thrive - april, may, june 2015 edition
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Supporting voluntary and community action April/May/June 2015
Bristol - a learning city
Volunteers’ Week
May’s elections - our local parties’ intentions for our sector
A look at social prescribing
Upcoming training
and more...
In this issue:
Photo: Local young person involved in APE Project’s Bike Exchange Scheme. For more information about APE, see p8.
www.voscur.org April / May / June 2015 Issue 282
Contents
Disclaimer: some of the views expressed in this publication are those of individual contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of Voscur. Publications, events and services mentioned in Thrive! are not necessarily endorsed by Voscur.
Voscur
3 Editorial
4 New members
5 Member focus - “Think Big” - Friends of Headley Lane Park
6 Neighbourhood focus: Dundry View
7 Bristol launches ‘Batook’s Blueprint’ - a Manifesto for Race Equality
8-9 Grasping the nettle - support around volunteering for groups running sustainability projects
10 Celebrating our city’s fantastic volunteers
11 Stronger together - a look at Voscur and Volunteer Bristol’s new joint membership scheme
Support Hub
12-13 Upcoming Voscur training
14 Embracing change - local organisation has support from Voscur to take its next steps
Voice and Influence
15 Putting victims first
17 ‘This is me’ - interview with a VCS Advocate
18 Bristol: a learning city
19-23 Thinking outside the box - May’s elections and the voluntary and community sector
24-25 A united voice is a stronger voice - Bristol BME Voice’s Knowledge and Share Programme
26-27 Just what the doctor ordered - a look at social prescribing in Bristol
28-30 City devolution and communities
31 Think local - Neighbourhood Partnerships’ conference February 2015
Thrive! is also available online as a pdf at www.voscur.org/magazine.
If you require it in another format, please get in touch on 0117 909 9949.
Key to symbols
Event
Training Information & Resources
Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 3
Bristol’s voluntary and community
sector (VCS) works with and
supports some of the most
vulnerable people in the city.
We do this by anticipating and
responding to need, standing
up for social justice and equality,
being creative, innovative, frugal,
maximising resources, involving
volunteers, and not giving up.
Voscur is a member of Navca,
a network of VCS organisations
operating across the country,
carrying out important behind-
the-scenes work to support this
frontline activity.
In this time of austerity, funders
are understandably keen to
protect frontline services, with
infrastructure sometimes not
seen as a key element of that
protection. Recognising this,
Navca set up an independent
commission to look at the future
of voluntary sector infrastructure.
The Commission’s report, ‘Change
Dear members and friendsfor Good’, was published in
January 2015.
The Commission argues that it
is generally understood that our
physical infrastructure requires
regular investment to help it cope
with new and changing demands
- the case for investment in
VCS infrastructure is just as
compelling.
The research shows that
infrastructure will be needed, as
long as people come together
to form VCS groups. New groups
and existing ones will need advice
on legal forms, governance,
compliance, fundraising and
income generation, financial
and organisational management
and demonstrating their value.
Additionally, an independent voice
for and of the sector is vital.
The Commission identified a
number of key challenges for
social action; we’ve highlighted
some of them here – they’re
probably familiar to you too:
• Coping with the problems
of today leaves no time for
foresight.
• Direct financial support to
organisations is declining,
while demand is increasing.
• New forms of organising and
advancing social causes are
emerging.
• Cashless and informal
economies are growing but
need more support.
• Lack of capacity is placing
governance, leadership and
succession planning under
strain.
• Poor inter-sector
understanding is resulting in
lost opportunities.
• Too few infrastructure bodies
and local groups demonstrate
impact.
• Understanding of new forms
of finance is weak.
The Commission addresses these
issues in its recommendations,
and these will inform our future
plans. The Commission’s findings
will be combined with Voscur’s
local knowledge of capacity and
need across the VCS in Bristol
to give direction and focus to
our work to ensure that we are
effective in the challenging times
ahead.
To read the Commission’s report
in full, go to: www.navca.org.uk/
commission-report
Best wishes,
Wendy Stephenson Chief Executive
www.voscur.org April / May / June 2015 Issue 284
New Voscur members
For more information on becoming
a member of Voscur and the range
of member benefits, see p11, visit
www.voscur.org/about/joiningonline
or call us on 0117 909 9949.
Buzz Lockleaze A social enterprise which runs an employability
project; does work around food and healthy eating
and is developing a community food shop and
coffee/smoothie bar. www.northbristoladvice.org.uk/community-projects/buzz-lockleaze
0117 269 0006
Steiner Academy Bristol A new school offering an education that is creative,
engaging and environmentally conscious.
