Tendring Community Assets Full Final Report

10 2.4.5 Age groups supported by the responding organisations were spread across all ages, but the report detail highlights where there are areas of good practice and areas for development. Fig 2.4.4a – analysis of the age groups targeted by organisations reported in responses 2.4.6 In order to gauge the level of voluntary activity, organisations were asked about the number of volunteers they have and the hours they give to the service. The total, over the 82 organisations which responded, is 3,143 volunteers, with a total of 178,273 hours donated in 2018 . This highlights the strength of the voluntary sector and the availability of volunteering opportunities across a range of locations and services, supporting social inclusion and mental wellbeing. 2.5 To identify service gaps and potential for developing new services, an analysis of national and local population, health and other statutory data was undertaken. 2.6 Stakeholder focus groups were held in each of the 3 geographic areas to give a ‘reality check’ to information gathered and to identify where groups attending could work to help to address some of the gaps: South Tendring, 3rd April, CVST Sam's Hall, Clacton East Tendring, 4th April, CVST Dovercourt & Harwich Hub West Tendring, 5th April, Venture Centre 2000, Lawford Invitations to these sessions were sent to around 35 attendees based in each area, selected through a simple randomisation process from the list of CVST member organisations. In addition, a few people were invited who, during the mapping exercise and by recommendation, expressed a keenness to develop further services and/or who clearly had a good understanding of the local context and culture. Because of the random nature of the selection process representatives were not expected to bring specialist expertise or knowledge in any particular field to the sessions but rather to review initial findings and set out what they saw as pertinent local issues, challenges and known gaps. All sessions were supported by three project staff. < 5yrs 8% 5-11yrs 9% 12-16yrs 11% 17-18yrs 12% 19-25yrs 14% 26-64yrs 15% 65-80yrs 17% 80yrs+ 14% Age Group