Frontline Hopscotch

The advent of local area agreements together with the Department for Education and Skills' Every Child Matters are changing the landscape of children and young people's services. Frontline Hopscotch outlines some of the emerging trends as they affect voluntary and community sector (VCS) provision of services for children and young people (C&YP).

The findings of Frontline Hopscotch are based on a joint survey conducted by NAVCA on behalf of three key England-wide networks of local VCS organisations: the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA), the National Council of Voluntary Child Care Organisations (NCVCCO) and the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS). In all, 173 organisations responded, between them covering 86 local authority areas.

The findings suggest very strongly that local community-based provision is under threat, indeed the evidence shows that in some places the threat has been carried out. Our concern goes beyond narrow self interest. Community organisations have particular knowledge, networks and expertise that give them unique strengths in building community ownership and improving local services. There is a danger we will lose the vital preventative work of small groups amongst the most disadvantaged communities. This sort of local community action is key to sustaining local social, economic and environmental well-being and to the development of social capital.

Frontline Hopscotch - VCS engagement in delivering change for children: a jumpy start or a step back? (pdf, 1.1Mb)

This publication is only available electronically.