Valuing the Voluntary Sector Report Published

New research has found that voluntary and community groups have a combined annual income of £476 million, and the sector is a major employer of 7% of the county’s working age population.

These were just some of the findings of the new report ‘valuing the Voluntary Sector: The economic impact of voluntary and community organisations in East Sussex’. The report is based on a countywide survey of the voluntary and community sector undertaken in 2010 by the three Councils for Voluntary Services (CVSs) in East Sussex - 3VA, HVA and RVA.

The research also revealed that 12 per cent of people across the county contribute over 130,000 hours of their time to voluntary work every week. Using the average wage for East Sussex, the hours donated by volunteers are equal to £1,599,973.55 every week; which is an annual contribution of nearly £80 million!

As the county’s voluntary sector is facing up to the enormous changes which have followed the banking collapse in 2007, 3VA chief executive Adam Chugg said: “Sometimes the sector does not shout loudly enough about the value and importance of what it does. This report demonstrates the substantial contribution made by the sector, a contribution that needs to be cherished and celebrated.”

If you would like to find out more about the economic value of the voluntary and community sector in East Sussex please view Valuing the Voluntary Sector report.