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 an independent civil society can flourish. NCVO has a growing membership, which currently stands at over 8,400 voluntary organisations ranging from large national bodies to community groups, volunteer centres, and development agencies working at a local level.
Contents |
NCVO’s stated aims are:
NCVO represents the views of its members, and the wider voluntary sector to government, the European Union and other bodies. It carries out research into, and analysis of, the voluntary and community sector. It campaigns on issues affecting the whole of the voluntary and community sector, such as the role of voluntary and community organisations in public service delivery and the future of local government. It provides information, advice and support to other organisations and individuals working in or with the voluntary and community sector. Many now well-established voluntary organisations started out as projects within NCVO, including Age Concern, Citizens Advice, the Charities Aid Foundation, the Black Environment Network, the Youth Hostel Association and the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs.
NCVO started in 1919 as the National Council of Social Services (NCSS). NCSS was established in order to bring various voluntary bodies together and into closer relationships with government departments. Its foundation was made possible through a legacy from Edward Vivian Birchall, who had played a large part in the emergent voluntary sector before he was killed, aged 32, in France during the First World War. On 1 April 1980, just over 60 years since its foundation, the National Council for Social Service became the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.
The equivalent infrastructure bodies for voluntary organisations in the other UK countries are: