The requirement to prove sustainable commissioning may have only come to the fore in recent years, due to ever tightening local authority budgets, but it has always been a concern for charities.

In the past, all too often, services would be culled just as they got up and running when the funding ended. Now, as a result of local authorities demanding proof a service will survive, charities are working to provide what they have wanted all along too: sustainable services for the most vulnerable. With our heads together to achieve the same aim, things are set to change for the better. 

One example of this is in Bristol, where the University Hospitals Bristol Trust released part of the gifting money created by Royal Voluntary Service shops and cafés in the hospital to fund a range of services within the hospital and community, including our Home from Hospital service, on-ward support and Good Neighbours service throughout the city.