As the NHS heads towards its 75th birthday on the 5 July 2023, the South Yorkshire Integrated Partnership is celebrating the role of the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector (VCSE) in this magnificent milestone by launching a new Yorkshire and Humber report, produced by Professor Tony Chapman, St Chads College, Durham University.

75 years on, the VCSE remain a valued partner in the delivery of health and care services across the United Kingdom. In South Yorkshire there are an estimated:

  • 6,600 VCSE sector organisations (registered and unregistered)
  • 16,000 employees and 63,000 regular volunteers who collectively produce 4.5 million hours of work valued between £45 million and £63 million.
  • An economic value of £698 million and estimated value of £2.4 billion when considering added and social value.

The report outlines how the local VCSE, continue to provide a lifeline to people and communities at a grassroots level. Over 30% of VCSE groups and organisations work in the poorest areas reaching people who may not be accessing other health and care services in South Yorkshire. They are connected and trusted yet remain financially challenged.

In 1948, when the NHS was established, charities received funding from hospital savings schemes and local authority grants. Hospitals were the focus for local charitable effort, run by leaders in local society and doctors’ wives.

Today, many continue to be self-financing through trading arms, fundraising, or receiving funding from local councils, national grants and/or NHS contracts.

Shafiq Hussain, Chief Executive of Voluntary Action Rotherham and Chair of South Yorkshire VCSE Alliance, said: “This research highlights the great strength of the work of VCSE organisations and people in South Yorkshire. As a sector, we deliver huge benefits to our communities and health services. This comes from the diversity of our vibrant sector as well as the strength of our partnership working. It is a challenging time for the sector but there is much to be proud of across our alliance and we are working hard collectively to support the sustainability of the VCSE as well as ensuring that we continue to maximise the impact for our communities.”

Professor Tony Chapman and Dr Jonathan Wistow of Durham University said: “The VCSE sector in South Yorkshire is keen to make a strong contribution to health, personal, social and community wellbeing – and this report shows that it is already achieving that. The social impact measures used in this study indicate that from the energy it invests in activities, the VCSE sector in South Yorkshire produced nearly £2.5 billion in social impact in 2022. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that many organisations are keen to take up opportunities to engage with local social and health policy. This report shows that they do so in the firm belief that they are already valued by local health and public sector organisations and the people they serve.”

Dr David Crichton, Chief Medical officer at NHS South Yorkshire said: “Our VCSE partners help deliver innovative approaches which are personalised, local, inclusive and accessible, supporting health and care colleagues to provide valuable services to local people. This report demonstrates their intrinsic value in tackling health inequalities and building on community strength that can benefit people's life expectancy, health, and well-being.”

You can read the full report or a summary here