NEWS: Our work in Barking and Dagenham: assessing the impact of the pandemic on the sector

We're proud and delighted to announce we’re partnering with the vibrant social sector in Barking and Dagenham to better understand the impacts of Covid-19 and provide a roadmap to recovery. 

Civil Society Consulting CIC has been commissioned to produce an impact report by BD_Collective  (*see below). The report will reflect the experiences, views and concerns of more than 100 local organisations. It will also capture their ideas for further social innovation and put forward recommendations. This will ‘sharpen the saw’, so that policymakers and funders can make high impact and informed decisions – based on the real life experiences of people and organisations on the ground in the borough.

We strongly believe in empowering voluntary and community organisations who know best and care passionately about their communities; we believe the surest way to further leverage social impact is by adequately equipping and supporting them.

Barking and Dagenham is a borough we know well and cherish. It enjoys a strong community spirit and is driven by a voluntary and community sector that has been consistently ahead of the curve during the Covid-19 crisis: quick in its response to the immediate aftermath and proactive in working together to ensure a strong social sector for the future.

Working with all organisations in the borough, we’ll be digging into the specifics of how the sector has been affected by the crisis to understand the overarching trends, as well as personal stories. We’ll look at five critical areas: income, staff, volunteers, programmes, and infrastructure. We’re also looking into how organisations view their ‘post Covid-19 recovery’: what are the foreseeable challenges and opportunities as we ease out of lockdown?

Click to download the report

We want the report to place BD’s social sector organisations in the best position to navigate this challenging period and recover from the crisis, providing the data and information to feed into a strategic plan. These organisations have proved a lifeline during the crisis, and will be even more important as the community begins to rebuild. It’s a privilege to be involved.

BD_Collective brings the social sector of Barking & Dagenham together in partnership with others. From sports clubs and social enterprises to disability groups and faith communities, each one helps people to belong and to make positive contributions. The Covid-19 Barking and Dagenham Impact Report Phase 1 is due out in mid-July 2020.