20 years, 800 new voluntary organisations had appeared; very few old ones had disappeared. Thus even more emphasis was being given to the work of NCSS.

[edit] The 1970s

The central role of NCSS in the foreseeable future was underlined in evidence to the Wolfenden Committee on The Future of Voluntary Organisations. This report was the first attempt in 30 years to produce a comprehensive statement regarding the role of voluntary organisations in society.

NCSS's main continuing task was seen as supporting voluntary organisations by helping, inventing and improving the means through which spontaneous energy became directly productive of community well-being.

NCSS believed that voluntary organisations existed to bring about the maximum involvement of particular interest groups, neighbourhoods or communities in solving the problems, or in affecting the decisions, that concerned them. One of the most important roles of NCSS in the 1970s was that of an information and advice resource. This was used not only by national and local voluntary organisations but by the public at large. Promoting voluntary action was equally important.

The Local Authority Social Services Act was discussed at the annual general meeting in 1970, which HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, president of NCSS, chaired. Its impact on voluntary organisations was seen as severe. As a result, letters were sent to the chief officers of the local new social services departments, calling particular attention to what NCSS had done in the past at national and local level.

The letter asked for local government co-operation and drew particular attention to the advisability of enlisting on their committees the support of experienced representatives of voluntary organisations. The replies received indicated considerable support for the principle of collaboration between social services departments and voluntary organisations.

[edit] Rural community councils

Started after the First World War, RCCs had been part of the effort to stem the drift from the countryside. The emphasis had now changed, with work being directed to strengthening communities in rural areas. The village halls service provided by NCSS included advice on architecture, finance and legal matters. The Department of Education and Science continued to make grants for the provision and improvement of village halls on the basis of 50 per cent of the total approved cost, to a maximum of £10,000. The expansion of the Rural Industries War Fund meant that the accommodation and other facilities which NCSS had provided for 26 years was no longer adequate. In 1966 it was therefore rehoused in its own premises with independent administration.

[edit] Central Churches Group

Early in the 1960s the group had convened a conference to discuss the preparation of voluntary helpers in good neighbours projects and a booklet, The Caring Community (revised 1968), was published. By 1970 the group was asked to set up a central register and advisory service on good neighbourhood schemes.

[edit] Information

Concentrating on the problems of unemployment in the 1930s, during the war NCSS had built up an information service specifically for CABx. By 1969 it covered a wider role of public relations and co-ordinator. With increased awareness among journals and television programme planners of the growing importance of the social service field, NCSS was regularly approached for advice and background material for planning feature programmes and articles. Television training courses were initiated and run by the Churches Television Centre for NCSS staff and other voluntary organisations. It was recognised that voluntary organisations needed to develop the technique of immediate comment on important national announcements.

[edit] Management training

Three experimental courses in management for those working in voluntary organisations had started in 1969. By May 1974 a management advisory service for voluntary organisations had been created. Its purpose was to develop a greater awareness of management problems facing voluntary organisations. A training department was formally established the following year.

[edit] Association for Research into Restricted Growth

As a result of the initiative of NCSS in carrying out an enquiry into the number of people of restricted growth in the community, this association came into being in the summer of 1970.

[edit] Age Concern

In 1970 the National Old People's Welfare Council (to be re-named Age Concern) finally became an independent body. There were now 1,491 local groups, three regional committees and separate committees in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

[edit] Standing Conference of National Voluntary Youth Organisations

The report Youth and Community Work in the 1970s was published. The National Council for Voluntary Youth Service came into being in September 1972, replacing the SCNVYO. In April 1980 it became an independent organisation.

[edit] Volunteer bureaux

By 1972 there had been rapid expansion to 52 volunteer bureaux in conjunction with councils of social service and rural community councils. As a result, the Home Office gave a grant for an NCSS volunteer bureaux development officer for three years. By 1976, when responsibility for information and support was handed over to the Volunteer Centre there were 141 bureaux.

