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Policy Statement: Voluntary and Community Sector
MACC originated within the voluntary and community
sector. It might therefore seem inevitable that our work would be focused in this area, but it is a deliberate choice.
We work with the voluntary and community sector because we believe it is
fertile ground for developing good ideas and new understanding: it’s our job to
help draw this out and spread the message:
- Voluntary and community
sector groups are about people in the community getting together to meet a
need. They know the need is there because they are part of the community
and they therefore have great insight into what will work in meeting that
need.
- The flexibility of
voluntary and community groups to create and try out new approaches gives
the sector a unique perspective.
- Workers (whether paid or
unpaid) in voluntary and community sector groups have a wealth of skills
based in practical experience. (The same is true of the statutory sector,
yet workforce development in the voluntary sector gets little
recognition.)
- The voluntary and community
sector is often a complement to mainstream services: the sector provides
many flexible services which enhance and glue together the work of the
statutory providers. This is often because by being informal and Not The
State, some people find these services more accessible and approachable.
Many also have a community / social dimension which statutory services
can’t
- Good practice developed and
nurtured in the voluntary and community sector produces innovation and new
learning which can then be used as an evidence base for transforming
mainstream services.
Marginalised groups within the community are those who don’t
feel able to engage with way the statutory sector operates (this can cover the whole
range from care services through to democratic structures). These people
require different support in making their voices heard: the voluntary and
community sector is in a unique position to support the participation and
engagement of the local community. This can result in a sense of competition as
to who is the legitimate voice of the community. MACC believes that far from
being a competition, this “belt and braces” approach can only add value.
In all of this we acknowledge that on many
occasions
the voluntary and community sector can get it as badly wrong as any
other sector. MACC campaigns wherever the needs of people in the
community can best
be supported, and is not selective about the origins of good practice.
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