Third Sector Trends research has been running in North East England since 2008 and its most recent biennial survey report has just been published and is featured in today’s Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2017/jul/04/resilient-charity-sector-despite-austerity?CMP=share_btn_tw 

This report presents key findings from the Third Sector Trends study in 2016 from across Northern England and specifically in North East England and for each of its four sub-regions: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Tees Valley.  Key findings  can be found in the Highlights Report.

The Third Sector Trends study was conceived and originally commissioned by Northern Rock Foundation with research conducted by the Universities of Southampton, Teesside and Durham. The Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland was a co-funder of the research and is now responsible for its legacy. The Community Foundation is now collaborating with partners including St Chad’s College at the University of Durham, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and IPPR North to expand and continue the research.

The Third Sector Trends survey was designed to explore the structure and dynamics of the Third Sector and to examine how individual Third Sector organisations (TSOs) fare over time in the context of change. The biennial survey which runs across the North East of England and Cumbria received the following levels of responses; 2010, n=1,055; 2012, n=1,700; 2014, n=1,318; and in 2016, n=1,369.

The final report can be downloaded here: http://www.communityfoundation.org.uk/post/ten-years-of-third-sector-trends/