Rural Community Gateway

The Highland voluntary sector manifesto, which was launched this week, calls for the creation of a Compact agreement to improve relations between the public and voluntary sectors.

The move follows a year of severe funding cuts, which has seen over £500,000 cut from voluntary sector services in the Highlands.

Norman MacAskill, rural policy manager for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), said: "Highland voluntary organisations play a major and ever increasing role in services provision, working in partnership with the public and private sectors. Despite the problems and costs of working in a sparsely populated rural area, Highland voluntary organisations deliver high quality health and caring services, community transport, employability initiatives, youth projects, arts and educational work, advice services, community halls - and so much more.

"Voluntary organisations are the catalyst for community development and wellbeing. If they vanished overnight much of our community, social and cultural life would disappear with them."

The highland manifesto has also called for five-year funding agreements, a greater allocation of costs to ensure that councils can meet the principal of Full Cost Recovery, a reduction in red tape and more support for people who act as trustees for voluntary organisations.

As a first step towards creating a compact agreement between the public and voluntary sectors in Highland, Highland Voluntary Sector Forum would like voluntary sector organisations to complete a short survey. This will be followed up by a workshop to investigate the issues further at Fairways House, Inverness on 23rd April.

For more details or a copy of the Highland voluntary sector manifesto email Alison.cairns@scvo.org.uk.

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