Third Sector Organisations in the UK: A Comprehensive Overview

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THE THIRD SECTOR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3
1.1 KEY EVENTS THAT SHAPED THIRD SECTOR ORGANISATIONS..............................................3
1.2 UNICEF..................................................................................................................................... 3
1.3 SAMARITAN CHARITY...............................................................................................................3
1.4 VALUES THAT DRIVE THIRD SECTOR ORGANISATIONS............................................................3
1.4 SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THIRD SECTOR AND PUBLIC SECTOR
ORGANISATIONS............................................................................................................................4
2.1 ROLE OF THIRD SECTOR ORGANISATIONS...............................................................................4
2.2 SOCIAL AND CULTURAL OBJECTIVES........................................................................................4
2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES................................................................................................ 5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................. 5
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INTRODUCTION
The voluntary sector organisations in the UK are termed as the third sector. The first two
sectors are the public and private sectors. A variety of associations, charities, self-help groups
and community groups are included under this sector. This report will explore the values and
the cultural, social and environmental objectives of these organisations. A comparison is also
made between the third sector and the public sector organisations functional in the UK.
1.1 KEY EVENTS THAT SHAPED THIRD SECTOR ORGANISATIONS
Third sector organisations in the UK such as British Heart foundation NHS, UNICEF, Welcome
Trust, Oxfam and cancer research were formed with a mission to improve the quality of public
support provided by the government sources. These organisations work with the coordination
of the government and the often get financial support from the state so that they can run their
social welfare activities efficiently. In the initial phase, the Samaritan charity organisation
displayed advertisements in which he urged people to contact him in case they are feeling
distressed (Billis, 2010). The organisation expanded quickly and at present, there are 201
centres of the organisation across the UK.
1.2 UNICEF
United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was formed in 1946 with an aim to provide
food and healthcare facilities to the children who lost their homes in World War II. This is an
international organisation providing its services in 192 countries of the world.
1.3 SAMARITAN CHARITY
It is a charity organisation working in the area of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The
organisation provides support to the people in distress or at risk of committing suicide. This
organisation was founded in 1953 by Chad Varah.
1.4 VALUES THAT DRIVE THIRD SECTOR ORGANISATIONS
These are voluntary organisation and are ‘value-driven’ which means that the motivational
force driving these organisations is to achieve social goals. The funds for the operations of these
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organisations are supported by the government and private donors across the world. The
organisation also works to uphold the rights of women and children. Rather than earning a
profit, the primary goal is to improve the economic well-being of the people (Alcock, 2010).
1.4 SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THIRD SECTOR AND PUBLIC SECTOR
ORGANISATIONS
The third sector organisations such as UNICEF and ‘Samaritan charity’ have many similarities
and difference in their mission, values and way of working (Alcock, 2010). The biggest similarity
is the goal of both these organisation which is to improve public facilities and create a better
society where people, have right to right to live with dignity and they have equal opportunities
to get an education, employment or healthcare facilities. One more similarity between these
two types of organisations is that they offer their services to all the people equally and their
goal is not to earn a profit.
The difference in the third sector and public organisations is the control; the third sector
organisations are completely independent whereas public sector bodies such as railway and
Police are under the control of the government (Macmillan, 2013). The funding for the public
sector organisations is completely managed by the state whereas third sector organisations can
take a donation from the general public and big organisations.
2.1 ROLE OF THIRD SECTOR ORGANISATIONS
The charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups have a strong role in running public
services effectively. They work in an independent manner and make sure that the general
public is able to fulfil its basic needs of healthcare, education, safety and living with dignity.
2.2 SOCIAL AND CULTURAL OBJECTIVES
Third sector organisations also fulfil the social and cultural objective by providing financial
support to the people. For example, UNICEF can help out the children facing cruelty at hem and
create a better future for them. These organisations also raise social and cultural issues such as
women empowerment and barrier to education.
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2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES
The role played by third sector organisation to raise environmental issues such as global
warming and climate change is very strong. The people are motivated to adopt the low-carbon
practice by the means of public awareness programs (Corry, 2010). In addition, the organisations
are also motivated to reduce their carbon footprint and invest their resources in social
development causes.
CONCLUSION
Form this discussion, it is clear those third sector organisations are an important means of
improving public services and create better facilities for the people. These organisations are
self-governing and are independent from the control of the state and therefore they are able to
understand and work on the public issues more effectively. The organisations are successful in
delivering public services more effectively by being responsive to the local people and their
needs.
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REFERENCES
1. Alcock, P., 2010. Building the Big Society: a new policy environment for the third sector
in England. Voluntary sector review, 1(3), pp.379-389.
2. Billis, D. ed., 2010. Hybrid organizations and the third sector: Challenges for practice,
theory and policy. Macmillan International Higher Education.
3. Corry, O., 2010. Defining and theorizing the third sector. In Third sector research (pp. 11-
20). Springer, New York, NY.
4. Macmillan, R., 2013. 'Distinction'in the third sector. Voluntary Sector Review, 4(1),
pp.39-54.
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