Young Adults and Criminal Justice

Supporting the Voluntary and Community Sector

The Barrow Cadbury Trust has worked in partnership with voluntary and community sector (VCS) groups for over eighty-five years. Over this period, we have witnessed the sector respond to new challenges and overcome numerous changes.

In recent years, the VCS has forged an increasingly close relationship with the government, as VCS groups receive government money for the provision of public services. This development has sparked an acrimonious debate within the sector.

On the one hand, advocates argue that VCS groups can boost their income and deliver better public services. On the other hand, skeptics argue that accepting government money necessarily reduces the independence of VCS groups. Research commissioned by the Barrow Cadbury Trust suggests that the sector is not in immediate danger of takeover by the state, although some VCS groups are facing mission drift in their hunt for funding. Click here to view report.

The Barrow Cadbury Trust aims to support and improve understanding of the VCS and foster nuanced debate by forging partnerships with other organisations and commissioning research into the sectors long term health. Our overriding priority is to ensure that the sector remains a vibrant, healthy and risk-taking engine of social change.