[edit] National organisations

More than 150 of the major national voluntary organisations met together in the early 1970s through their membership of NCSS. Some, like the youth organisations, had been in existence for 30 years; others were quite new. One matter of concern had been the budgeting problems of low-income families, particularly in relation to fuel debts. Consultations with gas and electricity boards took place. There was joint sector action on fiscal issues.

[edit] Gift tax

In collaboration with other voluntary organisations, approaches were made by NCSS to the Chancellor of the Exchequer requesting that gifts to charities should not be subject to the proposed new gift tax. Additionally, it was requested that grants made by a charity to a child with a disability should not be aggregated with the parents' income for tax purposes. NCSS also took up the matter of stamp duty for charities. The government granted a concession by reducing duty to 1%. Capital gains tax

Following a widespread press campaign and correspondence with members of Parliament, gifts to charities made more than one year before death were completely exempted from capital transfer tax. Exemption was also increased from £50,000 to £100,000.

[edit] Deeds of covenant

As a result of representation in autumn 1972, the proposal that charities should not have to obtain annual tax certificates for deeds of covenant not exceeding £15 net per annum was accepted by the government.

[edit] Advisory Group on Charities and Taxation

An NCSS report was published in February 1972. The Chancellor, in his 1972 Budget, gave to charities capital gains and limited relief from estate duty.

[edit] Value added tax (VAT)

The annual general meeting in 1972 endorsed a resolution calling on NCSS to take action to convince the government that all registered charities be granted complete relief from VAT. A small NCSS delegation visited the Chancellor of the Exchequer in February 1973. It stressed that charities existed for the public good, were non-profit making, and by their very nature, could not be said to be in business.

Their activities were likened to welfare and other non-business activities of local authorities and it was requested they should be treated in the same way. NCSS was disappointed when the 1973 Budget disclosed only one minor concession. NCSS appointed a part-time VAT advisory officer to help charities to make the best of the law as it stood. It continued to make vigorous representations to the government in order to obtain acceptance of its other main recommendations.

[edit] Environment

Other resolutions at the 1972 annual general meeting called for government money for voluntary organisations concerned with the environment, together with community centre and village hall projects. Rural community councils, councils of social service and community associations were all involved in environmental matters. The Development Commission generously provided grants for the appointment of 15 countryside officers. This was to do much to enable several rural community councils to be more active. A conference on environmental education was planned for late summer 1973.

[edit] Victor Gollancz Award

In 1972, NCSS became the first corporate body to receive the Victor Gollancz Award in recognition of the work undertaken by the overseas volunteer movement.

[edit] Charitable advertising on television

In 1972 the Code of Advertising did not permit advertising for charity funds. The Advisory Committee on Charitable Fundraising after consultation with member organisations of NCSS and others, voted unanimously in favour of the ban being lifted.

[edit] Charities Aid Fund (CAF)

CAF became independent in 1974 with a new name, the Charities Aid Foundation. It was relaunched at the Mansion House in London. Over some 50 years it had paid out nearly £40 million to charities all over the world on behalf of some 32,000 donors.

[edit] Voluntary Services Unit

The Home Office created this new unit in July 1973. Its purpose was to co-ordinate the government's efforts to support and encourage voluntary service. Each of the major government departments was asked to appoint a liaison officer to keep in touch with the unit.

[edit] Three-day week

During the period of the three-day week in winter due to the fuel crisis, NCSS became aware of the hardships likely to be caused to poorer sections of the community. Emergency information kits were produced to provide the basic information needed for people facing a sharp drop in income.

[edit] International

Looking towards Britain's impending entry into the European Economic Council (EEC), NCSS arranged a series of conferences on the theme Social Policy in the European Economic Community. A deepening relationship was forming between components of NCSS and a variety of offices in Brussels. A fund was sought to establish an EEC information desk at NCSS.

[edit] BBC Children in Need of Help

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) asked NCSS to undertake the administration of their annual appeal. Over £16,000 was received and distributed, and NCSS carried out this role for three years.

[edit] Festival Welfare Services

Twelve youth organisations involved in welfare work at youth festivals came together in 1973, with the secretariat provided by NCSS. Independence was achieved six years later.

