Impression is often stronger than information. If Northern Rock didn’t know it before the government and Bank of England’s reassurances failed to stop people queuing all night to get at their money, it certainly knows it now. So do those working in the voluntary sector who have long felt that no matter how hard they work they’ll always be the ‘third’ sector. This week the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations launched an inquiry to find out why the government had given the lion’s share of pathways to work contracts to the private sector.