The Voluntary and Community Sector is known by many names, including the voluntary sector, the third sector, non-profit sector, the charity sector.
It’s made up of over 160,000 registered charities plus a large number of unregistered non-profit organisations, associations and community groups. These range from small groups with no paid staff to larger household-name charities with thousands of paid staff such as Barnados, Help the Aged, Oxfam.
The voluntary sector makes an important contribution to the British economy and society. It contributes around 2.2% to the UK Gross Domestic Product and delivers important services including social and health care, youth work, cultural heritage and the arts. Total income for the voluntary sector stood at £20.8 billion in 2001/02.
Rapid growth over recent years has seen the workforce expand to around 569,000 paid employees (230,000 part-time). That’s an extra 150,000 full-time equivalent workers between 1995 and 2002. A further 3 million volunteers work in the sector, helping out organisations by lending their skills and time.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the umbrella body for the voluntary sector in England. You can find out more about them and about the sector at www.ncvo.org
If you're thinking of working for a voluntary organisation, you might find the Guidestar website useful, as it holds information on all registered charities in England and Wales. www.guidestar.org.uk
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