[edit] Trustee for personal charitable trusts

The resources held by NCSS as trustee for personal charitable trusts continued as a service.

[edit] Charity stamp

NCSS worked with the Post Office to set up an experimental scheme for a charity stamp. The first stamp went on sale in January 1975 with a 1.5p donation in addition to basic first-class postage rate. The charities eligible to benefit were drawn from those working in the field of health and disabilities. In 1975, £62,000 was distributed to the chosen charities.

[edit] Churches Consultative Group

An initiative from the Church of England Board of Education led to members of many denominations meeting regularly with NCSS staff. They worked towards a clearer understanding of the implications of the churches becoming more closely involved in community work.

[edit] Community Work Division

The division existed to promote social planning across the rural and urban spectrum. It serviced hundreds of independent local organisations which concerned themselves with community work all over the country, through county community councils, local councils of social service, community associations and village halls committees.

[edit] Citizens Advice Bureaux

In December 1973, government recognition of the importance of CABx came with the announcement of the biggest-ever national development grant of £1,450,000 to the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB). A national training syllabus was instituted. NACAB became independent from NCSS in 1977.

[edit] Charity Commission

A committee of enquiry was set up in October 1974 to look into problems relating to the law of charity and how it was practised by voluntary organisations and administered by the Charity Commissioners. NCSS was fortunate to secure Lord Goodman as chairman, and Lord Nathan and Mr John Montgomerie as vice-chairmen. The report, Charity Law and Voluntary Organisations, was published in 1976.

[edit] Finance of voluntary organisations

With the aim of improving the infrastructure funding of voluntary organisations, NCSS wrote to some 200 foundations and trusts, who were asked to consider giving some priority in the next two years to continuation of charities' work, rather than experimental and developmental work. The response was encouraging.

[edit] National insurance surcharge

This surcharge was removed from Churches and charities in the 1976 Budget speech. NCSS and others had made representations to the Prime Minister and Chancellor.

[edit] Mini-buses

Concern was expressed by many voluntary organisations relating to difficulties experienced In operating minibuses. A working party was set up and the following year a Bill to exempt voluntary bodies from public service vehicle regulations made a smooth passage through both Houses of Parliament and became law.

[edit] Peace-time disasters

NCSS work continued on the examination of the social effects of peace-time disasters in the UK and how best these effects could be mitigated by voluntary and statutory social services.

[edit] National Association of Women's Clubs (NAWC)

The clubs had developed into non-political, non-sectarian groups of women engaged in cultural and educational activities of all kinds. There were 950 clubs with a total membership of 30,000. Members were active in social service for the sick, the elderly and people with disabilities. Formed in 1942, by 1976 NAWC had become an independent organisation.

[edit] Royal Jubilee Trust

The trust was responsible for a funding project to begin in autumn of 1979, designed to recruit young people for voluntary service from their place of work. A co-ordinator of the project was to be based at NCSS. A Youth Unemployment Pack was compiled, designed to assist those advising the high level of young unemployed.

[edit] Youth Opportunities Programme

Since July 1978, NCSS had housed a resource and information unit, funded by the Manpower Services Commission. This specialised in the community service element of the Youth Opportunities Programme. The unit's services were available to any agency, statutory or voluntary, working in that sector of the programme. Advice was given to over 50 community service schemes in their initial stages.

[edit] Robert F Kennedy Fellows

NCSS agreed to act as the British organiser of the scheme for Robert F Kennedy Fellows. The awards were made to people aged between 18 and 35 to work in new projects of benefit to young people in areas of social need.

[edit] Welfare state

1977 saw the 30th anniversary of the welfare state. The Future of Voluntary Organisations: Report of the Wolfenden Committee in 1977 had endorsed Lord Beveridge's belief in the continuing contribution of voluntary agencies. The Goodman Report on Charities Law and Voluntary Organisations, 1976, had called for new legislation to extend the range of voluntary activities eligible for charitable status. The 1978 annual report stated the belief that 'the hallmark of the next thirty years of the Welfare State will be that of a creative and cooperative partnership between the state and the community'.

