The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Volunteer service is pulling city together
Chief executive of Peterborough Council for Voluntary Services looks to future after lockdown
Three months before heading to Buckingham Palace to receive her MBE, Leonie McCarthy was in rehab for alcohol addiction.
That was in
April 2009, and thankfully, by July she was able to receive her award for services to improving cohesion, i nclusion a nd i ntegration with her mum and two children in attendance. She didn’t touch the champagne at the reception and has not drank any alcohol since.
Having tackled her own personal demons, Leonie recognises the power of support and intervention in people’s lives, whichiswhyshebelieves covid-19 could be a turning point for how the voluntary sector supports vulnerable people in Peterborough.
“Now is the time. I’ve had times where I’ve felt we’ll always be a sticking plaster, but covidhasraisedmyawareness ofwhatispossibleinPeterborough,” she told the Peterborough Telegraph.
“And I really believe that when people recognise their personal power, the city will transform in what it’s able to achieve.
“All of the ingredients are there. Nowit’sjust aboutsharing, and that will happen if we create the spaces where people feel safe to just be themselves.”
Leonie, who set up and managed Peterborough’s award-winning asylum and migration project New Link, a n d wa s l at e r a p - pointed as a commissioner to the Department of Communities and Local Government’s Commission on Integration and Cohesion, has been chief executive of the Peterborough Council for Voluntary Service (PCVS) for the past seven years.
The charity operates as an umbrella organisation for the voluntary sector in Peterborough andis this year celebrating its 40th birthday.
And while many groups would pat themselves on the back for reaching such a landmark, Leonie is only focused onthefutureandthepossibility of the entire voluntary sector in Peterboroughunitingto provide a one-stop service for all residents where they can accessarangeofsupportfrom acentral hubbasedinthecity.
The support could be anything fromdebtmanagement, mental health or food shortages.
“You come in with one issue but go out with five solutions to problems you may not have known you had. It’s about ensuring you have the resilience when you leave to take what you need,” Leonie explained.
At the moment, groups are struggling to attract funding to survive (a situation being made worse by covid), so Leonie is adamant that there needs to be a new method of operating.
“We find when you work alongside other groups and organisations, which we do at PCVS anyway, you start to integrate the work and it’s a lot more effective.
“If wedon’t findasolution, organisations will begin to close because covidfundingis only for six months. Afterthat
it’s going to be a struggle to get funding into the city.”
So far there have been 25 organisations which have expressed an interest in being based at the hub.
Moneywill always beanissue, but bids are being made to the Lottery, trusts and for social investment, while costs can be reduced by organisations moving into the hub not needing to pay rent at their current premises.
Shared administrative costs could also save money, withabigfeasibilitystudycurrently ongoing to see how the project can be funded.
There is also the potential issue of competition between
charities which provide similar services which Leonie acknowledged is: “always going to be an issue”.
But she stressed: “We’re not there to protect our jobs, we’re there to protect our communities i n the best way possible. My experience is people understand that, which is why they work in this sector whichislowerpaid than the private sector.”
To plan this new future for Peterborough’s voluntary sector, PCVS is hosting an online forum for community groups onTuesday, September15and Wednesday, September 16.
The first day will celebrate past achievements, beforethe secondturnstothefutureand howallcommunitiescanhave a voice.
“It’s about what now, because it’s not enough for us to just keep on putting plasters on the sector,” added Leonie.
“I don’t want to be here in a year’s time still dealing with the same issues I was dealing with seven years ago.
“There are solutions and we need to work together to deliver them. They are not all about funding – sometimes they are about working differently.
“I think some of the things that stop us are a lack of belief in what’s possible. Andpeople havedevelopedasenseofwhat they’re capable of. They’ve survived this and many have worked all the way through it andsupportedpeople. That is immense power of resilience wehavewhichwecanharness for the future.
“Our city is phenomenal because it has something that so many other cities don’t have. It has worldwide answersto ourproblems. And we need those voices, ideas and thoughts to be helping us shape what we’re doing in the city.
“We need a more open, inclusive way of seeing the issues and tackling them, breaking themdown. It needs all of us involved.”
‘We’re there to protect our communities in the best way possible...’
Leonie McCarthy Chief executive PCVS