COVID-19 and the Voluntary and Community Sector in the UK: Responses, Impacts and Adaptation

Description

The voluntary sector was central to the COVID-19 response: fulfilling basic needs, highlighting new and existing inequalities and coordinating action where the state had been slow to respond. This book curates rigorous academic, policy and practice-based research into the response and adaptation of the UK voluntary sector during the pandemic. Contributions explore the ways the sector responded to new challenges and the longer-term consequences for the sector's workforce, volunteers and beneficiaries. Written for researchers and practitioners, this book considers what the voluntary sector can learn from the pandemic to maximise its contribution in the event of future crises.

James Rees is Reader at the Institute for Community Research and Development (ICRD) at the University of Wolverhampton. Rob Macmillan is Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR), Sheffield Hallam University. Chris Dayson is Professor of Voluntary Action, Health and Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University. Christopher Damm is Research Fellow at the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR), Sheffield Hallam University. Claire Bynner is Lecturer in Social Justice and Community Action at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh.

"A fascinating and thoughtful account of the most disruptive period of the voluntary and community sector's recent history that skilfully weaves together a broad sweep of evidence and perspectives." Karl Wilding, University of Kent "COVID-19 was a global health disaster, but the social action it stimulated has been a blessing for the research community, breathing new life into age-old research questions. A who's who list of leading voluntary and community sector researchers, the book's authors have done a superb job drawing out key lessons from the pandemic and what they might mean for the future." Richard Harries, Institute for Community Studies "This timely collection explores the varying ways the voluntary and community sectors have responded to COVID-19. It covers a wealth of materials from across the UK, making it a valuable contribution." Marjorie Mayo, Goldsmiths, University of London "This wide-ranging collection offers crucial insights to the role the UK voluntary sector played in the COVID-19 response, and what this tells us about the future role of the sector." Markus Ketola, University of Edinburgh