Academic articles and book chapters

This chapter in Hybridity and the third sector: Challenges for practice, theory and policy draws on findings from a study of community anchor organisations to examine the pressures on such organisations to engage in public service delivery and the implications of going down this route. 

This paper describes and discusses the dilemmas for voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) in carrying out the twin roles of delivering services and acting as advocates for their client groups and other stakeholders. It draws on a study of a particular subsector of VCOs, namely 'multi-purpose community-based organisations' or 'community anchor organisations', which explored the challenges that they experience in acting as both advocates and service providers.

This article is a review of IVAR's work on community ownership and management of assets drawing on its recent research including Organisations Controlling Assets: A better understanding (2011) and the evidence review Community Ownership and Management of Assets undertaken in 2008 - both published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation - and other writing on social enterprise.

This article focuses on the challenges local governmental and third-sector organisations face when they seek to work collaboratively or in partnership. We build on the findings of an action research project to draw out the practical implications of cross-sector working for the organisations involved. We describe jointly agreed suggestions for tackling the challenges that emerged when third-sector organisations and local governmental agencies themselves worked collaboratively in a search for mutually acceptable solutions.

Building Bridges: The Third Sector Responding Locally to Diversity

Ben Cairns begins his chapter in this book of essays, compiled and edited by Matthew Smerdon, by summarising the New Labour Government’s interest in the voluntary sector, in particular its potential role as a provider of public services as well as an agent of social and democratic renewal.

To read the full chapter - click here.

How citizens and residents come together informally to act and solve problems has rarely been addressed. Little direct research or theory dealing with this subject exists, and correcting that deficit is the task of this book.

If you have any difficulty in obtaining this publication and the full article through your library, email diana@ivar.org.uk

This paper looks at the challenges facing voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) within the new policy context of English “regionalism”, drawing primarily on an empirical study in one of the emerging regions.

If you have any difficulty in obtaining this journal and the full article through your library, please contact Diana Wray - diana@ivar.org.uk

The context for this article is the public policy interest in the United States and the United Kingdom in the contribution that faith-based organisations can make to the provision of welfare and other public services, and the corresponding demands on such organisations to consider how they plan and deliver services.

To read the full article - click here.

This article is about the adoption and use of one approach to performance improvement, “quality systems,” in the U.K. nonprofit sector.

If you have any difficulty in obtaining this journal and the full article through your library, please contact Diana Wray - diana@ivar.org.uk