Sustainable funding for the Welsh rural voluntary sector: issues of networks, legitimacy and power

Although the global economic downturn lends urgency to issues of financial sustainability in the voluntary sector, the issue is not new. There is an emerging consensus that voluntary organisations need to pursue financial sustainability through trading and social enterprise activities, government contracts, and a wider grants base. There have been some prominent success stories emerging over the last decade (e.g. Shore 2001, NCVO 2009, Age Concern 2009). This paper however, questions the extent to which these funding strategies may be pursued successfully by rural organisations. There are some significant barriers that remain unacknowledged by those who advocate such approaches. The authors undertook evaluation work for Sustainable Funding Cymru a project sponsored by the Wales Council for Voluntary Action that aimed to develop the funding capacity of voluntary organisations in Wales. Data for this paper derives from case studies, interviews and a focus group of participants in the project who came from voluntary sector charities, nonprofit organisations and social enterprises that deliver a wide range of social and community services. A substantial number of these serve rural communities. A Unique Context The sustainable funding of the Welsh voluntary sector (and especially its rural areas) is set within three important aspects of its contemporary policy context. Firstly, Wales achieved a degree of independence from the centralised UK state in 1997 and established a separate legislature. The enabling legislation required the new government to partner representatives of the voluntary sector to design and implement policy (OPSI 1998). What has emerged, however, is a set of institutional arrangements that focuses more on representative governance than on service delivery partnerships (Entwistle, 2006). Local public authorities remain the primary service providers for local communities although there is a certain amount of contracting out as in England (Bahle 2003). Secondly, whilst traditional funding sources for the voluntary sector have come from donations and individual giving (NCVO 2009), the current trend is toward public sector funding, which is administered centrally. Additionally, Wales has received some £3 billion in development funding from the European Union (EU), which is set to expire in 2013. This that helping voluntary organisations to prepare for post-EU funding is a priority. There are indications that the sector in Wales fares less well compared to other parts of the UK and that it is more dependent on government sources (local, national or EU). These account for nearly 45% of the current funding of the Welsh voluntary sector (National Assembly for Wales, 2008compared with 36% for the entire UK (including Wales) (NCVO, 2009). Thirdly, rural policy in Wales must be viewed in the context of a changing rural economic landscape. Much of Wales is relatively isolated and poorly served by public transport. It has suffered the devastation of its traditional industries. The decline of the coal and steel industries in particular has brought severe hardship to many communities (Chaney 2002). Thus emerging from the evaluation data and a review of the institutional arrangements derived from political-historical context, is a picture of critical challenges and issues for Welsh rural organisations related to the organisation and their representative actors. Developing Theoretical Linkages In order to gain resources, rural voluntary organisations must engage with some highly complex network relationships. They need to interact both vertically within a mandated set of institutional relations and cultivate horizontal relationships both within their own sector and the public sector to be financially sustainable (Entwistle, 2006). Benson (1975) suggests that ways in which organisations manage relationships both this internal network and with their external linkages will impact on their ability to achieve legitimacy and obtain resources. In Wales these partnerships are proving difficult to implement. Negotiating the fierce competition for public service contracts and strong institutional arrangements for local partnerships make it difficult for rural organisations to achieve the legitimacy and power needed to move beyond the established funding resources (Benson 1975). The paper suggests that in the competition for funding, rural organisations in Wales encounter a number of difficulties. Being embedded in their communities means they are constrained by geography. They are unable to compete with larger UK-wide agencies who have more freedom about where they operate. Also their networks become blocked as they are unable to overcome particularistic local power politics. They lack the people, the organisational capacity and infrastructure to identify, mobilise and secure funding. We suggest that national policies often ignore these rural realities and therefore urge strategies for funding sustainability that are very difficult to achieve for the majority of organisations. References Age Concern (2009) Products and Services website http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/all_products.asp Bahle, T. (2003). The changing institutionalization of social services in England and Wales, France and Germany: Is the welfare state on the retreat? Journal of European Social Policy, 13 (1), 5-20. Benson, J.K (1975), "The interorganizational network as a political economy", Administrative Science Quarterly, 20, 229-49. Chaney, P. (2002). Social capital and the participation of marginalized groups in government: A study of the statutory partnership between the third sector and devolved government in Wales. Public Policy and Administration, 17 (4), 20-38. Entwistle, T (2006). The distinctiveness of the Welsh partnership agenda. International Journal of Public Service Management, 19 (3), 228-237. Keating, M, & Stevenson, L (2006). Rural policy in Scotland after devolution. Regional Studies, 40.3, 397-407. Murdoch, J. (2000). Networks – a new paradigm of rural development. Journal of Rural Studies, 16, 407-419. National Assembly for Wales, Communities and Culture Committee (May 2008). The funding of voluntary sector organisations in Wales. Cardiff, Wales: Author. National Council for Voluntary Organisations (2009). The UK civil society almanac 2009: Executive Summary. London, England: Author. National Council for Voluntary Organisations (2009), Sustainable Funding Project Case studies http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/sfp/?id=2102 Office for Public Sector Information (1998) Government of Wales Act, London OPSI http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/ukpga_19980038_en_1 Shore, B. (2001) The Cathedral Within, Random House, New Yor

