Regional conference for the Third Sector provides sneak preview into future priorities for government spending
Howard Lake | 20 July 2006 | Newswire
The recently launched series of events for the voluntary, community sector and not for profit sector, 3rd Sector 1st, has been given support from the very heart of government with the confirmation of Bill Brandon, Head of Sector Development, Office of the Third Sector at The Cabinet Office delivering a keynote address covering funding and government spending as well as an introduction to the priorities for the new Office for the Third Sector. The event, on the 12th September 2006 at the University of Manchester, is the first in a series of conferences and exhibitions being produced by award-winning funding information provider J4B PLC in support of the governments’ drive to prioritise and aid the third sector to modernise.
The events series has been warmly welcomed by both regional and central government, as well as having strong support from local authorities and organisations working in the field. Conference Chair, Paul Mooney – Director of 3SE, said of the event ‘This exciting event will hopefully open the doors to wider debate about what the third sector can do to help itself as well as providing information to them about the support mechanisms available to assist them with capacity building. This is a large and complex sector – it is estimated that are over half a million organisations in the UK of which 70% work at a local level – a regional event will reach out to these organisations and help define their place in wider public service reform. Also, the public and private sectors have the opportunity to see how this diverse and increasingly prominent sector can offer more variety and choice in the delivery of services.’ The NWDA and Government Office for the North West have also lent their support.
From central government, the Treasury and Cabinet Office are supporting the event as its primary focus, the ChangeUp initiative, is the largest focussed investment in the infrastructure of the third sector ever. A budget of £70 million over the next 2 years is being dedicated to help modernise the infrastructure provision for the sector, in order to improve its sustainability, quality and reach in line with the high level objectives set out in ChangeUp. Capacitybuilders, set up to allocate this budget and oversee the ChangeUp programme will also be speaking at the event as well as hosting a workshop.
For more information about the event – please see the website www.3rdsector1st.com
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.