Ross Thomas, Assistant Director of Partnerships & Policy at WCVA, tells us how useful data can be in predicting and shaping the future of the voluntary sector.
Working in or around the voluntary sector in Wales, you’ll know how fast things can change and, therefore, and how important it is to keep your finger on the pulse.
BAROMEDR CYMRU
Enter stage left, Baromedr Cymru, a new tool designed to give us real-time insights into what’s happening across the sector. Think of Baromedr as a kind of weather forecast for the voluntary sector. It’s a short, regular survey that helps us understand how organisations and the sector at large is doing.
Okay, so it is perhaps easy, cliché, even, for a ‘policy wonk’ to get excited about data. But the beauty of data is the role it plays in shaping and bringing about positive change as an end, or ongoing, result.
We will all have expertise in specific areas across the voluntary sector in Wales from which we can regularly make educated and well-grounded assumptions. But would I bet my mortgage on all of the assumptions I make? Most definitely not, and that’s where data comes in.
MAKING USE OF DATA
Of course, what we collect is only useful if we do something with it. I have plenty of examples in my career where, with the best intent, data collection has been mandated and then sits neatly in a database. That’s where it stays. But if used in the right way, and with broad sector support in our case, the Baromedr can be a game-changer in our influencing activities.
Context really matters here: the way Wales is governed is changing. We are on the cusp of the biggest constitutional reform in devolved history with the onset of the Senedd elections in May 2026, following from which there will be an additional 36 elected members.
Many faces, from the backbenches through to Ministerial roles, will be new; some will know and come from the voluntary sector while (many) others will have limited knowledge. And it won’t be long until they are in committee or plenary discussions, making policy recommendations and voting annually on budgets – the very work of politics that impacts the lives of everyone in Wales.
INFLUENCING A NEW LOOK SENEDD
We want ‘in’ on this, right? So what is it that helps those elected members in their thinking and decision-making? It’s data. Evidence. Stories. Lived experience. These are the underpinning elements of assurance that any of us would need, alongside our own ethics and principles, to know we are doing the right thing. It matters even more in an era of finite budgets and cross-sector partnerships.
I don’t suggest for a second that data is the be-all and end-all. It needs analysis; it needs contextualising; it needs ‘humanising’. And it is at that point where it allows us to say with authenticity, ‘we’ve got your back’, because we are using what you tell us. It also means we can be alive to changes and trends, and respond accordingly
In sum, it equips us at WCVA to make more evidence-based calls on the voluntary sector’s behalf in a competitive influencing environment. But this isn’t a one-way street, because you’ll get access to the insights too, helping you benchmark your own organisations and make better-informed decisions.
TAKE PART
So here’s the ask: take the survey and share it widely among your voluntary sector networks. It’s short, it’s easy and it makes a real difference. The more responses we get, the clearer the picture becomes, the stronger our voice and the greater our impact.
Wave 2 of Baromedr Cymru is live between 27 January – 24 February and focuses on volunteering in your organisation.
Nearly 1/3 of adults in Wales volunteer, yet volunteer recruitment remains in the top three concerns for 30% of the organisations we surveyed in Wave 1. Meanwhile, a new Home Office policy proposal suggests volunteering could help migrants ‘earn’ the right to live in the UK permanently sooner. We are keen to gather your views.Baromedr is more than just a survey. It’s a tool for change: let’s use it.
Take part in the latest wave by 24 February – it only takes 15 minutes!