A fascinating interview with Colin Rochester in Third Sector on-line today…

He argues that the professionalisation of the sector has taken a toll on its core values.

It concludes with this quote:

“The big national charities are a lost cause, but they never really were part of the sector. What is interesting is what’s happening at local level, where there is pressure for small organisations to conform. There are plenty of organisations that are on the cusp of change and are not a lost cause.

“They are being groomed to become providers of services, but they’re not getting the work. Many will be faced with the fact that the rewards of the path they’re taking will not fall into their lap, that they will be unable to compete. They will have a rude awakening, but to the extent that they have roots in voluntary action they will survive.

“When I go and talk to people in small voluntary organisations, I sense a lot of their distinctive characteristics are still there and could blossom again – but then I’m probably an incurable romantic.”

This is worrying stuff – “lost cause”, “grooming”, and “rude awakenings” and other scary thoughts… Many things to ponder here for the big national charities, and those local charities that are being groomed for a future of impoverished values…

However, on a more cheery note…

From a quick glance at the NCVO Almanac data for 2013, we can conclude that only c26,000 of the 162,000 charities in the UK employ paid staff.

Therefore at least 84% of charities are volunteer-led and run. The Almanac also cites 580,000 trustees, which (evenly distributed) suggests there are 487,200 leaders of volunteer-led and run charities in the UK.

Is strikes me that these half a million talented, committed and passionate people will act to protect the independence of the ‘voluntary sector’, and champion ‘values-led’ voluntary action for many years to come…