Voluntary, community and faith sector

This module supports those developing family hubs to integrate them with the voluntary, community and faith sector. The voluntary, community and faith sector (VCFS) is diverse and includes different types of organisations. Including:

• Charities make up the largest segment of the voluntary sector, and often provide social, support and care services.
• Community groups provide a public or local community benefit, such as organising social events for seniors or planning community projects.
• Social co-operatives (co-ops) are owned and controlled by their individual members to serve a collective purpose.
• Community interest companies (CICs) are limited companies set up to achieve social objectives and benefit a particular community rather than private shareholders.
• Credit unions are financial institutions owned and controlled by their members.
• Foundations provide grants to charitable or philanthropic projects.
• Culture and recreation groups like youth, arts and sport groups, are not-for-profit organisations typically run by volunteers.
• Parent teacher associations (PTAs) are volunteer organisations that aim to enrich schools for children.
• Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) focus on large-scale issues such as social care, environmental advocacy or human rights work. They can operate locally or globally.

The VCFS is essential to run an effective and sustainable family hub. These organisations understand their communities best and should be considered at all stages of family hubs planning, delivery and evaluation. VCFS organisations can be commissioned to deliver the Family Hubs programme in partnership with local authorities.

The VCFS can:

• be commissioned by local authorities and public health to deliver family hub services such as peer support
• chair strategic partnership boards alongside local authorities
• undertake participation and co-production work with children, young people and families
• complete short-term consultancy work to improve service delivery
• support children and young people who may struggle to access local authority services.

Relationships between the VCFS and local authorities should be reciprocal and acknowledge power imbalances. Many VCFS organisations work with minoritised groups and communities where local authorities hold more power, and recognising this will help build productive partnerships between organisations.

The Early Help System is described by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities and Department for Education as: 

A network of services, processes and interactions that aim to help children, young people and families at the earliest opportunity. Improving this system requires clarity of what success looks like, shared across a range of partners, and informed by the voices of managers, practitioners and families. 

Family hubs are one method of delivering early help. You can read more about this in the Family Hubs and Early Help: an overview module. 

The Early Help System Guide (2022) provides information and guidance on implementing strategic partnerships to ensure that community support is effective and able to meet demand. 

These organisations and institutions link together to form the Early Help system. 

The VCFS often acts as a safety net for those who fall outside the parameters for government or other public sector support. For example, people experiencing or at risk of homelessness can find accommodation through voluntary sector organisations and food banks support people experiencing food insecurity. Furthermore, VCFS organisations can provide support for individuals who do not feel safe or comfortable engaging with organisations they see as authority figures .
VCFS organisations often support those experiencing:

• discrimination based on characteristics such as race, religion sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, age, disability, marriage or pregnancy
• unaffordable housing
• problem debt
• domestic violence
• poor mental health

The VCFS was particularly important during the coronavirus pandemic and difficult economic conditions. According to the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the use of voluntary sector services rose between March 2020 and December 2021 and continues to increase, while high inflation, rising running costs and reduced income create additional challenges. Local authorities should consider how to support VCFS organisations within the family hub network, so they can offer effective support.

A report by the Early Intervention Foundation (now Foundations ) lack of cultural sensitivity in family support services. This has a major impact: more than 40% of research participants said the support they received made no difference or made things worse. The report also found that services are not always representative of the communities they work with, and practitioners often lacked understanding of cultural and religious influences on family dynamics.

Community-based, grassroots organisations are often better placed to engage families from minoritsed ethnic groups . Including these organisations in hub development helps ensure hub services meet the community’s needs, and that those from marginalised groups feel included in the hub’s design and delivery. However, VCFS organisations need support to build their capacity – including support to evaluate the impact of their services.

Local authorities should take into account marginalised families’ needs and ensure information about family hub services is accessible to them. For more information, please read our Access and Inclusion and Participation, Service Design and Commissioning modules.

Practice Spotlight: Food Poverty

Nearly five million people in the UK experienced food poverty in 2021-2022, including 12% of UK children.

Food insecurity is rarely an isolated issue. Families living in poverty are more likely to be referred to children’s social care (Bywaters et al, 2015), or have experience of domestic violence, drug or alcohol dependence or mental or physical illness.

Addressing food poverty requires a joined-up approach – linking family hubs and the voluntary sector can deliver that. Leicestershire County Council worked closely with community organisations to set up, stock and maintain community fridges in their family hubs so families could access the support they need in one convenient, familiar location. Read more in our case study on Leicestershire’s community fridges. 

In line with the family hub develop process and theory of change, VCFS organisations should form part of early family hub development and strategy. Map out the VCFS presence within your area to understand the local picture – for example, there may be one organisation that acts as an umbrella for a number of local VCFS groups.

As with all family hub development, involving children, young people, parents and carers will help you identify how the VCFS can best support them. For example, families may feel excluded from religious buildings that don’t correspond with their own faith or belief. These considerations should be taken into account during hub planning and development. Also consider how VCFS organisations can support hub access, such as by increasing awareness of the services on offer.

•  Are VCFS organisations part of your Theory of Change?
• How are they demonstrating the three family hub principles of access, connection and relationships?
• Are VCFS organisations part of your family hub governing boards?
• What influence do they have on decision-making?
• How are you managing safeguarding, access and inclusion issues consistently across VCFS partners in your family hub network?
• Has your local authority signed up to the Faith Covenant and what impact is it having? Are your local faith partners signed up to it too?
• Do you have an up-to-date list or map of all the VCFS organisations in your area? Are these available as part of your digital offer?
• Do you have a strategy for growing and maintaining capacity in your local VCFS sector?

Foundations (formerly Early Intervention Foundation): What works to improve the lives of vulnerable children: A review of interventions for a local family help offer

Keeping the Faith: https://www.faithandsociety.org/resources/

National Council for Voluntary Organisations: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/#/

Early Help System Guide: Early Help System Guide

To search for a registered charity: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/results/page/2/delta/20/keywords/family

Love Matters: https://www.churchofengland.org/about/archbishops-commissions/families-and-households/love-matters-final-report-commission

Faith and Society Covenant: https://www.faithandsociety.org/covenant/