Decision time: Will the sector embrace the age of opportunity?

NPC set up the Commission on the Voluntary Sector & Ageing, together with ILC-UK, to spark long-term thinking about how demographic changes will affect the voluntary sector. The Commission has been chaired by Professor Lynne Berry OBE and funded by the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund and by Prudential.

This final report is the culmination of 18 months of research, consultation and events and is a call to arms to the voluntary sector to respond to the challenges and opportunities of our ageing society.

The voluntary sector is at a crossroads and so far there has been a collective failure of imagination, with few organisations taking a long-term view of the impacts of ageing. The time to act is now—voluntary organisations and funders must be prepared to do new things and to do them in different ways or they risk missing the chance to help determine how society develops, and benefit from the dividends of our ageing population: worth £6.5bn in additional funding and volunteer effort alone by 2033.

This report sets out the choices facing the sector and identifies opportunities to do things differently.

Martyn Lewis CBE, Chair of NCVO, says:

This initiative provides just the kickstart that the voluntary sector needs to embrace the demographic changes and opportunities ahead.

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