We believe that the voluntary sector should be front and centre of North Tyneside’s COVID-19 recovery plans. Despite a number of charities and community groups having to temporarily close their doors, others have been able to provide a remarkable response to support vulnerable residents during the COVID 19 pandemic. We have created this short animation to showcase some of the incredible work you have been doing. The animation was shown to members of the North Tyneside Strategic Partnership this week and will be shared with partners as part of the national #NeverMoreNeeded campaign.

North Tyneside VCS COVID-19 response from Robin on Vimeo.

We know full well that many of our members face some significant challenges to adapt and flourish in the COVID-19 ‘recovery’ phase and beyond. Based on the findings of VONNE’s recent survey, as well as conversations we’ve had with many of our members, we have identified a number of key areas of support that will be required by many organisations to help them adapt and thrive over the coming months and years. We appreciate that this will mean very different things to different types and sizes of organisations and that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution.

  • Resuming services: although many organisations have continued to offer some level of service, support will be required by some to help resume and redesign face-to- face work.
  • Workforce: with many organisations having furloughed their staff and others significantly changing the way their workforce operates, we expect many organisations to require support to help manage their workforce in light of COVID-19.
  • Finance: many VCS organisations will have experienced a significant drop in income due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will require support to rebuild their finances in order that they can continue to offer vital services.
  • Governance: the COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges around governance for some organisations, but may also offer opportunities for organisations to merge.
  • Partnerships: whilst some VCS organisations have had to close their doors temporarily, other new neighbourhood-level ‘mutual aid’ groups have been formed. We are keen to support an ecosystem that enables all VCS organisations to work more collectively providing maximum benefit to our communities.
  • Volunteering: we have seen many more people step up to volunteer as part of the COVID-19 response. We are keen to build on the efforts of volunteers to support our recovery.

Working With the VCS event

Monday 15 June 10am to 11.30am on Zoom
We are keen to develop a VCS recovery plan that is designed by our members. For that reason we are holding a virtual Working With the VCS event on Monday 15th June from 10am – 11.30am. This meeting will provide an opportunity to hear from Carol Botten, Chief Executive at VONNE, as she provides a summary of findings from VONNE’s recent VCS survey. It will also offer an oppor-tunity for organisations to discuss what support they would like to access to help with recovery, as well as what support they might be able to offer others. Please register in advance for this event so that we can send you a link to the Zoom meeting.