voluntary sector

With voluntary organisations now at the forefront of delivering public services, the sector is undergoing enormous change. With demands for its services increasing, and traditional income streams under threat, the sector relies more than ever on its strongest asset – its people. They bring their passion, their commitment, and often years of experience.

However, in such a challenging climate, conflicts and disputes can often result. Relationships can change or break down over allocation of resources, appointment of paid staff, organisational change, and issues of autonomy and status. It's no surprise that voluntary organisations are increasingly turning to mediation to resolve these problems.

Mediation can be used to resolve conflicts in the workplace and disputes with service users, partners, stakeholders and funding bodies. In contrast to litigation, mediation resolves disputes without apportioning blame, allowing the parties to move on and continue working together.

Mediation Works is one of the UK’s longest established and largest mediation practices. We are a non profit organisation with many years of experience working with voluntary organisations. Our team of professional mediators offer a range of services for the sector, including:

Contractual mediation – for disputes with partners, stakeholders and funding bodies.

Service user complaints - relating to service provision and complaints of discrimination in the supply of or access to services.

Workplace mediation - for one-off employee problems including colleague relationship breakdown, bullying, harassment, discrimination, grievances, and disciplinary issues.

Workplace consultancy – ongoing training and support for HR managers to build a better, more productive workplace.