A crisis facing community organisations which provide vital services across Wales is rapidly becoming ‘a catastrophe’, research warns.
Building Communities Trust (BCT) has published new research highlighting what it says are the persistent and multiple challenges faced by community organisations in Wales, which have been compounded by the cost-of-living crisis.
It says these groups are working on the frontline to deliver support to thousands of people across the country, operating in a landscape where continued cutbacks have seen services dwindle or cease completely.
Chris Johnes, Chief Executive of BCT, said:
“Anyone who reads this report could reasonably conclude that the system is broken; we want this research to serve as a wake-up call for decision-makers, because this crisis is rapidly turning into a catastrophe.
“The only durable solution lies in better paying jobs and a functional welfare system but there is no sign of that happening any time soon, so we have highlighted practical recommendations that can be taken forward by our devolved government.
“The research has also demonstrated how much Welsh Government and local authorities rely on community organisations to provide essential services to many communities, but the support they give to these groups is extremely limited and leaves many of them very fragile, despite the fact that they are linchpins in their areas.”
The research, commissioned from Funding Assist, was collated between December 2023 and March 2024, and features feedback from 134 community organisations, 10 umbrella organisations, as well as responses from two focus groups and 12 in depth interviews. Eight case studies from across Wales are further highlighted within the main report.
Key findings include:
- 84% of respondents said the cost-of-living crisis had affected the work of their organisation markedly
- Over 50% of respondents reported that demand on their services had increased, while their income decreased
- 51% of respondents consider their organisation to be providing support which was previously the responsibility of the state and 54% said this had increased since the start of the cost-of-living crisis
- Close to 80% of respondents said that the cost-of-living crisis has had a marked effect on staff and volunteers, with concerns over mental health and work pressures
- 54% of community organisations said they had set up new services, including ten organisations which were established in response to the crisis
- 46% of respondents reported that new opportunities had arisen for their organisation during the cost-of-living crisis, including new funding sources and new partnerships
Eleri Williams, Policy Officer at BCT, said:
“We’ve called our report ‘Beyond Essentials’ because the stark choices that people face are now sadly commonplace. The cost-of-living crisis is a social crisis, with people from many walks of life finding it increasingly hard to make ends meet.
“This research conclusively demonstrates the central role that community organisations are now playing in supporting more and more people, despite coming under growing pressure themselves, and without these groups many more people would fall through the cracks in our society which are now becoming chasms.”
The five key recommendations for Welsh Government arising from the research are:
- Long-term funding: The Welsh Government should develop a flexible and long-term funding models to support community action using the expanded Dormant Assets Scheme.
- Core costs: Funders and commissioners should recognise the extreme pressures and additional demands community groups are experiencing and build a contribution to core costs into funding awards.
- Real living wage: Funders and commissioners should ensure grant recipients and suppliers pay their staff the real living wage.
- Welsh benefits system: Welsh Government must prioritise work on a Welsh Benefits System; recognising and investing in face-to-face provision of advice and assistance, ensuring people can access the support they are entitled to.
- Support for energy costs and retrofitting community facilities: The Welsh Government, funders and infrastructure bodies must support community organisations to meet rising energy costs, through a more expansive range of grant schemes including contributions to retrofit measures.
