Croydon is one of the largest London boroughs, with a very active vibrant voluntary and community sector. Although parts are fairly affluent, it has substantial areas of deprivation (in the Index of Multiple Deprivation top 10%) including North West Croydon, New Addington and Fieldway - all exhibiting challenges found in deprived inner or outer London i.e. high unemployment and low educational achievement.

 

 

CVA’s database comprises 700+ voluntary and community organisations. The 2007 Change Up Survey gave a good indication of the range of groups CVA reaches. Under half (44%) are led by volunteers -self-help community groups formed due to personal / neighbourhood needs who require help on fundraising, legal structures, governance and basic finance. Enquiries from these groups have increased by 30% from our baseline in 2005, when 10 people asked for in-depth 1 to 1 support.

 

Since 2005, CVA has also seen an increase in social entrepreneurs - individuals seeking to make profit whilst serving the community, all requiring essential yet basic one-to-one and workshop support. Most of these are accessing small grants but are not yet contract / commissioning ready.

 

There are many ways to use statistics, local knowledge and research - these two paragraphs show one way - to prove that groups need more support locally.