My first blog! Exciting.

Have you heard about the new recession-busting support package that the government has put together to help voluntary and community organisations through the economic downturn?

£42.5 million has been diverted from 'other budgets' towards supporting the third sector through these troubled times. £16.5 million of this is a 'modernisation fund', with help given to pay for expensive things like consultants, £15.5 million is a 'community resilience fund', and £10 million is a volunteer brokerage scheme. The last of these serves the dual purpose of providing activities for those who have lost their jobs or are finding it harder to get one, due to the recession.

But just how far will £42.5 million stretch? When you take it in the context of a situation where funding availability from other sources is getting tighter and tighter, just at the moment when the need for the voluntary sector's services is at its highest, it seems like just a drop in the ocean.

ACEVO had suggested £500 million as an appropriate level of support, and NCVO £100 million, with this broken down into itemised requests. £42.5 million doesn't even come close.

How much of this support package will get down to the organisations that need it most? We're still waiting to hear how all this money will be distributed, what the process is going to be, or what a typical grant will look like.

The voluntary and community sector is growing and developing, and needs serious investment, not only to survive, but to flourish.