A Crossroads for Charities and Communities
The Charity Commission’s 2025 research highlights a stark truth: more people than ever before rely on charities for essentials like food, financial aid, and medical support. The figures are sobering - 9% of people received essential support in the past year, triple the proportion of just five years ago. Behind every statistic lies a family struggling to make ends meet, an older person isolated at home, a young carer under pressure.
At Communities 1st, we see this reality every day. As the local CVS and Volunteer Centre, we exist to enable the voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector to thrive, while empowering local communities to lead change. But this research forces us to confront hard questions. How, in one of the richest nations in the world, are we still patching gaps left by systemic failings? And why, after decades of policy promises, do local charities remain under-resourced while demand spirals upwards?
The answer lies in recognising where we've been - and reimagining where we must go.
Two Decades of Promises and Pressures
Over the last 20 years, successive governments promised “stronger communities,” “levelling up,” and “integration between services.” Yet, locally and nationally, the VCFSE sector continues to be treated as a stopgap rather than a strategic partner. While we deliver essential services - from community transport to wellbeing programmes - funding models remain short-term, fragmented, and often disconnected from real community need.
The Commission’s data reflects this paradox. While demand has soared, charitable donations have declined sharply, dropping from 62% of households five years ago to just 48% today. Trustees report increasing financial pressures, with nearly half dipping into reserves and 11% forced to stop services altogether.
The truth is, the VCFSE sector is being asked to deliver more with less. But here’s the opportunity: by placing communities and local organisations at the centre of solutions - not as delivery agents, but as equal partners - we can create a system that works.
Trust: Our Greatest Currency
Despite mounting pressures, public trust in charities remains remarkably high - second only to doctors. That’s not an accident. It’s because people see the impact. They know when they give to local organisations, they’re supporting neighbours, friends, and families.
For CVSs like Communities 1st, maintaining that trust is fundamental. We do this by:
- Championing transparency: ensuring donations and public funding are used where they make the most difference.
- Driving accountability: supporting local groups to demonstrate the value and impact of their work.
- Amplifying community voice: making sure decisions reflect what people actually need, not just what systems think they need.
The Charity Commission’s findings are clear: 6 in 10 people now believe their donations reach the end cause, up 7% in a single year. That confidence is hard-won - and must never be taken for granted.
Communities at the Heart of Change
For too long, solutions have been designed *for* communities, not *with* them. That must change. Community development - empowering people to co-design services, influence decisions, and take ownership - isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s essential for building resilience.
At Communities 1st, we see the impact when communities lead:
- Better outcomes: Our Better Day Hubs don’t just deliver services; they connect people, reduce isolation, and improve wellbeing.
- Stronger voice: We support local groups to influence policy on housing, health, and climate.
- Inclusive opportunities: Our Volunteer Centre empowers people of all ages and backgrounds to contribute their time and talents, creating a sense of belonging.
The Charity Commission’s research underlines what we know locally: when communities are trusted, they thrive. Yet, too often, community voices remain absent from the rooms where decisions are made.
Innovation vs. Reality
Innovation has been a buzzword in our sector for decades. But innovation without systemic change is theatre.
The research shows people value charities that balance immediate relief with long-term change. Yet too often, we’re funded to respond to symptoms, not address root causes. For example, food aid demand continues to rise, yet the structures driving poverty remain unchallenged.
This is where CVSs and the wider VCFSE sector can lead:
- Piloting community-led models that combine service delivery with prevention.
- Using data and lived experience to influence system redesign.
- Building cross-sector alliances that move beyond competition towards collaboration.
We’ve seen glimpses of this future. From Nottingham’s “public restaurants” offering dignity-driven, affordable meals, to co-designed local health initiatives, innovation happens when systems trust communities.
But innovation must also be funded, not just celebrated. If we want different outcomes, we need different investment strategies.
A Leadership Imperative
The Charity Commission’s trustee research highlights an encouraging truth: 99% of trustees report confidence in their role, even when facing intense pressures and difficult decisions. That resilience matters. Trustees remain steadfast in their responsibilities, keeping charities functioning despite financial challenges, rising demand, and increasingly complex governance expectations. But trustees cannot, and should not, be expected to shoulder the burden of systemic reform alone.
This is where CVSs, and the broader VCFSE infrastructure, have a pivotal role to play. Our responsibility goes beyond enabling local groups to operate day-to-day - it’s about reshaping the narrative of what the voluntary and community sector represents and where it fits within the wider social fabric.
We must tell a different story. We are not just service providers plugging the gaps left by overstretched statutory systems. We are architects of healthier, fairer, and greener communities. Through our collective reach and insight, we connect sectors and amplify the lived experiences of the people we serve, giving policymakers and partners a clearer view of what actually works on the ground.
Leadership in this context means building collective power. It means drawing together charities, social enterprises, community groups, and faith-based organisations under a shared vision. When united, the VCFSE sector has the potential to influence national policy and secure the investment needed to create lasting change. But we cannot do this alone; it requires systems and statutory partners to see us not as subcontractors, but as equal partners.
And central to this vision is inclusion. The communities we serve are diverse, complex, and dynamic. Decisions that affect people’s lives must reflect that diversity - not just in tokenistic consultations but through meaningful co-production and power-sharing. To achieve this, CVSs like Communities 1st must ensure every voice has a seat at the table, especially those who have historically been excluded.
This is our opportunity - and our responsibility. To move beyond managing demand and instead lead a new conversation about rebuilding our social infrastructure, one where communities are not an afterthought, but the starting point.
Looking Forward
The Charity Commission’s findings act as a mirror, reflecting both the challenges we face and the enormous potential within our sector. Demand for services continues to rise faster than resources can keep up. Donations have declined, and financial pressures have forced some charities to pause or stop services entirely. And yet, trust in charities remains high, second only to doctors. This is remarkable - but also fragile.
Communities are ready to lead. We see it every day through grassroots groups stepping up to fill gaps, volunteers creating networks of support, and local residents driving solutions where systems have failed. The question is whether we, collectively - as a sector and as a society - are prepared to make space for communities to shape their future.
The next decade must be different. We cannot afford to continue with short-termism and reactive policymaking. If we want to move beyond firefighting and towards sustainable impact, we must commit to three shifts:
First, we need to invest in community power, not just services. This means resourcing community-led action, supporting grassroots groups, and enabling residents to be active participants rather than passive recipients. Communities are not the problem to be solved; they are the solution waiting to be unlocked.
Second, we need long-term funding models that provide stability and security for local charities. Too many organisations operate on precarious, year-to-year contracts that stifle innovation and undermine sustainability. A thriving voluntary sector needs room to plan, adapt, and grow.
Third, we must embed co-production into everything we do - from national strategies to local delivery plans. Policy decisions should not happen to communities; they should be shaped with them. True innovation happens when people with lived experience are at the heart of designing solutions.
Communities 1st is committed to championing this agenda locally and nationally. We will continue to work with partners, funders, policymakers, and - most importantly - local residents to ensure the VCFSE sector is not just surviving, but actively shaping the future.
Because when we put VCFSE organisations and communities at the heart of solutions, we unlock creativity, resilience, and hope. And in a world of growing complexity, that’s not optional - it’s essential.
The research tells us one thing above all: people still believe in charities. Now it’s up to us to prove that belief is well placed.
By Stephen Craker, Chief Executive of Communities 1st
