Rhoda Reid says we must move beyond us and them in the cuts debate - and find constructive solutions
I read with interest TFN’s recent article on funding cuts and believe there is another approach from what I feel is the adversarial ‘them and us’ stance that the voluntary sector can often take.
Does such a dualistic stance ever serve us, or our communities best?
As project leader of COVEY befriending based in South Lanarkshire we have been subject to cuts in the past and taking in the bigger picture, the council itself is also experiencing a wide range of cuts.
Surely in this climate there should be a call for more constructive and collaborative working to ensure the most effective use of limited funds to best serve our communities?
I am concerned that the third sector, especially council funded Third Sector Interfaces, can be seen as “against” anything that means change. I personally believe that is not the case, as is seen in much reporting in TFN, where charities have been innovative in making the most of the changing and challenging landscape we find ourselves in.
Reporting on the situation in South Lanarkshire where Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire (VASLAN) hopes that the council will see the voluntary sector as a valued partner is something that we all aspire to. How we do that is surely not by reactionary verbal ‘blasts’, but through constructive dialogue.
To quote VASLAN chief executive Gordon Bennie in saying that “To withdraw investment in the development of the sector at this time is utterly baffling” will, I believe, not serve the third sector well at all. I believe that this could potentially diminish any relationship that has been built in recent years.
The council could in effect write exactly the same thing to the Scottish Government, who could then write exactly the same thing to the UK government and where would that get us? Thus no one takes full responsibility to get together and create as much positivity in a publically challenging situation, with an outcome which is to the detriment of everyone, especially those most in need, that we here to serve!
It is self-evident that cuts will have a detrimental effect on our communities and we should refrain from using language that is reactionary rather than identify the actual impact, while offering the best possible solutions.
We are afraid that taking this stance will make matters worse and could provoke councillors into making decisions they may not have even considered beforehand. This is in respect of the very sector that the Third Sector Interfaces are tasked to supposedly support, promote and protect.
Rhoda Reid is project leader of COVEY Befriending.