[edit] Employment

An employment unit was established at NCSS in 1979. The brief was to provide a service on employment issues. Working closely with councils for voluntary service, its aim was to help voluntary and community organisations.

[edit] Value added tax

In 1979 NCSS and others were pressing strongly for charities to be taken outside the scope of the introduction of VAT, without success. The uniform rate of 15 per cent would inevitably increase the running costs of most charities. NCSS was also pressing for changes to ease the impact of the shift to indirect taxation.

[edit] The 1980s

[edit] Change of name to NCVO

On 1 April 1980, just over 60 years since its foundation, the National Council for Social Service became the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. An extraordinary general meeting had been called in July 1973 to discuss the adoption of a new name for NCSS. The implementation of the Social Services Act in 1970 had been causing increasing confusion between voluntary and statutory bodies. It was, however, another six years before the final decision was taken to change the name of NCSS.

The 1980 annual report restated NCVO's aims as:

  • to extend the involvement of voluntary organisations in responding to social issues
  • to be a resource centre for voluntary organisations
  • to protect the interests and independence of voluntary organisations

Voluntary organisations - whether as pressure groups, as providers of services, or as pioneers addressing new and changing needs - impinge considerably on the formation of policies by all political parties. It was appropriate that information and policy proposals should be shared with and presented to all political parties.

One of NCVO's key roles was to make skills, guidance and assistance available to charities and voluntary organisations. A Guide to NCVO Services: An Aid for Users was published. Over 6,000 free copies were distributed.

NCVO believed that voluntary organisations had a central contribution to make in developing new models of social support. A wide range of voluntary organisations had pioneered some of the best examples of small-scale and flexible community care. In both quantity and quality the growth in support services was tagging seriously behind the growth in the numbers of people who needed them.

In the 1930s the social consequences of massive unemployment had been the major preoccupation of voluntary activity. Recession had now returned, but other things had changed. Through its national and local networks, NCVO had been able to reflect back to the government feelings and comments from grass-roots organisations about proposed legislation or funding programmes. Many aspects of the large-scale programmes -the regeneration of inner cities, the provision of training and work experience for school leavers, and the creation of temporary employment - reflected some of the concerns expressed by voluntary organisations. Government

NCVO was now, through the Voluntary Services Unit, in regular contact with some 75 civil servants in 13 government departments and related quangos. Initiatives were made by the Civil Service College to include the voluntary sector as a regular subject on courses. In 1981, NCVO submitted proposals to the government for a new three-part programme for unemployed people providing separate opportunities for paid work, training and work experience, and community activities.

A Code for Voluntary Organisations was published in March 1984 on relations between the voluntary sector and government. A Memorandum of Understanding between NCVO and its major funder, the Voluntary Services Unit of the Home Office, was offered as a guide through the potential labyrinth of securing departmental funding on proper terms. Two basic principles for the sector were stressed:

  • the independence of policy making, for which trustees carry the ultimate responsibility, and
  • the organisation's need for full accountability to HM government for its expenditure through open and detailed account of what has been done.

Influencing government policy formed the cornerstone of NCVO's work, both on issues that potentially affected a wide range of bodies, or concerning smaller and more personalised networks and interest groups. NCVO continually attempted to highlight where new voluntary action was required and to support voluntary organisations in adjusting to new demands. NCVO, in its role of advice-giver to voluntary organisations, advised on fundraising, finance, rural issues, legal issues, personnel, useful literature and charitable constitutions. It ran a short-course programme in collaboration with CVS. Management consultancies were set up with a grant of £25,000 for three years from the VSU, and study tours for foreign visitors were arranged. Greater understanding of the EEC and beyond were promoted to the voluntary sector.

