State of the Sector 2025
Creating a better picture of the State of our Sector
This summer, VAST invited hundreds of VCSEs in and around Stoke-on-Trent to contribute their insights on the current challenges and opportunities that impact on their work in the city.
The results from all the responses have now been published in the 2025 State of the Sector Report.
The results from the survey highlighted some key themes we’ve called the ‘Ten Talking Points.’ These are:
- Stoke-on-Trent is home to a compact but growing sector.
- Our sector is a story of anchor charities, and of rising stars.
- Are we doing ‘more with less’ – or a lot more with a little more?
- While speaking with many voices, we all agree: collaboration is key.
- Room for optimism: Partnership is a growth area.
- VCSEs work hard to keep a skilled workforce in play.
- VCSEs step up for communities despite the challenges.
- Our VCSEs enable citizen contribution.
- VCSEs’ strengths are hard to replace.
- ‘The soul of the sector?’ VCSEs remain optimistic against the odds.
If you’d like to learn more about these talking points, our Strategic Liaison Officer Tom is hosting a number of ‘Lunch and learn’ sessions explaining more about each of these talking points and some of the key takeaways from the report’s findings. Please see our events calendar for upcoming dates.
Thank you to all who took part in the survey, thank you for taking the time to respond, and helping to improve the picture of our sector locally.
If you have any questions or feedback on our report, please call 01782 683030 or email tom.pine@vast.org.uk.