About the charitable sector in the North East
The Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector is extremely diverse, and includes multi-national charities, local community groups and everything in between. There are more than 15,000 organisations in the sector in the North East tackling a range of issues including disability, health problems, poverty, worklessness, isolation, discrimination, and homelessness, working with people of all ages and in all corners of the region.
Political and economic changes have led to increasing demand on the sector. Frontline organisations traditionally funded by the public sector are being challenged with a shift away from grants towards contracts, commissioning and tendering, as well as taking on buildings, social investment and finding new ways of generating income.