The National Council for Voluntary Organisations reports that the sector’s workforce has shrunk by almost 9% over the last 12 months.
For all the talk of the ‘Big Society’, charities and voluntary organisations throughout the length and breadth of the country are facing cuts and their employees and service users are suffering. Not only have jobs gone in these organisations, but those employees who are left have faced pay cuts. Median hourly pay for workers in the sector has gone down by 3%.
A vibrant community and voluntary sector can not thrive in an atmosphere when grants from central and local government are falling away sharply.