COVID-19 is having a major impact on voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE).

Demand has gone up and income down, leaving some organisations “fighting for survival”, as they try to navigate the challenges that the pandemic has thrown at them.

Whilst a lot of attention has focused on the funding that VCSE organisations receive, the impact of the pandemic has had even wider ramifications, transforming working practices and service delivery models, either by socially distancing, or digitalising their work, developing new practices that for many would have been unthinkable just a few months before.

This partnership project from The Centre of People, Work and Organisational Practice at Nottingham Trent University, The Voluntary Action Research Group at Sheffield Hallam University and NCVO is about understanding what it has been like working in the sector during the pandemic, the challenges that organisations face and how have they sought to overcome them. The goal of the project is to get behind the headlines, to really understand these experiences and learn from them.

Impact barometer dashboard.

Respond, Recover, Reset reports.

Take part in the monthly barometer survey

As we move into a world where most legal restrictions to control the spread of Covid-19 have been lifted, we are all having to again develop new ways of working to adjust to this next ‘new normal’. The next rounds of the survey will focus on the present and future of the sector in a post-lockdown world. The survey has also been slimmed down for this round, making taking part even easier. This wave we will be focussing on the opening up of the sector post-covid and the implications of this. The latest round to the survey is now open until 27th September. As a small thank you to everyone who completes the survey, there is an option of being entered into a prize draw to win £200 each month and a £2000 prize draw at the end of the whole project (see here for participant information). 

Take part in the survey.

The research team at Nottingham Trent University, the NCVO and Sheffield Hallam University are always looking at ways to make this project as valuable as possible. Their reports have been shared with decision-makers, and the results of the study recently presented to an All-Party Parliamentary Group and DCMS’ Civil Society Stakeholder Group. Should you have more time to share, you can contact the NTU research team at CPWOP@ntu.ac.uk or visit the project page to discuss the project and discover more.

This project is funded by the ESRC.