Covid-19 Briefings
Recognising the tremendous pressure that charity leaders and the health sector are under as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, we are facilitating online peer support groups. The aim is to create a space for them to share challenges, dilemmas and worries, and to learn from each other’s experiences.
These briefings share the kinds of challenges facing different groups, and the help they need.
VCSE organisations are clear about what they need from funders:
‘Be brave’, ‘be flexible’, ‘trust us’, ‘be clear and open’, ‘understand the pressure we are under and reflect this in how you work’, ‘become more of a partner and less of an auditor’.
VCSE leaders and their funders
Briefing papers:
Show us you trust us
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Keeva Rooney
This fifteenth briefing shares the experiences of 34 leaders and senior staff participating in the sessions between 22nd January and 26th February 2021, and our reflections on the questions and opportunities for funders that they raise.
Briefing papers:
Chasing against time
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Keeva Rooney
This fourteenth briefing shares the experiences of 33 charities through online peer support sessions, between 4 December 2020 and 20 January 2021.
Briefing papers:
Steadfast endurance
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Rebecca Moran
This thirteenth briefing shares the experiences of 23 leaders participating in online peer support sessions between 11th and 30th November, and our reflections on the questions and opportunities for funders that they raise.
Briefing papers:
Complicated and messy
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Rebecca Moran
This twelfth briefing shares the experiences of 43 leaders participating in online peer support sessions between 15th October and 4th November, and our reflections on the questions and opportunities for funders that they raise.
Briefing papers:
The certainty of uncertainty
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Rebecca Moran
This eleventh briefing shares the experiences of 44 leaders participating in online peer support sessions in September, and our reflections on the questions and opportunities for funders that they raise.
Briefing papers:
Looking for more stability
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Rebecca Moran
This tenth briefing shares the experiences of 24 leaders participating in online peer support sessions between 28th July and 21st August, and our reflections on the questions and opportunities for funders that they raise.
Briefing papers:
Between a rock and a hard place
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Rebecca Moran
This ninth briefing shares the experiences of 36 leaders participating in the sessions between 14th and 31st July, and our reflections on the questions and opportunities for funders that they raise.
Briefing papers:
Finding a way forward
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Rebecca Moran
This eighth briefing shares the experiences of 41 leaders participating in the sessions between 17th June and 5th July, and our reflections on the questions and opportunities for funders that they raise.
Briefing papers:
Time for flexibility
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Rebecca Moran
This seventh briefing shares the experiences of 34 leaders participating in the sessions between 4th June and 15th June, and our reflections on the questions and opportunities for funders that they raise.
Briefing papers:
Taking some control
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Rebecca Moran
In our sixth briefing paper, four preoccupations continue to be front of mind for VCSE leaders from 31 charities.
Briefing papers:
Focusing on what we can do
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Rebecca Moran
In our fifth briefing paper, VCSE leaders entered weeks five and six of the Covid-19 lockdown and focused on what they could do rather than what they can’t.
Briefing papers:
A funding cliff edge?
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Chris Mills
VCSE leaders talked about the pressures and emotional impact of steering their organisations through the current Covid-19 crisis. Entering the fifth week of lockdown, the stress shows no sign of abating.
Briefing papers:
Getting ready for the fallout
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth, Chris Mills
We heard from 37 charities through online peer support sessions, between 9 and 16 April 2020. From this, we continue to build a picture of what is front of mind for VCSE leaders at the moment, and to draw out questions and opportunities for funders.
Briefing papers:
Moving out of the initial shock
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth
We heard from 32 charities through online peer support sessions, between 6 and 9 April 2020. From this, we continue to build a picture of what is front of mind for VCSE leaders at the moment, and to draw out questions and opportunities for funders.
Briefing papers:
The pressures of uncertainty
Ben Cairns, Emily Dyson, Liz Firth
So far, we have hosted online peer support sessions for 23 VCSE leaders. From this, we have begun to build a picture of what is front of mind for VCSE leaders at the moment, and to draw out questions and opportunities for funders.
Health sector
Briefing papers:
A balancing act: Youth volunteering in hospitals, in the context of Covid-19
Annie Caffyn, Rebecca Moran
Initial reflections on how 30 NHS trusts and their respective charities have adapted their youth volunteering offers in response to Covid-19. ‘It has been an incredibly moving experience seeing how young people have responded, adapted and grown in this unfamiliar world we are currently in.’
Briefing papers:
Barriers are coming down
Sonakshi Anand | IVAR and Nancy Towers | Social Enterprise UK
What is happening to community-based healthcare during Covid-19 and the challenges and opportunities facing cross-sector leaders. Based on the experiences of 37 people from the NHS, VCSE and Local Authorities who joined a peer support session on 22 April.
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