Thinking Out Loud - The Job of Voluntary Services: what voluntary services should do, not do and might do

 

Click the link below for a new paper, a draft of which has languished in Penny Waterhouse's in-tray for years. Better late than never!

 

Over the last 10 years, given our criticism of the co-option of voluntary services by the state, NCIA has frequently been asked "so what should voluntary services do" and "surely voluntary services are better than no service at all" or told that "voluntary services do a better job than statutory or private services, so let them get on with it".

So it seems in keeping that the last offering we have is on the proper job of voluntary services in the 21^st century, set amidst the major shifts taking place in the role of the state and the take-over by private business of our common wealth. In Thinking Out Loud: The Job of Voluntary Services, Penny Waterhouse, co-founder of NCIA, lays out the three democratic roles for voluntary action against which to test what services should be, might be or should not be provided by voluntary services.

 

She argues that voluntary groups have a duty to make sure that the state takes responsibility for its citizens, suggests what these responsibilities are; and explains that charities cannot be relied on, structurally, or operationally, to meet such responsibilities.

 

She also suggests activities which only voluntary endeavour can provide, and where the state must keep out. And explores situations where either or both statutory and voluntary services might co-exist. Finally, she lists 10 principles which a voluntary organisation might consider before signing a public service contract.