Supporting the mental health of grassroots VCS workers

Our evidence shows that the mental health of front-line voluntary and community sector (VCS) workers is declining rapidly while, at the same time, 97% of VCS organisations report that they are handling mental crises as a major part of their work. 82% said they are concerned about burnout of their staff - double the amount from the previous year. Through five survey waves (2020-22) we now know that grassroots VCS organisations feel they lack the support and training to deal with the everyday trauma they are facing.

People’s Health Trust met with a small group of foundations who responded to our earlier call on the Funders Collaborative Hub for funders who would like to look at ways to collectively address this ongoing issue of concern.

This group developed a set of principles, which we think may form a useful basis for a funder commitment. These include:

• enhancing knowledge among the funder’s staff to be aware of the mental health needs and emerging challenges of their funded partners, including staff and volunteers
• developing a package of mental health support for staff and volunteers working for grant-receiving organisations, ideally in collaboration with other funders
• seeking to ensure a proportionate application and reporting process for funded partners, and not collecting information that won’t be used or is not needed
• some funders are also interested in developing an advocacy aspect of this work, raising these issues with others and encouraging collective action.