Demand up and Income down for Britain's community centres

Community Matters member survey for 2010-11 shows that its members are struggling to meet the increasing demand for their services as more and more people turn to their local community organisations for support.

Community Matters member survey for 2010-11 shows that its members are struggling to meet the increasing demand for their services as more and more people turn to their local community organisations for support. At the same time, member income dropped by 18% from the previous year and they are living on their reserves, which also dropped by 29% in the same period.

The survey report, which was launched at Community Matters annual conference on Saturday, shows that members reported unmet need in their area across 19 different services and activities, with the biggest gaps in youth provision and arts and cultural activity, which tend to have suffered disproportionately from cuts to public expenditure. It also shows that a number of member organisations had themselves had to make cuts to these services, further reducing local provision. Over half the members surveyed reported a net loss of income, including loss of public service contracts.

Speaking at the conference retiring Chair, Gerwyn Jones said “The vast majority of our members manage a community centre or similar building and the evidence of this survey is that they’re needed now more than ever. Over 655,000 people use their services every week and around 27,000 people volunteer across our network to bring these vital services to local people”.

Speaking after the conference, Mr Jones said “Our members earn a high proportion of their own income, with a third earning more than 90%. This income has remained relatively level which suggests that the loss is disproportionately from cuts to grants and donations. Community Matters members just voted overwhelmingly at our AGM for us to offer free membership to our smallest members so that we can do our bit to reduce their costs and increase support. All community organisation members with an income of less than £15,000pa will in future have free access to all our services.”

Responses to other parts of the survey show that 40% of Community Matters members own or have a long lease on their community building which Community Matters believes is a big factor in their financial independence. However, it also thinks that buildings and the staffing required to run them can be a big drain on the resources of some communities. Half of those surveyed reported that the majority of their costs were for staffing and a quarter of the members said their single biggest area of expenditure was utilities bills.

Speaking at the end of the conference, Community Matters Chief Executive, David Tyler said “At Community Matters we believe in the principle of asset transfer and we see many examples of where it’s been the making of a community organisation. We also recognise that for some buildings and some communities a partnership approach between the local authority and the community, where each contributes toward the provision of community spaces and services, will be the only workable solution.”

To download the full Annual Review 2010-2011 and Members' Survey 2011 visit http://www.communitymatters.org.uk/annualreview

Last updated 12 years ago