Who does what, where, is an important factor in planning for local care needs. This means asking a lot of questions, and then more questions. It is possible that local voluntary organisations are offering a lot more than they realise, or they are offering the same thing. It should be taken into account the flexibility of their organisation and the possibly that some projects will not be long term. Service development can depend on enthusiasm and a sense of rapport between the people running the organisation.
Planning needs to prioritise the services.
Services for the elderly may have to take a higher priority than those for youngsters, dependent on what demographic information is saying. It's important that the goals aimed for are attainable, otherwise the only sufferers will be the clients. A new day centre and so forth is a brilliant idea, but not if the concept could not get off the ground. It does no one any favours to let an older well used service deteriorate because people have been influenced to use a newer one which later fails. A therapy group in the local village hall may be small and seemingly unprofessional, but it could be a very effective service.