Peterborough’s voluntary sector could be set for transformation

That was in April 2009, and thankfully by July she was able to receive her award for services to improving cohesion, inclusion and integration with her mum and two children in attendance. She didn’t touch the champagne at the reception and has not drank any alcohol since.

Having tackled her own personal demons, Leonie recognises the power of support and intervention in people’s lives, which is why she believes Covid-19 could be a turning point for how the voluntary sector supports vulnerable people in Peterborough.

“Now is the time. I’ve had times where I’ve felt we’ll always be a sticking plaster, but Covid has raised my awareness of what is possible in Peterborough,” she told the Peterborough Telegraph. 

“And I really believe that when people recognise their personal power, the city will transform in what it’s able to achieve.

“All of the ingredients are there. Now it’s just about sharing, and that will happen if we create the spaces where people feel safe to just be themselves.”

Leonie, who set up and managed Peterborough’s award-winning asylum and migration project New Link, and was later appointed as a commissioner to the Department of Communities and Local Government’s Commission on Integration and Cohesion, has been chief executive of the Peterborough Council for Voluntary Service (PCVS) for the past seven years.

The charity operates as an umbrella organisation for the voluntary sector in Peterborough and is this year celebrating its 40th birthday.

And while many groups would pat themselves on the back for reaching such a landmark, Leonie is only focused on the future and the possibility of the entire voluntary sector in Peterborough uniting to provide a one-stop service for all residents where they can access a range of support from a central hub based in the city.

The support could be anything from debt management, mental health or food shortages.

“You come in with one issue but go out with five solutions to problems you may not have known you had. It’s about ensuring you have the resilience when you leave to take what you need,” Leonie explained.

At the moment, groups are struggling to attract funding to survive (a situation being made worse by Covid), so Leonie is adamant that there needs to be a new method of operating.

“We find when you work alongside other groups and organisations, which we do at PCVS anyway, you start to integrate the work and it’s a lot more effective.
“If we don’t find a solution, organisations will begin to close because Covid funding is only for six months. After that it’s going to be a struggle to get funding into the city.”

So far there have been 25 organisations which have expressed an interest in being based at the hub.

Money will always be an issue, but bids are being made to the Lottery, trusts and for social investment, while costs can be reduced by organisations moving into the hub not needing to pay rent at their current premises.

Shared administrative costs could also save money, with a big feasibility study currently ongoing to see how the project can be funded.
There is also the potential issue of competition between charities which provide similar services which Leonie acknowledged is “always going to be an issue”.

But she stressed: “We’re not there to protect our jobs, we’re there to protect our communities in the best way possible. My experience is people understand that, which is why they work in this sector which is lower paid than the private sector.”

To plan this new future for Peterborough’s voluntary sector, PCVS is hosting an online forum for community groups on Tuesday, September 15 and Wednesday, September 16.

The first day will celebrate past achievements, before the second turns to the future and how all communities can have a voice.

“It’s about what now, because it’s not enough for us to just keep on putting plasters on the sector,” added Leonie.

“I don’t want to be here in a year’s time still dealing with the same issues I was dealing with seven years ago.

“There are solutions and we need to work together to deliver them. They are not all about funding - sometimes they are about working differently.

“I think some of the things that stop us are a lack of belief in what’s possible. And people have developed a sense of what they’re capable of. They’ve survived this and many have worked all the way through it and supported people. That is immense power of resilience we have which we can harness for the future.

“Our city is phenomenal because it has something that so many other cities don’t have. It has worldwide answers to our problems. And we need those voices, ideas and thoughts to be helping us shape what we’re doing in the city.

“We need a more open, inclusive way of seeing the issues and tackling them, breaking them down. It needs all of us involved.”

PCVS at 40

“In the past, our organisation’s function has been to provide support so anybody in the city who wants to do something to improve the lives of others in any way at all can have the chance to develop that idea,” explained Leonie.

“We provide the ground for people to come in and help support them to set up groups and deliver what service they want to deliver.”

This support includes assisting groups who have already been set up to get new volunteers and trustees or comply with regulations.

“In the early years it was easier because governments, historically, have recognised the value of the voluntary sector and how it can add value and create more cohesive and better functioning communities,” said Leonie.

“But as funding has become more reduced governments and local authorities have had to spend their funding on services which are statutory, which are legal, so we’ve seen over the years big cuts not only in our local funding, but with organisations like the Lottery.

“That proved to be a huge challenge seven years ago, and I know across the country CVS’ were closing down in huge numbers.”

Every year is a “struggle” to not run at a deficit, with PCVS last year breaking even.

Leonie added: “We’re very fortunate to do that, and the reason is we have a phenomenal team of people totally committed to the voluntary sector who desperately want the communities of Peterborough to reach the potential of what is possible.”