[edit] Membership

In the mid-1980s, NCVO had increased its membership by 150 in three years. Some members were relatively new voluntary organisations, others were long-established. Membership reflected some of the more recent areas of work with which voluntary organisations were involved. The most striking feature was the number of new members providing mutual aid for those suffering from illness or disability. Membership of NCVO had only been open to organisations with national coverage (apart from CVS and RCCs). It was now felt this rule discriminated against certain groups of people, particularly ethnic minorities. Membership entry was therefore extended to leading organisations in relevant fields of activity.

In the early 1980s NCVO had 528 members. It was linked with 159 councils for voluntary service and 38 rural community councils. It had eight major departments and employed 152 staff. NCVO believed that effective voluntary action depended upon the existence of strong, well-resourced services.

[edit] Local authorities

Against a background of further cuts in central and local authority funding to voluntary groups in the mid-1980s, NCVO agreed to set up a small working party. In collaboration with the Association of Metropolitan Authorities and the Association of County Councils, examples of good practice relations between local voluntary organisations and local authorities, especially financial, were to be published.

Effective voluntary work was very often a result of the efforts of a few paid staff and a galaxy of volunteers. If the paid staff were removed, there would be no one to recruit and encourage the volunteers. It was essential that public expenditure cuts did not determine social policy. The gradual move to a more pluralist system was a major factor in the continuing growth of the voluntary sector in this country.

NCVO's work on the issue of inner-city regeneration had continued to pinpoint matters of policy regarding the voluntary sector. During 1985 there was a massive campaign to win protection for the many voluntary organisations whose existence were seen as threatened by the abolition of the Greater London Council and the Metropolitan County Councils. The inter-agency approach to social problems was extended to 1982. Its central purpose was to improve the co-ordination and communication between statutory and voluntary agencies.

NCSS's policy planning unit's first major task in 1979 had been to develop a systematic examination of how different government policies might affect the contribution to social welfare of voluntary effort during the 1980s. The results were published as Voluntary Action in a Changing World. In 1981 the unit obtained a grant from the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) to investigate the existing and potential role of voluntary organisations and volunteers in promoting good ante-natal services.

[edit] The 21st International Conference on Social Welfare

This was held in August/September 1982 and was organised by NCVO at Brighton. More than 1,500 people participated.

[edit] International Year for Disabled Persons

With funding from the DHSS, NCVO was entrusted with the task of co-ordinating the contributions of voluntary organisations in England to the International Year for Disabled Persons. This took place In 1981.

[edit] European Social Fund

NCVO had improved the services it gave to voluntary organisations considering an application to the European Social Fund which assisted schemes concerned with employment and training.

[edit] Charity finance

There was room for improvement in the area of charitable giving by industry and commerce. A committee headed by NCVO chairman, Peter Jay, was currently investigating the feasibility of introducing payroll giving to Britain.

The Chancellor turned down the main NCVO recommendation to give relief from VAT on purchases made by charities. He did, however, adopt the raising of the exemption limit on capital transfer tax, remove liability for some development land tax and remove stamp duty on the transfer of assets to charities.

Reduction in the minimum period of covenants announced by the Chancellor in the 1980 Budget resulted from the 1980 submission to the government by NCVO's Fiscal Working Party.

[edit] Independence from NCVO

The Festival Welfare Services had been registered as an independent charity in 1978. The National Federation of Community Organisations followed in 1982. It had been the prime mover in 1981 of a new coalition of national and regional voluntary organisations involved in neighbourhood work. The Standing Conference on Local History also became independent in March 1982, and the Standing Conference for Drama in 1983. Family Forum, launched in 1980, was probably the largest association for families in Europe, and became independent of NCVO. The National Council on Gambling, established to consider the impact of gambling on the family and community, became independent of NCVO in 1980/81.

[edit] Neighbourhood Energy Action

This was a new NCVO programme to help local communities conserve energy and create jobs. It was set up in 1981 to help voluntary organisations tackle the dual problems of unemployment and fuel poverty. The project became an independent charitable company by 1984.

