- National Council for Voluntary Organisations
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"National Council of Social Services" redirects here. For the Singapore statutory board, see National Council of Social Service.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England. NCVO works to support the voluntary and community sector and to create an environment in which an independent civil society can flourish. NCVO has a growing membership, which currently stands at over 8,400 voluntary organisations ranging from large national bodies to community groups, volunteer centres, and development agencies working at a local level.
Contents
Aims
NCVO’s stated aims are:
- to bring about a comprehensive understanding of the distinctive value and values that the voluntary and community sector brings to society;
- to ensure that voluntary and community organisations and their users can play the fullest possible part in civil society and in building a diverse, tolerant, just and compassionate society;
- to redefine, develop and improve the relationships and partnerships within the voluntary and community sector and those with the other sectors and the general public;
- to ensure that a voluntary or community organisation, at whatever stage in its development, can access appropriate information, advice and models of good practice easily and quickly;
- to ensure that voluntary and community organisations have access to the resources and personnel they need to achieve their mission and to make the most effective use of those resources.
Activity
NCVO represents the views of its members, and the wider voluntary sector to government, the European Union and other bodies. It carries out research into, and analysis of, the voluntary and community sector. It campaigns on issues affecting the whole of the voluntary and community sector, such as the role of voluntary and community organisations in public service delivery and the future of local government. It provides information, advice and support to other organisations and individuals working in or with the voluntary and community sector. Many now well-established voluntary organisations started out as projects within NCVO, including Age Concern, Citizens Advice, the Charities Aid Foundation, the Black Environment Network, the Youth Hostel Association and the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs.
History
NCVO started in 1919 as the National Council of Social Services (NCSS). NCSS was established in order to bring various voluntary bodies together and into closer relationships with government departments. Its foundation was made possible through a legacy from Edward Vivian Birchall, who had played a large part in the emergent voluntary sector before he was killed, aged 32, in France during the First World War. On 1 April 1980, just over 60 years since its foundation, the National Council for Social Service became the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.
Officers
- Presidents
- 1919-1921: The Rt Hon the Viscount Ullswater PC GCB
- 1921-1928: The Rt Hon J H Whitley PC MP
- 1928-1932: Captain The Rt Hon E A FitzRoy PC MP
- 1932-1935: The Rt Hon J H Whitley PC MP
- 1935-1938: The Rt Hon the Viscount Bledisloe PC GCMG KBE
- 1938-1939: The Rt Hon the Lord Snell PC CBE
- 1939-1951: Sir Percy Malcolm Stewart Bart DL OBE
- 1951-1954: The Rt Hon the Earl of Halifax PC KG OM GCSI GCIE
- 1954-1957: Sir Edward Peacock GCVO
- 1964-1969: The Rt Hon the Lord Hayworth
- 1969-1973: His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh
- 1973-1981: Sir John Partridge KBE
- 1981-1986: Sir John Hedley Greenborough KBE
- 1986-1991: Sir Kenneth Durham
- 1991-1997: Sir Campbell Adamson
- 1997-2002: The Lord Plant of Highfield
- 2002-2007: The Baroness Rawlings
- 2007 to present: The Lord Hodgson
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- Chairmen
- 2007-2010: Graham Melmoth[1]
- 2010 to present: Martyn Lewis[2]
Sister Councils
The equivalent infrastructure bodies for voluntary organisations in the other UK countries are:
- Wales: WCVA, Wales Council for Voluntary Action
- Scotland: SCVO, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
- Northern Ireland: NICVA, the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action
References
- ^ Interview with Martyn Lewis, ThirdSector, 18 May 2010
- ^ Martyn Lewis, Civil Society
- Coles, Kay (1993). National Council for Voluntary Organisations from 1919 to 1993: A Selective Summary of NCVO's Work and Origins, London: NCVO Publications. ISBN 0-7199-1360-8.
External links
Categories:- Organizations established in 1980
- Organisations based in England
- Charities based in England
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