NCVO hosts second Recession Summit

The summit involved a group of Charity leaders from England as well as representatives from voluntary and community sector umbrella bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Seamus McAleavey, Chief Executive of NICVA attended.

 In a message to the summit Gordon Brown said

"The third sector as a whole is showing both its resilience and its importance and as a Government we are committed to supporting front-line organisations that are helping individuals and communities through the fall-out from the global recession.

We must not lose focus on the role an independent voluntary and community sector plays in our society; the British way has always been much more than self interested individualism and we are stronger for that".

The meeting recognised that the recession would begin to bite for voluntary and community organisations this year and be tougher in 2010/11. After the first recession summit the government published its response Real Help for Communities a £42.5 Million action plan. http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/real_help_for_communities.aspx

In Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy first Minister Martin McGuiness have set up a Task Force to advise on the economic crisis. As part of this process and in response to an invitation from NICVA the deputy First Minister Martin McGuiness has agreed to meet with a group of 15 people from across the sector to hear the issues first hand.

 The London summit also published advice for voluntary and community organisations available at http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk

For more information on dealing with the recession, visit our Recession Toolkit pages