Hounslow VCS PROFILE

Total Number of Hounslow Groups on Database

Focussing on Hounslow we have 648 active organisation records. Of these 59 or around 10% are registered charities and we have been provided witha charity registration number.

Areas of Hounslowthey work in:

The Hounslow groups can be broken down intothe various wards as follows:

Bedfont / 9 / CHISWICK / 52
Cranford / 48 / Chiswick Home fields / 12
Hanworth / 10 / Chiswick Riverside / 15
Hanworth Park / 14 / FELTHAM / 19
Hounslow Central / 44 / Feltham North / 6
Hounslow Heath / 21 / Feltham West / 9
Hounslow South / 6 / HESTON / 44
Hounslow Town / 423 / Heston Central / 14
Hounslow West / 22 / Heston East / 14
Osterley and Spring Grove / 24 / Heston West / 8
Syon / 30 / ISLEWORTH / 73
Turnham Green / 19 / Brentford / 86

Clearly many groups work across several wards and a significant number of groups work across the whole borough

Status of Groups

We have a breakdown of what “Type” organisations are in the table below:

Type / Hounslow
VCS / 113
Commercial / 5
Statutory / 3
Faith; VCS / 7
Faith: Other / 1
Faith; Statutory / 0
Political / 3

Range of VCS Services

What / Services offered in Hounslow / What / Services offered in Hounslow
Addiction / 3 / Immigration / Asylum / 7
Advice / 94 / Information / 26
Advocacy / 21 / Law & Order / 1
Animals / 1 / Leisure / Recreation / 172
Art / 163 / Local Government / 0
Befriending / 3 / Media / 2
Birth / 0 / Mental Health / 30
Campaigning / 5 / Mentoring / 6
Capacity Building / 1 / Music / 6
Care Work / 6 / National Government / 0
Community Development / 18 / Overseas / International / 0
Consumer Issues / 1 / Play / Early Years / 2
Counselling / 13 / Politics / 0
Crime / Violence / 3 / Poverty / 4
Culture / 22 / Race / Ethnicity / 5
Death / Bereavement / 2 / Racial Harassment / 1
Disability / 16 / Regeneration / 1
Economic Development / 5 / Relationships / 5
Education / Learning / 138 / Resources / Equipment / 3
Employment / 15 / Room Lettings / Facilities / 2
Environment / 39 / Self-Help / Support / 17
Equal Opportunities / Diversity / 6 / Sexuality / 1
Faith / Religion / 16 / Social Care / Welfare / 69
Family Support / 32 / Sport / 148
Fundraising / 4 / Substance Abuse / 4
Grant Giving / 0 / Tenants / Residents / 37
Health / 132 / Training / Courses / 104
Homelessness / 17 / Transport / 1
Housing / 19 / Voluntary Sector Support / 3
Immigration / Asylum / 7 / Volunteering / 10
Information / 26 / Youth Work / 26

Clearly many VCS groups provide a range of services

VCS Service Beneficiaries

Who / Number of groups that provide services to Beneficiaries in Hounslow / Who / Number of groups that provide services to Beneficiaries in Hounslow
All / Non-Specific / 31 / People isolated by location / 3
Animals / 1 / People Over 50 / 77
Black & Ethnic Minorities / 107 / People Over 80 / 74
Ethnic Groups / 0 / People with Basic Skills / 4
Carers / 4 / People with HIV/AIDS / 1
Children 0-4 / 151 / People with Mental ill-Health / 54
Children 5-7 / 160 / People with a Learning Disability / 48
Children 8-13 / 160 / People with a Physical Disability / 53
Care Leavers / 1 / Refugees/Asylum Seekers / 11
Environment / 43 / Residents / 39
Ex-Offenders / 4 / Substance Misusers / 3
(Ex)Forces / 0 / Tenants / 37
Faith Communities / 8 / Transgender / 3
Families / 157 / Unemployed/Low Income / 10
Homeless People / 7 / Voluntary Organisations / 4
Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual / 4 / Women / 32
Lone Parents / 4 / Young People 14-19 / 169
Men / 16 / Young People 20-25 / 160
Parents / 6 / Other / 158