Editorial.

This edition of Library and Information History marks the journal's move to Edinburgh University Press as the publisher. The process of moving to EUP has been conducted behind-the-scenes over the last couple of years and I must pay tribute to the members of the committee of the Library History Group of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (and most particularly to Dan Gooding) for all the work that has gone into successfully completing the discussions and negotiations. We believe that this move can only be positive for the journal and that we are a ‘good fit’ with many of the other journal titles produced by Edinburgh University Press. The move to EUP also marks another significant change: the move from four editions each year to three. This will, we believe, result in more rounded editions and a better balance of content as making the flow of publications more effective and efficient for those of involved in the production of the journal. I am delighted that Dr Jill Dye has joined me as co-editor and we look forward to bringing out the future editions of the journal. I am also delighted that this first edition with EUP contains an article by one of our most distinguished previous editors, Dr Keith Manley. We hope that you, our readers and subscribers, continue to enjoy the journal and unique place that it occupies, facilitating the exploration of social and cultural history through libraries and information

Index of dates from archaeological sites in Queensland

This volume presents an indexed compilation of chronometric determinations obtained from archaeological sites in the state of Queensland (including Torres Strait), Australia, to the end of 2000. The list includes conventional radiocarbon (14C), accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), thermoluminescence (TL) and optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) determinations. In total, 849 dates are listed from 258 sites. This listing is intended as a reference work only and no analysis of the dataset is undertaken in this volume

Predictors of perceived work-family balance: Gender difference or gender similarity?

This article uses the 1996 General Social Survey (GSS) and the 1992 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW) to examine two issues: the relationship of work characteristics, family characteristics, and work-family spillover to perceptions of work-family balance; and models of “gender difference” versus “gender similarity.” The GSS analysis supports the gender similarity model. It demonstrates that work demands such as the number of hours worked per week and work spillover into family life are the most salient predictors of feelings of imbalance for both women and men. The NSCW includes subtler measures of family spillover into work as well as measures of specific job characteristics and child care. The NSCW results support a gender difference model. They indicate that when family demands reduce work quality, there is a decreased likelihood of perceived balance. However, men and women experience balance in gendered ways. Women report more balance when they give priority to family; men report less balance when they have no personal time for themselves due to work and more balance when they make scheduling changes due to family

Predictors of College Success: Symptoms of ADHD, Psychological Well-being, Appreciation of the Liberal Arts, and Understanding of College Policies

The present study was designed to identify predictors of college student success. More specifically, the study examined seven potential predictors for each of three measures of student success. These predictors were year in college, three academic variables and three measures of psychological well-being. It was found that self-identification of ADHD symptoms was a negative predictor of student success, whereas understanding college policies, study skills and appreciation of the liberal arts were all positive predictors of at least one of the measures of student success

