Last month, VONNE launched our new report, demonstrating the VCSE sector’s contribution to economic growth in the Tees Valley Combined Authority (CA) area.
The report explores the sector’s economic impact, the practical ways that organisations are already delivering on growth and describes innovative finance models that support social enterprise activity and enable economic participation.
This blog provides a brief overview of the argument outlined in the report and reflects on potential next steps to help keep the conversation moving forward.
Why did we write the report?
The report is an important first step in strengthening relationships between the VCSE sector and Tees Valley CA. It comes at a crucial moment, as the Combined Authority moves its Local Growth Plan from development to delivery.
As VONNE’s Chief Executive notes in the opening statement, ‘the role of the VCSE sector in the Tees Valley economy deserves greater recognition. This is a key conclusion of this report.’
Martin goes on to describe the VCSE sector as a “problem solver” with the potential to do far more if it is properly involved in regional decision-making. Using data and evidence, the report shows how partnership with the VCSE sector can help Tees Valley CA to deliver on its ambitions. The sector’s economic contribution, role in employment and skills development, and wider social impact all play a vital part in achieving both economic growth and social value across the Tees Valley.
What does the evidence tell us?
The VCSE sector plays a substantial role in the growth of the Tees Valley economy. There are 1,412 organisations working across the region, providing employment for 7,413 people. Alongside this workforce, 28,890 volunteers contribute an estimated 2.08 million hours of unpaid work each year. At a minimum, that volunteering is worth £25.4 million, rising to £33.5 million when the varied skill levels required are considered.
Taken together, this lifts the VCSE sector’s direct economic impact from £427.3 million to £1.52 billion: a huge increased contribution that supports employment, strengthens communities, and helps sustain resilience across the Tees Valley.
For a more detailed explanation of the rationale behind the report, alongside more information on the scale of the VCSE sector in the Tees Valley, you can read our earlier reflections here.
How do VCSE organisations support growth in the Tees Valley?
VCSE organisations are already working on the ground, delivering more than economic value by creating vital social impact and supporting communities furthest from the labour market. The report uses a series of case studies to demonstrate how VCSEs drive economic growth alongside tackling immediate social need.
In Darlington, Tandem shows how cross-sector partnership working with schools, councils, employers and education providers can remove barriers to economic inactivity. By creating flexible, person-centred routes into skills development and sustainable employment, VCSE-led partnerships can deliver tailored, adaptable, and specialist support that no single partner could provide alone.
Groundwork North East & Cumbria’s Move Forward programme strengthens the region’s green economy by supporting economically inactive residents into sector-specific training and careers, combining inclusive growth with high-productivity areas and improved long-term economic prospects.
Pioneering Care Partnership highlights how improving health and wellbeing underpins economic participation, empowering residents to build confidence, develop enterprise activity and create a cycle of peer-led community benefit, strengthening the local economy from within.
Meanwhile, the LARCH programme in Redcar & Cleveland and Hartlepool demonstrates how coordinated investment, grants and business support for early-stage social enterprises can drive job creation, strengthen enterprise resilience and help build a diverse and sustainable social economy.
These examples demonstrate the far‑reaching and effective role of the VCSE sector in delivering both economic and social returns across the Tees Valley. By combining local insight, trusted relationships and flexible delivery, the sector plays a vital role in supporting growth, operating not at the margins of economic strategy, but at its core. Through this work, VCSE organisations enable individuals to access opportunities, sustain employment and contribute actively to local economic activity.
However, VCSE organisations do not exist to serve the economy alone. They are driven by social purpose; to tackle disadvantage and strengthen communities. That said, the economic value they generate is real and significant, as evidenced throughout this report.
What does the report recommend?
The report sets out a number of key recommendations for the Tees Valley Combined Authority to strengthen its relationship with the VCSE sector and ensure that economic growth plans and delivery are inclusive of communities that are typically underserved. Taken together, these actions would help strengthen VCSE delivery capacity and maximise the sector’s contribution to economic growth.
Formally recognise the VCSE sector as a key delivery partner within the Local Growth Plan
The VCSE sector should be explicitly named as a delivery partner within the Local Growth Plan, particularly under the foundational economy priority strand. Targeted support would recognise the sector’s established reach into local communities and the workforce, while enhancing its ability to deliver economic outcomes at scale.
Establish structured, ongoing engagement with the VCSE sector
Effective collaboration requires sustained and structured engagement between Tees Valley CA and the VCSE sector. Without formal mechanisms for information‑sharing and decision-making, there is a risk that policy design and delivery fail to reflect lived experience or reach communities most in need.
Actions such as appointing a VCSE representative within governance structures, alongside establishing a unified point of contact, would represent important steps towards strategic partnership. These measures would strengthen system design, improve delivery effectiveness and ensure investment decisions are informed by community need, signalling a clear commitment to partnership working and inclusive economic growth.
Embed VCSE insight into system design from the outset
While development of the Local Growth Plan is already underway, it presents a clear opportunity to embed VCSE insight at the earliest stages of system design. Drawing on existing VCSE structures and partnerships would enable Tees Valley CA to access coordinated, place‑based intelligence on both sector capacity and the specific needs and challenges facing communities.
Using established networks provides a practical mechanism for engagement, allowing policy to be assessed, intelligence to be gathered and delivery opportunities to be identified early. This would support more evidence‑led decision‑making, improve commissioning outcomes, and ensure stronger alignment between economic strategy and community need.
What are VONNE’s next steps?
Building on the findings and recommendations set out in this report, VONNE will continue to play a key role in strengthening the VCSE sector’s voice and supporting its engagement with regional economic plans.
Next steps will include convening a series of engagement opportunities across the Tees Valley, working with the sector to better understand priorities, challenges, and opportunities in relation to the Tees Valley CA. This engagement will inform a set of clear asks that VONNE can take forward through ongoing dialogue.
VONNE will also continue to promote the report’s findings and case studies, while exploring further opportunities to deepen its presence and partnerships across the Tees Valley.
Our thanks to Waythrough and The National Lottery Community Fund, whose funding supported this work.
If you’re a Tees Valley organisation and you’re interested in supporting future conversations, get in touch with us by contacting our Policy Manager, Siobhan Flynn at siobhan.flynn@vonne.org.uk
Be part of VONNE’s collective voice by joining us as a member.
Download and read VONNE's report, Unlocking Potential : Recognising the VCSE Sector in Tees Valley Growth here.