VCS groups may have a range of beneficiaries e.g. a BME older people group

Number of Staff

Paid staff Categories / Hounslow
Less than or equal to 1 full-time equivalent / 86
Between 1 to 5 full-time equivalent / 57
Over 5 full-time equivalent / 44

Most groups on our database don’t record this in their database entry. Partly as for many staff numbers may vary regularly, partly as around 50% of groups on our database are volunteer led and don’t have any staff.

Hounslow VCSE Survey

Every year the council’s Community Partnerships Unit carries out a survey of the charities, social enterprises and community groups in Hounslow.
The latest survey was carried out between September and November 2016.

The aim of the survey is to obtain information and feedback from Hounslow’s VCSE organisations such as;

  • Information on the diversity and structure of Hounslow’s VCSE sector.
  • Information about changes to the sector in the last 12 months.
  • Expectations of the sector for the next 12 months.
  • Information for local infrastructure organisations to use – such as HCN and HVSSS.
  • Data to support the council’s partnership work for 2017/18.
  • Data to help measure the success of current support initiatives and partnership activities.

Key findings of the survey

  • Over 70% of respondents have seen increased demand for their services. Although this figure is high, it represents a slight decrease from the previous 2 years, where over 80% had indicated an increase in demand over the previous 12 months.
  • The reasons for this increase were identified in part due to:
  • Welfare reform and changes to benefits.
  • Difficulty in accessing statutory services.
  • The closing down of centres and other services which puts more pressur on existing organisations.
  • More local people becoming aware of the organisations in the VCSE sector and the services that they provide.
  • There is a greater need for services as the level of deprivation increases.
  • To meet this increased demand:
  • 24% of respondents have increased the number of paid staff they employ.
  • 39% are working more closely with other VCSE organisations to deliver services.
  • 42% have increased the number of volunteers that they use.
  • Many organisations have made changes to their internal management.
  • 15% of respondents have reduced the number of staff they employ.
  • 33% of respondents provided services to over 1000 Hounslow residents over the last year.
  • There has been a shift in the main areas of work of respondents compared with previous years. Health and wellbeing has continued to grow as the main focus of the VCSE sector but there has been growth, compared to previous years, in promoting community cohesion. volunteering and support for migrants. Leisure services are now less of a priority.
  • Respondents identified finding new funding sources as their main challenge (59%)
  • 38.8% have seen their funding reduced.
  • 39.7% have had to use financial reserves to cover costs, but this compares to a much higher proportion over the last two years (70% using their reserves in 2014))
  • 59.2% have had to widen their funding sources.
  • The most common income sources are the organisations’ own fundraising activities - including individual donations, external funding sources, such as the National Lottery, membership subscriptions and grants from Hounslow Council.
  • 60% of respondents receive grants of some kind from Hounslow Council - with 20% receiving half or more of their total income from this source.
  • Of the support services that are available to the VCSE sector, the most used was the council’s Community Partnerships Unit , with 51.2% of respondents using it and 31.7% finding it very useful . HVSSS was used by 50.6% of respondents - 24.1% finding it very useful. Volunteering Hounslow was used by only 27.5% of respondents - 12.5% finding it very useful.
  • Support from local businesses is extremely low with only 20% receiving some kind of financial support compared with 42% in 2014.
  • The most popular source of information for the VCSE sector continues to be the Hounslow Council website, with 85% of respondents making use of it.
  • We asked respondents to tell us about the types of training that would benefit them.
  • Health & Safety (46%)
  • Measuring the impacts of your service (39.7%)
  • Writing funding bids (38.4%)
  • Using social media (28%)
  • Safeguarding children (28%)