Civil society is currently spoken about in expansive terms. Trusted. Rooted. Innovative. Capable of reaching people the formal system cannot. It is positioned as central to prevention, to integration, to strengthening neighbourhoods and bringing lived experience into decision-making.

February is often the month when leadership feels most exposed.

By now, organisations like Communities 1st are expected to be operating as though the year ahead is settled. Budgets should be agreed. Plans signed off. Staff reassured. Services confirmed. And yet, across Hertfordshire and beyond, many voluntary and community organisations are doing all of that without knowing, with certainty, what their funding position will actually be.