[edit] Opportunities for Volunteering Scheme

Launched in May 1982 by the DHSS, this scheme enables voluntary organisations to create opportunities for unemployed people to do voluntary work in health and social care projects. The secretariat was based at NCVO, the DHSS allocating £3.3 million to the scheme. The scheme administration became independent of NCVO in 1990.

[edit] Urban programme

Funding on voluntary sector projects through the Urban Programme in the early 1980s saw a welcome increase to £50 million. 30 per cent went to black and other ethnic minority groups. NCSS prepared two series of regional workshops. One encouraged established voluntary organisations to examine their relationships with ethnic minority communities. The other aimed to help ethnic minority groups to make the most of the Urban Programme.

[edit] Charity law

In 1982, NCVO's Charity Law Working Group held two one-day conferences to examine the need for changes in charity law. A Case for Change, launched in June 1983, recommended ten reforms. The document argued that the rapid social and economic changes which Britain was going through had created an urgent need for new forms of voluntary social action. The group believed that charity law was a serious obstacle to new initiatives. The current law did not recognise as charitable objectives a number of major modem concerns, such as the improvement of race relations and the relief of unemployment.

[edit] Equal opportunities

NCVO's equal opportunities policy aimed to ensure that no job applicant or employee received less favourable treatment on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, sex, marital status, sexual orientation or disability.

[edit] Ethnic Minorities Working Group

Set up in August 1982, this group considered ways in which NCVO's constitution might be altered to give ethnic minority groups a larger role in policy formation. The Organisation Development Unit (ODU), was established in April 1985 with funding from the Department of the Environment. It aimed to promote organisation development and success among black voluntary organisations. ODU attained independence in 1992 with a new name, Sia.

[edit] New Technology Group

The aim of this new NCVO group was to exchange information, experience and expertise between voluntary organisations working or intending to work with computerised office systems.

[edit] Parliamentary liaison officer

During the 1985/86 financial year the GLC and the MCCs between them were funding voluntary organisations to the tune of at least £60 million. In order to ensure that members of both Houses of Parliament were fully informed of voluntary sector issues, NCVO undertook to strengthen its lobbying ability by the appointment of a parliamentary liaison officer. NCVO mounted an intensive parliamentary campaign on which local authority associations and NCVO worked closely together. The 1985 Local Government Bill was originally intended to prohibit voluntary organisations funded by local authorities from publishing their views on issues of political controversy. The bill was substantially amended.

[edit] National Self-Help Support Centre

This was established at NCVO in January 1986 to foster the provision of self-help groups in the field of health and social services. In 1992 its name changed to the Self-Help Centre.

[edit] Families

In 1983 the NCVO report Ask the Family was published. It listed many practical steps which could be taken to help families.

[edit] Charitable appeals

In 1985 NCVO appointed a working party to carry out a thorough investigation into reports of excessive profits being taken from charitable appeals.

[edit] Local Development Agencies Fund

The fund was brought into being in 1985 after strong pressure from NCVO and others. The basic aim was to promote new and more effective Local Development Agencies, and provide central government funding for the core functions. Each applicant was required to produce a full three-year work programme.

[edit] Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE)

In September 1985, the Standing Conference of Rural Community Councils (SCRCC) endorsed the move for independence from NCVO. It was launched as an independent charity, ACRE, in April 1987. SCRCC reaffirmed its support for a continued rural dimension to NCVO and a rural unit was formed to promote and support voluntary action in rural areas. This was to ensure NCVO's policies, projects and services were relevant and appropriate to rural circumstances.

[edit] Waste Watch

Launched in 1986/87, Waste Watch was funded by the Department of Environment and Shell UK in order to promote and develop community-based recycling. It became independent of NCVO on 1 April 1992.

[edit] Social Fund

With the introduction of the government's Social Fund in 1988, the voluntary sector was concerned that new services could be endangered by a wave of demand for financial help which had previously been seen as a statutory responsibility. As a result of requests for guidance, a publication, The Social Fund and Voluntary Organisations: How Do You Respond? was published in January 1988, a joint NCVO and Social Security Consortium publication. An information paper, Voluntary Organisations and the Social Fund, was distributed free to NCVO members.

