Mark Jackson appointed Worcestershire Voices Chair
Having led the Worcestershire Voices project group from 2011 Michael Hunter was invited to continue as Chair when Voices was established in April 2012.
Since then the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and wider Worcestershire have benefitted hugely from Michael’s dedication and leadership which has always been underpinned by his long-term commitment to partnership working and belief in the benefits to Worcestershire of having a strong and influential VCS.
He has chaired both the Contact Group and the Reference Group wisely as he consolidated Voices identity and reach. He has demonstrated great patience, an openness to seeking and hearing suggestions from a wide variety of organisations whose individual missions cover a broad spectrum of activities and range considerably in size. He has always been willing to listen, to represent and stand up for the VCS when negotiating, or participating in meetings and discussions with the statutory sector.
He has facilitated a two way traffic of information between Voices, local and national bodies and agencies. His dedication has been self-evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, not least facilitated by his familiarity with the necessary technology to ease communications.
After achieving so much over the last 10 years Michael has now indicated that he would like to step down as Chairman. “Thank you” is such a simple phrase, but it means so much. In Michael’s case the VCS across Worcestershire and those with whom he has interacted outside the VCS are hugely grateful to him for everything he has done. He hands over a legacy upon which we must build.
I have been asked to take over the helm from Michael. I spent 11 years as Chief Executive of St Richard’s Hospice and was a member of the Voices Reference Group before retiring in 2017. In the last year I have been High Sheriff and a particular focus has been on what the VCS in our county has been doing during the pandemic. It therefore gives me great pleasure to accept this role, but have made it clear that I shall be an interim Chair as we take Voices forward to a position where it can flourish and widen its support to the whole sector and the county.
What do I mean by that?
As the Voices Survey last summer shows us the VCS has had a turbulent year. Crucially, demand for all services has increased by as much as 78%, and there is little expectation that this will diminish as we emerge from the pandemic. At the same time income generation has plummeted due to the inability to run fundraising events. Many existing volunteers have had to self-isolate due to underlying health issues or age.
Will all of them return?
Many of the 1,500+ registered charities in Worcestershire have been living on their Reserves or emergency grants from the Worcestershire Community Foundation, Local and National government emergency grants and Lottery grants.
There is a recognition that all VCS will need to be very business-like and adapt to the post pandemic realities of the C21st that will see much greater use of digital technology. At the same time that we will be helping more citizens we need to seek long term sustainable funding from diverse sources to restore the VCS economic health and viability.
However, I believe that we are in a strong position to do this. There has been a remarkable re-awakening of community identity and the desire to help our neighbours, which has been illustrated by many new volunteers coming forward to help.
This strong local bottom-up approach to meeting the pandemic challenges has been seen by the public sector who realise that they could not have fought Covid-19 on their own and that the VCS contribution going forward needs to be recognised.
The essential word here is “partnership”.
The VCS needs to become partners of the public and private sectors in our country’s recovery. Voices needs to be at the forefront of this partnership and get itself in a position to help all parts of the VCS as well as being able to speak on behalf of the VCS.
There have already been a series of workshops facilitated by the National Philanthropy Capital looking at short and long term opportunities for greater collaboration and coordination across the Worcestershire VCS.
Unsurprisingly our discussions went beyond just the VCS and looked at how this can be achieved across the whole of civic society in the county.
I look forward very much to seeing how I can help Voices and Worcestershire take this work forward. In the meantime I would like to say to Michael:Thank you very much for all you have done and please keep in touch because we greatly value your contributions.
Mark