On Wednesday, 10 December 2025, BD Collective supported an event named STILL HERE. This was an evening set aside for VCFSE colleagues to come together for an honest, unstructured conversation about resilience amongst peers.
We explored ways to create a community of practice that builds capacity, capitalises on local expertise and encourages collaboration to build a stronger civil society.
The evening was spurred by the closure of Green Shoes Arts, a local community interest organisation whose Artistic Director, Sam Miller, wanted to give back to the sector and hold space for peer organisations to come together and not feel alone. Using the events that led to his organisation’s closure he sparked a conversation about the struggle for sustainability many smaller VCFSE organisations face.
To allow many people to be heard in a way that kept the conversation moving, we used a method called “The Fishbowl”. This meant the entire group could participate in a conversation, with people taking up the seats in the middle of the room when they wanted to contribute.
Visual scribe artist, Sandra Howgate, kept a visual record of the conversation, and captured what was said in a way that allows us to reflect on the topics covered. Below is the result:
The conversation began with a note that government power is changing with the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, that requires local governments to establish effective neighbourhood governance and to move decision making closer to residents. Health services support is also moving into communities as a core element of the NHS’s 10-year strategy.
We talked about the expectation for VCFSE to fill the gap to support residents where wider systemic support is unable, while simultaneously the sector faces sustainability challenges, with more community organisations set to close due to financial constraints.
How do we stay resilient as a sector and support each other?
You’ll see some of our trains of thought captured in the visual above.
To me, it sounded like:
- We need to start recognising what we can and should leverage on, e.g. knowing that we have a strong understanding of residents’ needs and wants
- It’s time to market ourselves better by telling compelling stories and use narratives that speak to our strengths and potential for bigger and better opportunities
- Diversifying income streams also means changing the way we think about how we provide services to residents – sometimes that looks like giving people the agency and choice to pay for something instead of using a service for free
- Power sharing is information sharing – let’s collectively harness expertise that already exists in the sector to uplift younger and smaller organisations and build up the sector as BD Collective
As we head into the holiday season, I’d also like to use this opportunity to reflect on how the conversations we had yesterday highlighted the importance of having a strong infrastructure to support VCFSE going forward. So here’s a gentle reminder to look into our membership draft offer, and give us your feedback by Sunday, 11 January 2026. BD Collective is only as strong as our membership; we look forward to hearing from you on how we can make that happen.
Written by Amelie Tan
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