Kingston Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector Manifesto – 2026

The Manifesto is an invitation to all political parties and independent Councillors to proactively engage with our sector for the benefit of a healthier, more prosperous and equal borough.

Dear Prospective RBK Councillor Candidates,

As we enter the local pre-election period, the Kingston VCSE Chief Officers’ Network would like to draw your attention to our 2026 Manifesto.

With this Manifesto, we are inviting all political parties and independent Councillors in Kingston to proactively engage with our sector for the benefit of a healthier and more prosperous and equal borough.

As local Councillors, one of your key roles is community leadership.

Just as you act as a bridge between residents and the council, advocating for local interests and fostering collaboration to solve problems, so VCSE organisations in Kingston are at the heart of providing solutions for many of the complex challenges faced by your constituents.

In addition, we are now living in particularly difficult times with threats from certain forces in society to disrupt equality, inclusion and general fairness.

As councillors, you have a shared responsibility to help our communities feel valued, respected and supported. By embracing equality, diversity and inclusion in all that you do, you strengthen the trust people place in local democracy and ensure every resident has the opportunity to thrive.

Most people recognise that these are challenging times. Across society, there are voices that seek to divide communities and undermine fairness, equality and mutual respect. This makes the commitment to inclusivity even more important.

By standing firmly for compassion, understanding and equal treatment, councillors can help create local environments where everyone—regardless of background, identity or circumstance—feels welcome and heard. Together, we can foster a stronger, kinder and more connected community for all.

Key facts about your VCSE Sector

• There are 456 registered charities in Kingston; 61% of whom have an income below £100,000
• 260 of those deliver locally often in partnership with many more voluntary and community organisations. Together they have:
• 8,230 volunteers
• 2,428 Trustees
• 2,045 employees
• Volunteers (based on 8,230 volunteers contributing 7 hours per week each on 48 weeks per annum on London Living Wage) save Kingston £38,713,920
• Investing in the VCSE sector offers additional value for money; for example:
  • Kingston Carers’ Network estimate that Carers in Kingston save the borough £336 million each year; (KCN Strategy, 2025-30)
  • Citizens Advice Kingston achieved financial outcomes for clients of £474,925 in 2024-25 (latest available figures)
  • £474,670 of additional external funding was brought into Kingston by only 37 local VCSE organisations in 2024-25 (latest available figures)
  • Kingston Foodbank produced financial gains to clients of £304.515 with total food distributed to the value of £284,141; with 13,420 people supported through provision of food and other essentials, including £23,865 issued in food vouchers and £92,869 financial gain through Kingston Pantry support.

• VCSE organisations embody the Prevention First approach; they pick up people’s problems before they reach crisis point, saving not just money, but reducing stress and preventing hospital admissions, for example, when people’s mental health deteriorates;
• Their wealth of experience and understanding of the wide range of communities they serve brings seldom heard voices to the table and supports community cohesion, empowerment and resilience;
• They work in collaboration with each other and with other sectors through effective networks and forums to share information and approaches;
• They work with RBK and the local NHS to tackle ill health and health inequalities that are inextricably linked with social, environmental and economic conditions;
• They help clients to navigate complex systems focusing on the most disadvantaged groups by providing equal access to legal and social support and by resolving residents’ issues such as housing debt.

What we are all facing in Kingston, as elsewhere:

Rising demand, increasing complexity of need, spiralling costs, combined with cuts, and significant pressure on demand-led services continue to create substantial strain for both public sector and VCSE sector.  Since the last local government elections, we have seen the on-going impact of Covid in a range of ways as well as the cost-of-living crisis, increased demand for housing and growing unemployment, all of which in turn have contributed to a growing mental health crisis.

Despite its reputation as a ‘leafy, prosperous borough’, as you know, Kingston’s population also faces significant challenges in terms of poverty, deprivation and health inequalities.

Working together effectively has never been more important. We now have the Kingston Compact setting out principles and shared commitments to support us in that.

Working together with the VCSE sector in mutual respect is much more than ‘nice to have’.  It is also essential to:

• Maximise the benefit of the VCSE sector’s vital contribution to the development of local strategies and plans – including the sector’s reach to minoritised communities, especially those with ‘lived experience’ (eg Kingston’s All Age Carers’ Strategy, Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and others);
• Enable the adaptability, creativity, innovation of the sector to flourish, offering stigma-free services that residents want and need; and tackling issues before they reach crisis point;
• Move from rhetoric to reality in tackling challenges together; including how to do more for less and increase innovation; and more recently how to ensure the involvement of the VCSE sector in Integrated Neighbourhood Health and Care with a further emphasis on the value of prevention (something the VCSE sector has long understood)
• Recognise that the economic and social benefits of investing in VCSE organisations are well documented, with evidence showing a £3.50 return for every £1 invested (Public Health England (2020) The older adults’ NHS and social care return on investment tool - Final report)

What we would like from you

We want you to:

• Learn more about the VCSE sector and understand its invaluable role in the community; understand and support the principles of the Kingston Compact
• Nominate a member who will attend the quarterly Kingston VCSE Sector Forum meetings and report back to the Council;
• Build strong and on-going relationships with the sector and champion us as an essential partner, not just another service provider;
• Make a firm commitment to support the sustainability of VCSE partners;
• Listen to the sector’s voice and act on it when we talk about the impact of decisions on the most vulnerable – the public sector can often pull levers that the sector can’t; for example, on the causes of poverty;
• Support simplified commissioning for innovation (prevention and resilience) and remove any disadvantage faced by local VCSE organisations in the commissioning process and allow them to demonstrate their unique strengths;
• Advocate for Kingston to become a Keep It Local borough;
• Recognise the intrinsic social value of the VCSE sector as well as its role in bringing additional funding and in-kind resources to the borough to support residents;
• Recognise the complexity and diversity of the sector as a key strength.

We wish you all the best in the upcoming elections. Should you become an elected member of Kingston Council, we would be delighted to work with you on making Kingston an even better borough.

Kingston VCSE CEO Network of behalf of the sector