During the Summer of 2003, Carlisle Council for Voluntary Service (CCVS) and Voluntary Action Cumbria (VAC) conducted an audit of the voluntary and community sector, designed to enhance their working partnership and to improve services. This joint research project was made possible due to a grant from the Active Community Unit at the Home Office. Carlisle City Council and Cumbria County Council were also invited to join the steering group for this project, and aided CCVS and VAC in their research.

Carlisle Council for

Voluntary Service

The project was funded by the Partnership Development Fund (PDF) which is a small to medium sized grants scheme funded by the Active Community Unit at the Home Office. This is run jointly by the three national umbrella organisations ACRE, NACVS, and VDE.

Introduction

The Carlisle District lays at the North of Cumbria. It stretches from the Scottish border in the North, to within 4km of the Lake District in the South. It is the largest district in Cumbria, with a population of 100,739, this accounts for 21% of the county’s population.

The Carlisle District comprises of 12 urban and 10 rural wards. The 2001 census states the urban population as being 68,262 compared to the rural population of 32,477.

The project was designed to identify any gaps in service provision within the rural Carlisle area. The research took the form of a mapping exercise, designed to research the developmental needs of local community groups, and enhance existing support mechanisms.

The project mapped out all of the voluntary and community groups within rural Carlisle, and looked at the capacity of these groups. Asking the question; are rural groups achieving what they want to achieve? The project also mapped out the major support services such as Post Offices, Village Halls, and Schools in the district.

This project has 7 key objectives:

Ø      To collate and examine the results of existing consultations and surveys.

Ø      To map all of the community groups in rural Carlisle.

Ø      To map all of the potential support facilities available to community groups in rural Carlisle.

Ø      To research the capacity of the rural groups identified.

Ø      To research volunteering in the Carlisle District.

Ø      To produce a work plan for joint working between Carlisle Council for Voluntary Service and Voluntary Action Cumbria.

Ø      To provide an improved level of support to voluntary and community groups in the Carlisle District.

Key Findings

The research in this project was collected from key local people, these included for example; Parish Clerks, Village Hall Secretaries, Schools, Churches, Womens Institute Secretaries etc. The information was collected mostly through postal surveys, however informal interviews, and telephone surveys were also used. This report is based on the data from these surveys, and these are its key findings:

Ø      The project successfully highlighted 463 rural community groups in Carlisle.

Ø      There are 108 settlements in the Carlisle District. The project highlighted that 53% had no activity in terms of community groups. 20% had low activity (between 1 and 4 groups), 21% had mid activity (between 5 and 14 groups), and 6% had high activity (15+ groups).

Ø      49% of groups in rural Carlisle meet in Village Halls, 21% in Community Centres, 14% in Churches, and the other 16% of groups meet in locations such as schools. This is a key finding, and highlights the importance of locally based buildings, such as Village Halls, where community groups can meet. Throughout the district, the existence of a prominent building in a settlement can be seen to greatly enhance the activity level within that settlement.

Ø      A third of groups in the Carlisle District (31%) are sports and Leisure groups, these include groups such as short mat bowls, badminton, etc. This is followed by groups entitled ‘other’ (20%), then under 8s (16%), then youth (12%), and then older adults (6%). This shows that the groups in rural Carlisle are mostly recreational groups. This finding is to be expected from rural community groups, but it highlights the severe lack of support groups such as carers groups, and groups for physically and mentally disabled people. There seems to be a concentration of support groups within Carlisle city centre, but the outreach work from most of these groups is limited by lack of resources.

Ø      Over the past 12 months (September 2002 to September 2003), 223 volunteers offered their services in the Carlisle District, via the Carlisle Volunteer Bureau. 174 (78%) of these volunteers lived in urban areas, whilst 49 (22%) lived in rural Carlisle. This is in comparison to the urban-rural population split of 54.5% urban and 45.6% rural.

Ø      Over the past 12 months (September 2002 to September 2003), there were 137 volunteer opportunities registered via the Carlisle Volunteer Bureau, each requiring volunteers. 123 of these vacancies were based within urban Carlisle, whilst 51 were based in rural Carlisle. Some of these opportunities were both urban and rural.

These findings allow us to move from anecdotal to evidence-based knowledge, and plan effective joint working with confidence.

We will:

v     Ensure that all settlements receive a written record of their survey results.

v     Contact all groups who identified a need for support.

v     Produce an action plan detailing an enhanced service for rural community groups.

v     Monitor the effectiveness of this enhanced service.

v     Work with urban based support organisations to help them plan rural delivery.

v     Provide outreach sessions from the volunteer bureau to help meet rural volunteering needs.

v     Support village halls and other community buildings as an essential resource for rural communities.

Project Steering Group

The project steering group was made up of the following organisations:

Carlisle Council for Voluntary Service              Voluntary Action Cumbria

Lynne Sneap                                                       Lorrainne Smyth

Chief Officer                                                        Senior Rural Community Officer

Carlisle City Council                                           Cumbria County Council

Claire Rankin                                                       Sheila O’Donnell

Rural Community Support Officer                     Neighbourhood Development Officer

Volunteer Centre Carlisle                                  Research project co-ordinator

Judith Holmshaw                                                 Lewis Powell

Volunteer Bureau Co-ordinator

These organisations are committed to the delivery outlined in this summary.

Conclusion

The rural voluntary and community sector in the Carlisle District is strong and vibrant. This project provided an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits and potential of joint working between rural support organisations to better meet the identified needs of rural communities. The findings of this audit show continued complex and varied support needs. These needs can be met by CCVS, VAC, VB and local authorities working more effectively together.