Creating an environment for a thriving third sector is a priority for Nottinghamshire.
Whitehall is agreed that it is the responsibility of the public sector to create such an environment
The term ‘third sector’ is open to some interpretation, but usually it refers to voluntary organisations, charities and community organisations. The Office for the Third Sector, which is part of the Cabinet Office, also includes Registered Social Landlords as part of the third sector.
The benefits of a thriving third sector have been well explored through the Stronger Communities Network.
They include:
- widening opportunities for participation (through volunteering)
- increasing the numbers of people engaged in civic leadership (through trustee and governance positions)
- widening the reach of public services (where third sector organisations can reach other parts of the community)
- bringing additional resources into the county (through fund raising)
- plugging the gaps where service users fall between public services.
A healthy and robust third sector is vital to the well being of communities.
The Partnership has produced its own baseline [PDF 201KB] which clarifies the support already provided by the public sector to the third sector in Nottinghamshire. This shows the extent to which it is, collectively, creating an environment for a thriving third sector.
Nottinghamshire County Compact
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Compact, an agreement which sets out guidelines for working between government and the voluntary and community sector.
Partners have been working over the past year to update the agreement, now called Compact Plus (draft version) [PDF 109KB], making it more relevant to partnership work today.
