On November 1 2024, Third Sector representatives presented deputations to the EIJB (Edinburgh Integration Joint Board challenging proposals around the Third Sector Grants Programme and an in-year cut (2024/2025). The EIJB did not approve the proposal for the in-year cut with an alternative proposal being approved.
Following that meeting, the EIJB invited Third Sector representatives to engage with the officials to discuss the concerns of the sector and communities with a view to identifying areas to work together. To inform engagement with the EIJB, EVOC and Volunteer Edinburgh, as Edinburgh’s TSI, collaborated with the Edinburgh Community Health Forum and representatives of other Third Sector interests across the city to create a Third Sector Reference Group.
The purpose of the Reference Group is to:
- Inform governance and city partnerships
- Assert the value of the Sector
- Shape investment
- Support change
- Distil the voices of the Third Sector to effectively represent the sector on the IJB
The following organisations are currently involved in the Group, with support from individual volunteers, representing the forums of the Adult Health and Wellbeing forums supported by EVOC and other key partners in the city;
- Edinburgh Third Sector Interface – represented by EVOC and Volunteer Edinburgh
- Carers forum – represented by EDG and Care4Carers
- Community Transport – represented by SEAG
- Disabilities forum – represented by FAIR and Scottish Autism
- Ethnic Minorities – represented by MCFB (Multi-Cultural Family Base)
- Mental Health forum – represented by Change MH
- Older People’s Service Providers’ Forum – represented by Caring in Craigmillar and Libertus
- Scottish Homeless Action Partnership Edinburgh (SHAPE)
- Substance Use Network Edinburgh (SUNE) – represented by Access to Industry
- Citizens Advice Edinburgh
- CarrGomm
- Edinburgh Community Food
- Edinburgh Community Health Forum
- Edinburgh Development Group
- Health All Round
- The Dove Centre
The work of the Third Sector Reference Group continues to evolve as it moves from the initial crisis of the proposed cuts in November 2024 and moving towards strengthening the relationship between Edinburgh’s third sector, the EIJB and Community Planning.
Further information on the reference group can be viewed here.
