Oldham’s Co-operative Community is here and ready Liz Windsor-Welsh Voluntary Action Oldham

Introduction  Co-operative principles and the voluntary and community sector  Snapshot of Oldham’s VCF sector  Explore the window of opportunity  Structures that ‘lock in’  Gearing up

Co-operative principles 1. People can join – and leave 2. Your voice will be heard 3. You control the capital 4. Together, you are independent 5. You can develop yourself and others 6. You can be more successful by co-operating with others who know how to cooperate 7. You can do something for your community even as you keep succeeding. Cooperatives UK Voluntary and community organisations - ‘community co-operatives’

What the community sector offers “additional benefits that the VCS [Voluntary Community Sector] may bring to service provision from the involvement of volunteers and donations and from the re- investment of surpluses. In such circumstances the extra welfare gain is wholly additional to the service provided under contract”. The Role of the Voluntary Sector in Service Delivery: A Cross Cutting Review, HM Treasury 2002

Oldham’s communities are active!  Size and scope different  Individual citizens – informal /formal volunteers, community activists, social action groups.  100’s of small volunteer led groups  Voluntary orgs -small number of staff with many volunteers  Larger charities /not for profit orgs  Community businesses /co-operatives CIC’s

Oldham’s community sector  Employs 1765 staff approx 2% of Oldham’s workforce  Involves 16,900 volunteers per year, approximately 32,000 hrs of support valued at £16.7 million per annum.  Generates an annual income of £31.3 million that is invested in Oldham’s economy.  550+ VCF organisations.  Approx half these organisations have no staff and rely entirely on voluntary effort. State of Sector Research, 2007

Coping with pressures  50% will decrease the services they offer in the next 3 months  50% are expecting to lose staff  64% expect their financial position to deteriorate over next 12 months  34% expect this to be worse than 50% of their funding  74% expect an increase in service demand

Resilience and values  General situation (governance, workforce development, volunteers and staff) – 50% expect this to deteriorate in 12 months  73% still here by end of 2012  68% want to collaborate more  77% expect to be more involved in local action.

Window of opportunity  New opportunities for a ‘mixed economy’ of service provision  Increased social action and role for volunteers.

Is structure important?  Co-operatives, mutuals, charities and social enterprises…  Accountability, community ownership and social justice are key  Structure is the mechanism to ensure this is retained.

Gearing up  Develop consortia along service delivery pathways  Partnerships that retain values but provide greater collective influence and potential  New relationships (outside sector boundaries)  Space and right level of support for innovation and community led action.

In summary  Oldham’s communities are ready to play their part  Ambition for a ‘mixed economy’ provides new opportunities  Co-operative principles offer a framework that encourages risk sharing, retains accountability and local community ownership.