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Last updated: 11 February 2010
Sherborne Youth Resource Centre has used its £1,000 Modernisation Fund bursary to explore how partnering with its local Citizen’s Advice Bureau could help the organisation become more competitive.
The Centre provides advice, information, guidance and support to local young people aged 13-25. It offers a range of training opportunities, and provides support centred on the different issues that young people may be experiencing, including homelessness, debt and careers advice.
The organisation wants to develop a greater partnership with its local Citizen’s Advice Bureau, which would put it in a better position to bid for children's services in the area. The advisory sessions paid for by the Modernisation Fund Phase One bursary helped to explore how this collaboration opportunity could be realised.
Talking about the Fund, Ingrid Trill, Manager of the Sherborne Youth Resource Centre said:
“Speaking with the adviser has definitely made me more focused. It's been really helpful knowing that we've had the support of someone who has a certain level of expertise and who we can bounce our ideas off. The sessions have helped to point us in the right direction and we're now looking to move it all forward. We understand that we now need help to research the feasibility of the collaboration, as well as looking at governance issues and how the partnership would work operationally.”
The Croydon Appliance Reuse Centre has used its £1,000 Modernisation Fund bursary to explore how developing potential partnerships would help the Centre become more self-sustaining.
Established in 2004, the Centre collects and repairs furniture and domestic appliances, which it sells-on at reduced prices, to people on low incomes. It also provides work experience and training opportunities for the long-term unemployed and those with learning disabilities.
The organisation is currently considering a partnership with a local building and developing company. This collaboration would provide the Centre with building materials to be reused and would also enable it to take over one of its potential partner’s vacant warehouses, which would be the location of a new training project. The Centre used the bursary to explore this partnership in more depth.
Talking about the Fund, Ray Barwick, Manager of the Croydon Appliance Reuse Centre said:
“We want to be fully self-sustaining. Instead of trying to get public funding we want to concentrate on getting new contracts and after our advisory sessions we feel that collaboration is the best way forward. We’re now looking for a consultant to support us in our communications with the other partner and help bring everything to a successful conclusion.”
New Roots used its £1,000 Modernisation Fund bursary to help it understand how collaboration can enable the organisation to successfully tender for contracts.
The organisation, which has been operating for 16 years, provides supported accommodation to homeless or vulnerably housed 16-25 year olds including young parents. It owns a number of properties, is the managing agent for several Registered Social Landlords and facilitates tenancies in the private sector.
All of the services the Project delivers are now coming up for tender so it asked the adviser paid for by its bursary to deliver a workshop for all its stakeholders. This allowed the Project to explore options for moving forward and it is now entering into a partnership arrangement with a much larger organisation, putting it in a stronger position when tendering for contracts.
Talking about the Fund, Carol Scawthon, Project Director of New Roots said:
“Thanks to the bursary we have a much clearer understanding of collaboration and how it may offer a greater chance of success in a tendering process. We are now in the process of signing the framework agreement and going forward with the joint bid.”
The Solihull Carers Centre has used its £1,000 Modernisation Fund bursary to explore how working in collaboration with other agencies could help it to expand its services, and improve the range of support it can offer clients.
The Centre is an independent charity that has been operating for 11 years. It provides information, advice and support to carers of all ages. As well as providing emotional and practical support to carers, it also offers a range of training opportunities and social clubs.
It is hoping to develop a ‘one-stop-shop’ for carers by partnering with other agencies that provide more specific support than the Centre currently offers. With the adviser paid for by the bursary, it was able to look at the pros and cons of collaboration and what it might mean for the organisation. The adviser also helped the Centre to look more closely at the different models for collaboration and helped it to explore which agencies were in the best position for a partnership.
Talking about the Fund, Maggie Leaver, Chief Officer of the Solihull Carers Centre said:
“The adviser helped us come to the conclusion that it is important to take a lead in encouraging collaboration for the one-stop-shop for carers and we've started progress on this now. We want to ensure that we have a seamless service for carers so that they're not passed from pillar to post. Our aim is to work together to deliver a better provision for them.”
The New Life Church has used its £1,000 Modernisation Fund bursary to explore how partnerships and collaboration could help it to develop its community-based projects and fulfil the increased demand for its services as a result of the recession.
The Church, which is of Pentecostal denomination, runs a range of projects, including a hostel dedicated to local homeless people and a life-skills training centre.
Using the bursary, the Church focused on some of its other community enterprises, including a debt management project and its furniture recycling scheme. With the adviser they looked at how working with potential partners would help to expand these projects further and enable them to become more sustainable as an organisation.
The Church is now looking into partnering with a local housing association to develop the furniture recycling scheme and working together with a debt management company.
Talking about the Fund, Andrew Hirst, Project Manager of the New Life Church said:
“The key learning from the advisory sessions was a very clear understanding of how we should approach working with different groups. We now understand that we need to draw up documents such as a risk assessment and a partnership agreement, something we wouldn't have considered otherwise.”
The Smethwick Bangladeshi Youth Forum has used its £1,000 Modernisation Fund bursary to explore partnership and collaboration options, to help it become more sustainable.
The Forum is a registered charity that works to support the communities of Smethwick. It provides a wide range of services to address social and economic deprivation experienced by local residents, including employment support and a bi-lingual advice centre.
The bursary helped the organisation to explore developing partnerships and working collaboratively with other organisations when tendering for funding. As a result of the advisory sessions the Forum has identified several other organisations to work with and is now looking at taking these partnerships forward.
Talking about the Fund, Johur Uddin, Chief Officer of the Smethwick Bangladeshi Youth Forum said:
“We would be struggling to look at these issues without the external support we've been given. We now need to get an agreement in place with the partners we’ve identified. We will also start looking at potential opportunities that we can pursue collaboratively.”