Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector

Wakefield is home to a well-established Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector. There are 612 registered organisations in the district with an annual turnover of £101m. There are also an estimated 750 unregistered groups with the sector in total employing 2,800 people and involving many volunteers.

What do we mean by VCSE sector?

The term ‘Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector’ refers to;

‘Not for profit independent, voluntary and community groups or organisations formed by local people, or those with a local interest, to improve the quality of lives for themselves and/or fellow citizens across the Wakefield district’.

These include registered charities; voluntary organisations; community groups; faith groups involved in social action; tenants groups, cooperatives and mutual parties, community interest companies and social enterprises.

Nova Wakefield District

Nova is a charity focused on building a vibrant VCSE sector in the district. It is a single point of free and specialist support offering:

• online and face to face meetings for groups and organisations to get advice
• regular updates, resources and information about opportunities
• training and events on key topics such as funding and impact measurement
• networks that connect local VCSE organisations and provide a place to share information and best practice, such as the Volunteer Managers Network 
• VCSE Voices, a project that makes sure our sector is heard and valued in local decision making and policy.
• funding opportunities to support the work of local organisations. 

VCSE Voices

VCSE Voices increases representation of the VCSE sector at strategic, decision-making meetings across the Wakefield District. It provides opportunities for leaders from the sector to influence policy and take part in discussions to improve services so that they meet the needs of people who live in our district.

To do this, Nova recruits and supports over 20 VCSE Advocates. 
Updates and progress are shared with local organisations and they have the opportunity to feedback through the VCSE Advocates.

Directory of Third Sector Organisations

Nova hosts an online directory detailing the third sector members of Nova and the Assembly.

Community investment gateway

The Community Investment Gateway channels funding to VCSE organisations in Wakefield District, using fair and transparent processes.

The Gateway works with funders and commissioners to provide a direct route to trusted VCSE providers, particularly to smaller organisations who work at a hyper-local level. For members, it provides accessible and streamlined opportunities for funding that are open to all sizes of organisations, from larger charities to small grassroots groups.

The Gateway is a partnership between Nova Wakefield District, Wakefield Council, Wakefield Health and Care Partnership and Young Lives Consortium.

Working With the VCSE Sector

Neighbourhood and area based working is a key part of our approach to ensuring that the services we provide are flexible and respond to local needs.
The Wakefield Together Partnership has identified seven areas covering the district:

• Castleford
• Normanton and Featherstone
• Pontefract and Knottingley
• South East
• Wakefield Central
• Wakefield North West
• Wakefield Rural

We are working together to listen to the views of local people in each of these areas to improve the targeting of resources and ensure that local concerns and issues are responded to more effectively.

The strengthening of the third sector will enable greater involvement of citizens within their communities and maximise its contribution to our local priorities.

Wakefield Together, VCSE Collaborative and VCSE Strategy

Wakefield Together (which includes the third sector, as a key partner) recognises the need to ensure that third sector organisations, small and large, are able to continue to grow and develop. This will mean maximising opportunities for the sector to be involved in the design and delivery of local services; harnessing the capacity, skills and energies of local people to grow community based action; and fostering more strategic relations with the business and public sectors through a genuine programme of collaboration and joint working.

VCSE Collaborative

The VCSE Collaborative is the strategic group that brings together senior leaders across the VCSE and statutory sectors, to work towards common goals of supporting local people. The group meets every other month.

The VCSE Collaborative hold responsibility for developing, implementing and monitoring a VCSE Sector Strategy for Wakefield District with mutual ambition and accountability from all partners. The latest Strategy is due to be published in 2026.