[edit] Employment Training

NCVO played a crucial role in 1988 in ensuring that the voluntary sector's views and criticisms were heard by government in the transition from Community Programme (CP) to Employment Training (ET).

[edit] The future

In 1989 NCVO established a Study Group to look ahead at the next decade. The result was Directions for the Next Decade: Understanding Social and Institutional Trends.

The Efficiency Scrutiny of Government Funding of the Voluntary Sector dominated NCVO's policy agenda in 1989-90. The report, Investing in the Voluntary Sector set out NCVO's response.

[edit] The 1990s

Whereas a decade before voluntary organisations were perceived largely as an adjunct of the state, now they were seen increasingly as equal and independent partners working alongside the public and private sectors.

Taken for Granted? Voluntary Organisations and the Next Government had been published in 1987 by NCVO. It informed politicians and policy makers about the ways voluntary organisations contributed to policy and practice, and set out an agenda for more recognition of the voluntary sector.

[edit] Charities: A Framework for the Future

NCVO had encouraged partnership and dialogue over issues related to charity law. This government white paper proposed important and far-reaching reform of charity law and supervision.

[edit] Lord Nathan

An NCVO working party had been established to make recommendations on developing and maintaining high standards of effectiveness and efficiency within the voluntary sector. The topics to be considered included the role and training of trustees, fundraising, management education, public relations and financial accountability. The report, Effectiveness and the Voluntary Sector, was published in April 1990. Lord Nathan's report set out an agenda for action by NCVO and the voluntary sector at large. It was characterised by an insistence that voluntary organisations must make themselves truly effective in their management, services and other functions.

[edit] Contracting

The contract culture was one of the most significant changes in 1990 for voluntary organisations. The Nathan Report had clearly identified the dilemma: voluntary organisations might become involved in competition with other voluntary and private agencies. Value for money might place greatest emphasis on cheapness rather than high-quality services. NCVO launched a programme of work designed to equip voluntary organisations with the practical tools to cope. Contracts for care could provide clarity, ensure quality and benefit the user. They could also debase relationships, lead to narrow penny-pinching, and leave the user isolated and devalued. Helping to get the balance right was seen as NCVO's job.

[edit] Community Care

Community care had become a substantial issue for NCVO following Sir Roy Griffiths' report Agenda for Action in 1988. The Government supported Sir Roy Griffiths' recommendations that local authorities take on an enabling and regulatory role in service provision. The implications for the voluntary sector were substantial. Community Care Alliance represented over 120 organisations with an interest in community care.

[edit] Independence

The Community Health Initiatives Resource Unit was now moving to independence, having been set up as one of NCVO's project initiatives in 1983. The National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service and Citizens Advice Notes both became fully independent in 1990.

[edit] Advice services

To ensure that the right support was available to groups throughout the country, in 1991/92 NCVO started a major mapping exercise to determine what local and national advice and support services were currently available to voluntary organisations in both rural and in urban areas.

[edit] Membership

A Corporate Affiliation Scheme was launched in 1989 and already more than 20 leading companies were in membership with NCVO. A Local Authority Affiliation Scheme was also to be launched and LA Link, an information service, began in November 1991.

[edit] Local government

NCVO undertook a major survey of local government funding of the voluntary sector. The survey established that in 1991/92 at least £29.4 million was cut in real terms from local authority funding for voluntary organisations. 85 per cent of all cuts were made in the combined inner-city and urban areas.

[edit] People with special needs

A task force was set up in 1992 by NCVO to evaluate the funding and structure of vocational and pre-vocational training programmes for people with special needs. It developed an agenda for action to help TECs, government and voluntary organisations meet the challenges of future special needs provision.

[edit] Community Schemes Unit

This unit provided advice to voluntary groups on the Youth Training Scheme (YTS). The publication, The Hidden Cuts to the Community outlined the main findings of an NCVO survey on the effects on schemes of benefit to the community on the introduction of the government's Employment Training (ET) to voluntary organisations. One-third of the entire programme in its first year was accounted for by voluntary organisations. April 1989 saw the first NCVO national voluntary sector conference on ET. 400 delegates attended.

