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Designing a New Social Reality 

Research on the Impact of COVID-19 on Bristol’s VCSE Sector and What the Future Should Be

This significant piece of work was jointly funded by Bristol City Council, Power to Change Trust and Quartet Community Foundation, and it was undertaken by Black South West Network in partnership with VOSCUR and Locality. The research aimed to analyse the impact of COVID-19 on the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector in order to assess how to foster greater community resilience in the new operating environment, and ultimately provide evidence for a thoroughly informed overall Sector strengthening recovery strategy.

Context

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about radical change to how society works at a dramatic and in some cases catastrophic rate. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost, disproportionately so amongst Black and Asian heritage communities, older people, disabled people, and those living in areas of socio-economic disadvantage. The impact of the Coronavirus on people’s health and economic well-being is likely to sustain far longer than the emergency period.  COVID-19 has unmasked inequalities riven through our day-to-day life, much worsened by a decade of austerity. Lockdown has unpeeled social issues and the economy has slowed drastically, to the point that the Bank of England has stated ‘we are experiencing an economic contraction that is faster and deeper than anything we have seen in the past century, or possibly several centuries.’ (Guardian Business Live, 23/04/2020).

Objectives & Outcomes

Ironically, every crisis – even COVID-19 - brings forth opportunities. For the VCSE sector, COVID-19 has shown it to be a critical source of support and aid, particularly to socio-economically disadvantaged communities in a time of crisis. The VCSE sector has not only played a vital role during the pandemic but is critical to the recovery and re-imagining societal processes that are an inevitable result of the virus. Therefore, survival, recovery and renewal of the VCSE in this changed environment is vital. 

In this context, the over-arching research outcomes were:

  • Understanding the role and potential of the VCSE sector in the city going forward.

  • Creating the foundations from which to build new ways of working in the city which address inequality from the outset.

  • Develop a One City approach to recovery which recognises the value and importance of the VCSE in building resilient communities.

To achieve these outcomes, the research programme had the following objectives:

  1.  To map the VCSE sector in Bristol and create a multi-level picture drawing on existing data and supplementing with in-fill research to account for any gaps.

  2. To collate and review the research on the impact of Covid19 on the VCSE sector in Bristol to develop a picture of the VCSE in light of Covid19 and the lockdown – to include in-fill research to address any gaps in existing research.

  3. To understand the response of the VCSE sector – formal and informal – to Covid19 and the lockdown and what can we learn from this.  

  4. To draw out what the Covid19 crisis taught us about leadership and resilience in the VCSE when freed from organisational constraints and politics.

  5. To gain a deep understanding of what ‘recovery’/the new reality looks like from the perspective of all stakeholders and develop a picture of what re-alignment and restructuring of the VCSE sector and the City looks like in the post-Covid19 context.

The research methodology included a comprehensive secondary data collection phase to ensure the work is building on existing knowledge. Moreover, it included various primary data collection methods; ranging from a survey, focus groups, one-to-one interviews and visioning sessions to re-imagine the future through scenario planning.

The VCSE Strategic Partnership

Chaired by Deputy Mayor Asher Craig, the VCSE Strategy group is a strategic partnership of infrastructure organisations working to develop a recovery & strengthening plan for the Sector, informed and supported by the evidence-base provided by the research. The research team responded directly to the VCSE Strategy group. 

Our Findings and Collective Vision for the Future of the VCSE Sector

Halfway into the project, BSWN research team produced an interim report which assessed newly emerging and intensified community needs as result of the pandemic impact and priority needs and/or areas of investment for the VCSE sector’s recovery from the COVID19 crisis. 

The full version of the interim report and the executive summary are both available at BSWN’s website in the research reports section.

The final report was launched in March 2021 and it identifies the dynamic and physical assets that were essential to the Sector’s response to the crisis. Collated within the report are also case studies and examples from different parts of the voluntary sector to bring evidence of its high levels of resilience, adaptability, and creativity.

Moving beyond the pandemic, the report also formulates seven principles to underpin a collective vision for the VCSE sector’s long-term future. The vision is accompanied by actionable recommendations to develop a One City approach towards the Sector’s recovery and achieving the vision.

Both the final report and the vision and recommendations diagram are also now available at BSWN’s website in the research reports section.


For further information about the project or any questions, please get in touch with our Policy & Research Officer, Chiara Lodi at chiara@bswn.org.uk