THE LEARNING PARTNERSHIP PROJECT
The Learning Partnership Project was launched by Voluntary Action Lewisham in August 2008. Its aim was to develop a partnership approach which would use resources more effectively to deliver a package of support to the voluntary and community sector (VCS) in Lewisham.
The project had two key elements; to facilitate access to training and learning opportunities for VCS staff that could enable career development and aid organizational sustainability. This involved working with other voluntary and community organisations in the borough as well as statutory and private training providers. The project also built on previously developed relationships and actively engaged with and fostered relationships with appropriate agencies, working to implement referral processes and systems to meet individual needs.
The second was to promote economic growth within the VCS by encouraging the sector to be more enterprising. Working with Simple Business Solutions and the London Borough of Lewisham a comprehensive programme of support to Lewisham’s VCS was established and delivered to equip organisations in maximising their resources and reducing their dependency on grant funding.
The Training Programme
The Training Programme was designed to provide a wide range of courses that would provide learners with personal development opportunities for learners, capacity support for organisations and important legal information for the VCS. Courses offered and the numbers that attended have been included in the table below:
| Name of Course | Date course will take | Objective | Number of attendees |
LEGAL AND ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT |
How to Win Funders Attention
With available funding becoming less and less you need to be able to show that your organisation can offer what others don’t. | 04 November 2008 | By the end of this course you will:- Be able to identify the components of a successful application
- Recognise the need for a work plan/strategy
- Understand the need to evaluate and measure your results.
| 14 |
Social Enterprise Awareness Event: WALK THE TALK
This course will assist you in finding out what the benefits of becoming a social enterprise are, the legal structures available and whether a social enterprise model is suited to your organization. | 04 March 2009 | By the end of this course you will:- Be able to identify the benefits of becoming a social enterprise
- Determine whether it is appropriate for your organisation
- Understand the legal process and support available
| 12 |
Managing and Sustaining Community Buildings
(Community Matters)
Local authorities are being asked to undertake asset transfer of community buildings to community ownership and management. This training focuses on the management of the asset, in this instance building. This course will use a series of ‘problems’ and case studies. | 10 & 18 December 2008 | By the end of this course you will:- Be able to identify the issues involved in Asset Management
- Be able to identify risks
- Recognise what’s involved in asset transfer
- Know who to speak to for answers to queries
| 33 |
Quality Assurance
Look at quality assurance and how quality measures can help you run your organisation effectively. Quality assurance needs to be an integral part of every organisation’s internal mechanisms and is proven to contribute to an organisation’s success. | Tuesday 27 January 2009 | This session is for organisations who want to:- Find out about quality assurance measures or revisit the measures out there.
- Discuss how quality assurance can support your needs
- Look at the process, and how to get started
- Obtain one to one support on implementing your chosen measure.
| 7 |
Roles & Responsibilities of Management Committee
This course will guide you in understanding your organisations legal responsibilities. | Tuesday 12 May 2009 | By the end of this course you will:- Recognise the need for clarity in terms of roles
- Identify key legal and organisational responsibilities
- Be able to develop draft role descriptions.
| 12 |
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT |
Reaching the Hard to Reach
Unique opportunity to look at an old problem with a new perspective | Tuesday 25 November 2008 | Often elements that increase organisations chances of securing funding can be the most difficult to achieve. This course will give individuals and organisations an opportunity to reflect on methodologies previously used and an insight on how to attract and maintain the interest of the most socially excluded sectors of the community.
Learning gained will impact both the success of any project or initiative and inform operating procedures. | 14 |
Train the Trainer
Delivering successful training requires a well planned and thought through approach. Gain practical skills to deliver a successful training session, understand the learning process and explore training needs. | 10 & 11 March 2009 | By the end of this course you will:- Be able to detail the components of successful training
- Be able to plan a training session on a chosen topic area
- Deliver a training session
| 12 |
Marketing Master Class
Effectively promote your organisation and its services. Produce publicity that will make an impact to prospective clients, organisations and funders. | 24 March 2009 | By the end of this course you will:- Recognise the need for effective publicity
- Be able to promote the organisation utilising existing resources
- Produce information to promote the organisation’s activities.
| 10 |
Learner’s Feedback
- How to Win Funders Attention
- Learners felt that more courses should be offered in this area.
- That detailed documentation should be provided for reference.
- Reaching the Hard to Reach
- All learners joining this course did so in order to widen the reach to more excluded groups
- The course attracted a number of staff from the statutory organisations whose role it is to work with harder to reach groups.
- Managing and Sustaining Community Buildings
- The course was described as one of the most ‘helpful courses ever attended.’
- Participants felt that information given would help to improve their organisation.
- Quality Assurance
- After attending this course participants felt better equipped to choose the appropriate quality mark for the organisation.
- Most participants said their immediate course of action after completing the course was to apply for funding to carry out their quality assurance.
- Roles and Responsibilities of a Management Committee
- Course was attended entirely my management committee members all of whom stated they were unaware of most of their roles and responsibilities as the course had highlighted.
- Train the Trainer
- Some attendants expressed the desire to pursue an accredited qualification on the subject.
- Marketing Master class
- Attendants felt that they had gained tools they could bring back to their organisation.
- Some felt that the subject was too large and needed to be broken down into smaller modules.
Promoting Economic Growth by being more enterprising
VAL commissioned Simple Business Solutions to run a Community Organisations Capacity Building Pilot Project. The objective of this project was to practically help 5 targeted voluntary and community sector organisations (VCSOs) in Lewisham to become better positioned and equipped to maximise their resources and eventually reduce their dependency on grants. The pilot project started in August 2008 and ended July 2009. Simple Business Solutions (SBS) has been providing support to the following VCSOs:
A number of areas that required attention were identified and an action plan drawn up. For each group offering them a menu of support, advice, and assistance.
This came in the form of :
- 1-2-1 advice and coaching sessions
- Management document review
- Financial reviews
- Ideas generation sessions
- Business support
- Signposting to: other organisations, courses and training opportunities (e.g. custom or offered by VAL, commissioning or funding opportunities).
This work brought to light the different types of problems and challenges that the organisations were facing.
These included:
Resource – time, money and people. All of the organisations claimed to suffer to some degree from a shortage of these three things. Funding and the need for income diversification was a factor in the creation of this pilot. In some organisations, much of people’s time and effort is focused on identifying and performing paperwork for small-scale grants thus preventing any form of action towards developing a strategic direction.
Some organisations have human resource in the form of volunteer staff and yet are unable to make the most use of them. Often the reason for this is that operational management is focused on the low level detail of day to day activity and are therefore unable to take a step back and actually manage the organisation.
Fear and apathy. Many of the problems stem from people’s fear of the unknown. Management sometimes seem reluctant to try something different. This fear can come from a lack of experience, knowledge or skills to take on what is required. There can also be a reluctance to delegate as this may feel like a loss of control. SBS have adopted the approach of taking small steps so as not to overwhelm management.
Decision Making. The decision making process in most of the organisations is slow and sometimes over cautious. The level of change that will move these organisations forward requires less risk averse management or boards. SBS have taken a bottom up approach by helping with some fundamental processes to make the overall running more efficient. This will need to be complimented with a top down initiative that works directly with the boards to get things done.
Jacqui Henry
Learning Partnership Officer
August 2009
Update. Jacqui Henry has since left VAL. Any enquiries about the Learning Partnership Project should be directed towards Jennifer Laing.
