Third Sector Trends in England and Wales 2025: The contribution of voluntary organisations to place: North East England in comparative context

This report presents some startling findings on how ‘different’ the North East of England is in many respects from other regions and especially in the more affluent South East of England. To an extent, these variations are framed by local social and economic circumstances which, in turn, shape the way the third sector is structured, how its defines its purpose and how its impact is achieved. But these factors do not explain everything, as if the third sector merely followed the same copy book in specific types of areas. On the contrary, there are aspects of purpose and practice in North East England which are quite distinctive and, arguably, are produced as a result of clear intent, not merely happenstance. Examples include the strength of business support for the voluntary sector in the North East and a growing culture of philanthropy led by local community foundations. The Third Sector Trends study was established in North East England and Cumbria in 2008 with the intention of exploring the structure, dynamics, purpose, energy and impact of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. Surveys began in 2010 and have recurred since on a triennial basis since 2013. Since then, its reach has widened to Yorkshire and Humber in 2013, the whole of the North of England in 2016 and from 2019 at a national level in England and Wales so as to examine how the third sector in regions compare. Three national reports on survey findings have already been published from the 2025 survey. The analysis in those publications underpin the interpretation of regional statistics in this report. Comparative work involves both time-series analysis from 2010 – 2025 together with direct comparisons with other similar and different regions in England and Wales. This is the only way fully to understand what is going on regionally. Without looking in the mirror of other regions, it is simply not possible to know what is ‘typical’ or ‘distinctive’ from other areas.