The future of voluntary and community groups across the High Peak is under severe threat due to a significant proposal by Derbyshire County Council (DCC) to end discretionary grant funding as it looks to tackle financial pressures. This move could have catastrophic consequences for numerous charities and services that play a crucial role in the community.
These discretionary grants are a lifeline for the voluntary sector, enabling a wide range of essential services to operate throughout the High Peak. The proposed cuts are indiscriminate and far-reaching, jeopardising the existence of small voluntary groups that provide crucial support to some of the most vulnerable members of society, including young people, the elderly, and disabled.
Infrastructure organisations such as High Peak CVS, Connex in Buxton, New Mills Volunteer Centre, and The Bureau in Glossop, which all support the local voluntary sector, also face cuts which will severely impact the support on offer to groups and charities.
These organisations say they are now joining forces to fight these cuts and need the general public and residents of Derbyshire to unite to make their voices heard.
If the cuts go ahead, over £1 million in grants will be lost for community and
voluntary groups across the High Peak and Derbyshire. Specifically, groups providing adult social care would lose just over £722,000, while groups receiving corporate services and transformation grants would forfeit just over £333,000.
Derbyshire residents are being urged to fill in a survey the County Council has put together as part of the consultation period it is currently holding about the proposed cuts.
A representative from HPCVS urged people to get involved: “We need as many people as possible to unite together and make a stand against these cuts. We need to make our voices heard that the voluntary sector is valued, needed, and relied upon in this area by so many people!
“These grants are a lifeline to the voluntary sector, supporting a wide range of essential services locally. The consultation survey is open until 20th August 2024, and can be accessed through High Peak CVS’s website at highpeakcvs.org.uk/dcc-survey.
“Please tell all of your family and friends to ensure everyone is aware of the emergency that is facing our voluntary sector. We need to act now as time is running out!”
In addition to the survey, Derbyshire Voluntary Action are asking the Council to
debate in full any proposed cuts to discretionary funding and consider the significant impact to communities if services are reduced.
