Dhara Vyas

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

it might be useful to note here that the Government uses the indices of multiple deprivation to analyse patterns of deprivation, identify areas that would benefit from special initiatives or programmes and as a tool to determine eligibility for specific funding streams.

here’s an interesting charity finance blog by a twitter convert.

I do think that the personal vs professional use of twitter which she raises is a subject of massive and continuous debate – use it to keep up with friends or work? Or is it possible to do both? And would you want to do both? It’s very much about personal preference – which is another reason twitter is good, because you can just experiment and figure out how & why you want to use it.

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

I agree with a number of points that have been made here – no, not all voluntary and community/third sector organisations are “good” – but then many would argue that the very definition of what is “good” is incredibly subjective!- and personal. How we choose the charities and voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) that we give to and support in other ways is often a very personal decision.

Not all VCOs choose to do anything relating to promoting...

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

The Governments agenda on localism and local democracy is still moving forward. The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill was introduced into the House of Lords on Thursday 4th December, with the second reading planned for Wednesday 17th Dec.

The proposals that NCVO is particularly interested are related to:

• Local Democracy – including the proposed duty on local govt to promote democracy (to stimulate debate, improve democratic...

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

I just read an extract from a speech by Hazel Blears MP, on ‘Tackling Disengagement’ in it, she infers that political blogging fuels cynicism and leads to disengagement.

I think its particularly pertinent given she gave this speech on the 5th November, the day after Barrack Obama was elected and declared President–elect of the USA. Obama’s campaign and eventual victory has been historic for a number of reasons- not least because of the way he was able to...

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

I read an interesting review on pickled politics of a new book by Clay Shirky – Here comes everybody

I think that the summary of the book in the blog post, particularly the discussion about online vs offline campaigning, is really interesting, and I like that Shirky seems to address the potential negative consequenses of new technologies too.

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

This focus on trying to increase the numbers of people actively engaged in both civil and civic life is gaining pace following the publication of the recent DCLG white paper communities in control
The first chapter is entitled ‘active citizenship and the value of volunteering’. It sets out what the Government plans to do to make it easier for people to be involved in voluntary and community activity. As suggested in this driver, it does indeed include the...

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

The recent DCLG White Paper Communities in Control has a real focus on how to get people engaged and active in their communities. (an NCVO briefing is also available)Whilst the government does recognise the value of communities of interest in the white paper, there is without a doubt a focus on geographically based communities. The white paper builds on the work of Sherry Arnstein and discusses a ‘ladder’ or ‘spectrum’ of opportunities for community...

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

Richard’s point about people being engaged and interested in multiple single issues is spot on, and can also be considered in light of Naomi Kleins point about blogging. The internet enables us to access information, to gain knowledge and an understanding of a whole host of issues – and crucially it is also a medium through which we can participate in various ways. This ability and flexibility to get involved has contributed to the perceived rise of our...

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

On Wednesday 9th July, Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for communities and local government, launched the empowerment white paper – Communities in Control: real people, real power. The white paper addresses seven key issues, which it aims to address from the perspective of the individual citizen:

• being active in your community
• access to information
• having an influence
• challenge
• redress
• standing for office
• ownership and control

Many of the...

I didn’t make it to the seminar, so I found Natalie’s post and Veronique’s comment really interesting. It got me thinking about the implications of localism in relation to communities of ‘interest’ which can and often do cross so many geographic boundaries: is one of the risks associated with the ‘charity begins at home scenario’ that as more and more decision making happens at the local level, the VCS might begin to focus disproportionately on the “local” in relation to geographic...

This is not in reply to Peter (sorry!) but just a quick post to alert people to the people and participation website, sponsored by the DCLG, MoJ and the Sustainable Development Commission. I haven’t had a chance to look at it in any depth but its an interesting site that builds on the excellent Involve publication of the same name. The site aims to be a central portal for information and inspiration about participation to practitioners across the world.

I went to an interesting lecture held by PMPA yesterday – How can Local government save the planet?. It focused (unsuprisingly) on what local government can do to stop climate change, and the example of carbon neutral Marks and Spencers was also given – I hadn’t seen the NHS corporate citizenship website before, but this thread has made me think about CSR and the public sector locally- If all 410 local authorities were better ‘corporate citizens’ could they save the planet? I dont think...