[edit] Women's Organisations Interest Group

With the Fawcett Society, this group produced an analytical and critical response to the UK government's work on the United Nations' report on eliminating discrimination against women. In May 1989, the National Alliance of Women's Organisations was launched, the first truly comprehensive umbrella organisation for women in England.

[edit] A Voluntary Sector Manifesto

In the summer of 1991, in anticipation of election year, NCVO drew together a manifesto for the voluntary sector; it set out to influence the three political parties on issues of general importance to voluntary organisations.

[edit] Bedford Square Press

Celebrating its 21st anniversary, Bedford Square Press continued to be one of the most important media through which NCVO promoted the voluntary sector. In 1992 NCVO adopted its own publishing imprint, NCVO Publications.

[edit] NCVO News

1988/89 saw the launch of a new NCVO monthly information magazine, NCVO News, containing information and articles on the voluntary sector.

[edit] Campaigning

NCVO gave strong support for the legitimate campaigning role of charities. Dialogue was opened with the Chief Charity Commissioner on the guidelines. NCVO pressed for immediate legislation to improve the enforcement role of the Charity Commission without interfering with the definition of charity.

[edit] National Council for Vocational Qualifications

NVQs came into existence and NCVO co-ordinated the input of the voluntary sector to the Care Sector Consortium. Training for Employment '91

NCVO's annual conference for voluntary organisations working with unemployed people attracted over 400 people.

[edit] Charities Act 1992

September 1992 saw the implementation of the first sections of the much welcomed Charities Act. NCVO convened the sector's advisory group, making representations to improve the Bill. NCVO's handbook on the Act rapidly became a best seller. The legal team, and latterly the finance team, helped to guide charities through the new law in anticipation of the Act coming into force. The Act emphasized the role of trustees and the work of the Trustee Training Working Party ensured that much-needed support and advice was available to the sector. A specialist team was established in NCVO in 1993 to advise and support trustees.

[edit] National lottery

NCVO led representations on the proposed national lottery in collaboration with its membership. It voiced its strong concern at the impact a lottery would have on charitable donations and secured a higher lottery share for the voluntary sector.

[edit] Charities for Change campaign

This campaign was launched in March 1992 at a reception at Kensington Palace. The three-year campaign aimed to highlight the role of the voluntary sector and raise £1.5 million to fund NCVO's core work.

[edit] Regent's Wharf

In June 1992 NCVO left Bedford Square after 64 years and moved into new offices at Regent's Wharf, London, N1, complete with conference suite facilities.

[edit] Europe

NCVO and the Community Development Foundation commissioned major research on the impact of the single market on the voluntary sector. The introduction of common legal and fiscal structures across the European Community was likely to have a major impact on the work of European voluntary organisations. Through the European Council for Voluntary Organisations (CEDAG), NCVO took the lead in pressing for access to direct debate with the European Commission.

[edit] Officers

[edit] Presidents

[edit] Sister Councils

The equivalent infrastructure bodies for voluntary organisations in the other UK countries are:

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ The Neglected Child and his Family. London: Oxford University Press, 1948
  2. ^ Caring for People - staffing residential homes (National Institute For Social Work Training Series, No.11) London: George Allen & Unwin, 1967
  3. ^ The Education and Training of Girls London: National Council of Social Service, 1962
  4. ^ Directory of Grant-Making Trusts London: Charities Aid Fund, 1968 ISBN 0719907519
  5. ^ Brasnett, Margaret Voluntary Social Action: a History of the National Council of Social Service 1919-1969 London: National Council of Social Service, 1969 ISBN 07199 0777 2
  • Coles, Kay (1993). National Council for Voluntary Organisations from 1919 to 1993: A Selective Summary of NCVO's Work and Origins, London: NCVO Publications. ISBN 0 7199 1360 8

[edit] External links

  • NCVO - National Council for Voluntary Organisations website
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