Unseen but essential

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‍Calculating the true size of the voluntary and community sector
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‍A flourishing voluntary sector is essential to thriving communities, but its size and extent is often underestimated, as many grassroots (‘under the radar’) organisations are not part of official figures. These very small local groups are often run entirely by volunteers, and put on regular activities, groups and events that are a vital part of community life.

We estimate that, across England, there are around 495,000 organisations in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, including these ‘under the radar’ groups. The calculations draw on published data from the NCVO Civil Society Almanac, and research by Local Trust and the University of Southampton.


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The voluntary sector microbiome

The table shows the number of charities, social enterprises, and ‘under the radar’ groups (largely unregistered community groups) – the voluntary sector microbiome.

So, what exactly do we mean by the voluntary sector microbiome?

When it comes to the human microbiome, we cannot always see the microorganisms that help us to digest, metabolise, and defend against illness, but we know that they are essential for our health. This is mirrored in the voluntary sector – the smallest groups are essential to community flourishing, health, and wellbeing, but their contribution often goes unseen and unrecognised.

Why does thinking about the smallest VCSE groups as a microbiome help? Policy makers and policy influencers, health and care commissioners and integrated care boards try to use systems thinking: an approach which avoids isolating a problem to just one factor and instead understands it as the outcome of many factors.

Embracing systems thinking means that we need to be as attentive to the smallest parts of
the system as we are to the largest.
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