Eurimbula Site 1, Curtis Coast: site report

This site report presents an account of archaeological excavations undertaken at Eurimbula Site 1, a large open midden site complex located in Eurimbula National Park on the southern Curtis Coast, Central Queensland. Excavations yielded a cultural assemblage dominated by mud ark (Anadara trapezia) and commercial oyster (Saccostrea commercialis) and incorporating small quantities of stone artefacts, fish bone and charcoal. Densities of cultural material were found to decrease markedly with distance from the creek. Analyses of excavated material demonstrate extensive low intensity use of the site from at least c.3,200 cal BP to the historical period

Amotivation: A Key Predictor of College GPA, College Match, and First-Year Retention

Two studies examined the relationships between motivational orientation, college student success, and first-year retention.  In Study 1, 523 college students completed measures of motivational orientation and student success.  Results indicated that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were positively related to college GPA, student-university match and adjustment to college. In contrast, amotivation was negatively related to these dependent variables. Study 2 examined a mediational model in which motivational orientation, most consistently amotivation, predicted lower college student GPA and poorer college match. These, in turn predicted a decrease in first-to-second-year retention among 385 first-year college students. These results suggest that colleges may wish to address amotivation among students as a way to enhance student success and retention.

AustArch: a database of 14C and non-14C ages from archaeological sites in Australia: composition, compilation and review

This dataset represents an invaluable compilation of 14C and non-14C ages from archaeological sites for most of the 89 bio-regions of Australia. Critically harvesting some 5,000 14C and 500 non-14C dates from over 1,000 publications, the dataset provides information on each date in 26 fields including its location, site type, biogeographic zone, sample material, context and age details (including 13C and error). This data provides a comprehensive foundation for any regional archaeology in Australia illustrating past research foci, strengths and biases in sampling of bioregions, geomorphic context, site type, sample type, and adequacy of contextualisation (e.g. association with cultural events). Such datasets can improve time series and summed probability methods and are being used as a mainstream proxy to explore archaeological trends and specifically demographic fluctuations for the tropical northern, central arid zone and southern ocean provinces. Such reconstructions will always rely on coverage and adequacy of sampling (52 bioregions register less than 50 dates). While both closed rockshelter sites and open/midden sites account for a similar proportion of dates, less than 14% of sites have returned 4 or more dates. Given that 74% of dates fall within the Holocene epoch, this period is most amenable to archaeological enquiry at a fine-scaled regional level. For the Pleistocene era, larger scale questions such as occupation patterns during the LGM might reasonably be addressed and refined. The data may be re-used for studies of a) timing of colonisation of differing bioregions, b) characterising varying mobility patterns of groups occupying the arid zone, c) identifying gaps in previous research (the Great Victoria and Tanami Deserts), d) as proxy for demographic changes, e) the responses of groups to environmental stochasticity such as OIS2 and ENSO, f) the relationship between occupation and phases of rock art production through time, g) the nature of coastal occupation during lower sea stands and specifically following mid-Holocene stabilisation, and h) not least, as a fundamental building block for any regional archaeology of Australia

Edge-ground hatchets on the Southern Curtis Coast, Central Queensland: A preliminary Assessment of Technology, Chronology and Provenance

A number of edge-ground hatchets were identified from various locations in central Queensland during recent investigations conducted as part of the Gooreng Gooreng Cultural Heritage Project. Macroscopic examination suggested that some hatchets were manufactured on a distinctive form of rhyolitic tuff which is restricted in occurrence to the Town of Seventeen Seventy - Agnes Water area on the southern Curtis Coast. The hatchets are distributed over an area of some 6000 km2, centred on the town of Lowmead within the ethnohistorically documented linguistic borders of Gooreng Gooreng country. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was employed in an attempt to provenance the hatchets to particular outcrops of rhyolitic tuff on the basis of trace element geochemistry. Preliminary results confirm that all hatchets identified as rhyolitic tuff exhibit a similar geochemical signature. Moreover, this geochemistry can be correlated with the background samples from the Ironbark Site Complex, the only major rhyolite quarry known in the region. The study enhances our understanding of past Aboriginal lifeways in the region by situating strategies of stone procurement and use in the landscape