Over the past decade the National Coalition for Independent Action (NCIA) has sought to promote and defend the independence of the voluntary sector. And now, having spent those years saying that voluntary groups were in danger of losing their democratic role as independent forces for positive change and must fight back, we have decided to close.
We have done our job by sounding the alarm. Nobody can say they had not been warned. When we started, our message was seen as scaremongering, eccentric and wrong. Now the consequences are only too visible – charities are under contracts to state and private sector bodies and muzzled from speaking out for fear of losing their funding and seat at the table.
The NCIA has also tried to persuade mainstream voluntary services to speak out with others in pursuit of social justice and to defend their autonomy. Most have not responded to this call and, as a result, public trust has fallen and reputations have been damaged. Instead charities are competing aggressively for a share of privatised public services, and form partnerships with profit-hungry global corporations on the back of zero-hours contracts.Much of the sector has acquiesced to government pressure to shut down the campaigning work that opposes damaging policies. NCIA has provided the evidence and an analysis for action, but we now realise that we can’t rescue voluntary groups from the damaging world they inhabit. Only they can do it, if they choose.
Our purpose is not to keep our organisation going for the sake of it, but to have a purpose out in the world, and to stop when we have done our job, or can no longer carry out that purpose.
So closing is the right thing to do. We need to make space for something new. We believe the future lies in grassroots activism, with voluntary groups able to speak out about their politics. We can already see honorable exceptions to the general rule of timidity, and new alliances among voluntary and community groups, activists, unions and academics.
In Sussex, Adur Voluntary Action has decided not to compete in a “market-driven competition” to retain its grant as a council for voluntary services, but to remain a smaller but independent local group. Nearby in Brighton the People’s Assembly, made up of community activists, unions, voluntary groups, and residents, is drawing up a charter for voluntary action which, amongst other things, opposes cuts to services and living standards, and the privatisation of public services.
The Keep Volunteering Voluntary campaign combines the forces of charities, unions, community groups and many others to stop the forced labour and destitution of the workfare and benefit sanctions regime. There is no need for NCIA in these actions. Individuals involved in NCIA will continue the struggle in these different places.
So although NCIA will disappear, others will continue to speak plainly on social justice, equality, and diversity. An open letter on NCIA’s closure, signed by more than 65 groups, shows the breadth of those voices who will not be silenced, and the potential for future alliances.
The signatories – including activist groups, local voluntary services, academics and national bodies such as Children England, the Refugee Council, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and Unite – have pledged to “advance NCIA perspectives for voluntary groups independent from, and unfettered by, powerful outside interests, and committed to stand visibly and practically in solidarity with those facing injustices; to speak plainly about these injustices; and campaign vigorously for their end”. We hope that this will encourage the faint-hearted that it is possible to speak up for better ways of doing things.
We know that much of our work will continue. We leave our website as a resource for those wanting to access the stories, evidence and connections we have gathered. For those wanting to be part of the “next generation for independent action”, the NCIA Facebook page continues, as does our discussion space on the National Community Activist Network.
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