0117 965 9150
Friends of Headley Lane Park See case study on following page.
http://headleyparkers.btck.co.uk
Picton Street Fayres
A community group which organises street fayres
throughout the year in Montpelier.
www.facebook.com/pictonstreetfayre.montpelier
07760207310
Bourne Family Project Family support centre based in Kingswood
which aims to provide a safe and confidential
space where families and individuals can
seek practical and emotional support. [email protected]
0117 9478441
Old Market Manor A factory in Old Market, now a community-built,
community-led space: a design centre for excellence
built by people who are dedicated and passionate
about ‘making’/creative arts. [email protected] 07921 765 909
Keep up to date with Voscur online:
f/voscur l/voscur x/voscuri/voscur
Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 5
Friends of Headley Lane Park
was formed by three mums who
wanted a better play area in their
local park for their children. In
August 2013, finding no Council
funds available to assist them,
they set upon the task of raising
at least £50k to make their aim a
reality.
They began by holding family
fund/awareness-raising events
in the park. They also applied for
several grants and wrote to local
businesses asking for help. This
achieved some success, but they
quickly realised that they needed
to be more ambitious to reach
their target.
For that, they decided to enter
the ITV People’s Millions. Their
application was successful and
they were chosen to be one
of the charities put up for the
public vote; these projects made
campaign films which were
televised before voting opened.
“Groups were encouraged to
drum up support from their
community,” says Hannah Knight,
one of the original founders
of the group, “so we set about
spreading the word through
social media, flyer distribution,
posters, banners and more. Our
film showed children playing in the
park and was lots of fun to make.”
All of this hard work paid off -
Friends of Headley Lane Park were
successful, winning £50,000!
“We are now able to realise
our dream for a new improved
play area, and the park will be
finished while our children are
still young enough to enjoy it,”
says Hannah. “At the beginning,
none of us had any experience
of fundraising or of running a
voluntary group - Voscur has
been a great help with everything
from grant finding to setting up.
Our Neighbourhood Partnership
has also been invaluable and we
have taken advice from websites
such as Community Matters.
Finding and applying for grants
is hard work but well worth the
effort. We found it important to
decide on our ethos and values
early on so they shone through in
our applications. It is also vital to
spread the workload and get on
well with your group - especially
when working together intensively
and under pressure.
“Our advice would be to think
big and don’t give up. Our
determination has paid off and
given us drive to keep going and
make more future plans.”
To read more about
Friends of Headley
Lane Park, visit: http://
headleyparkers.btck.co.uk
Starting a new group? Voscur’s
Support Hub can help. Call
them today on 0117 909 9949.
“Think big”Friends of Headley Lane Park
Local children promoting the ITV People’s Millions campaign
www.voscur.org April / May / June 2015 Issue 286
Neighbourhood focus: Dundry ViewDundry View Neighbourhood Partnership gives us a rundown of what they have been up to in their neighbourhood...
Dundry View Neighbourhood
Partnership has an inspirational
story to tell about how we have
been able to influence the future
plans for an empty building in
Bishopsworth (a part of the
Dundry View area).
Bishopsworth Swimming Pool was
closed in February 2012. The pool
site is very important to the local
community and is often referred
to as “the heart of the village”. At
the Bishopsworth Forum in June
2012, the community and the
Council pledged to work together
so that the community would be
fully involved in determining the
future of the site. It was agreed
that any decisions about the site
would be made together with the
Neighbourhood Partnership.
The community quickly rallied
around and formed a steering
group consisting of residents
and local councillors from both
the Bishopsworth and Hartcliffe
wards. The steering group,
supported by Council staff
and Hartcliffe and Withywood
Community Partnership, organised
a comprehensive engagement
and information-sharing campaign
which included door-knocking in
the local area, mapping existing
local resources, a programme
of community workshops, and
lots of publicity. Using all of
the information gathered, the
steering group gained a really
good understanding of what local
people wanted for the future of
the site.
The community wanted to retain
the building for community use
rather than knock it down. Criteria
based around community input
were set so that expressions of
interest could be invited from
organisations that could run and
deliver a service from the site
in the future. Six expressions of
interest were received, and the
community was then asked to take
part in a week-long consultation
to decide on the preferred option.
The final recommendation to the
Neighbourhood Partnership was
for ‘Transitions Skate’ to open an
indoor skate park and to support
the development of a ‘village
hub’ on the outside space. Lots
of residents, including a good
representation of young people,
came along to the meeting to
pledge their support for the
project. After a lively debate,
the Neighbourhood Partnership
supported the proposal with an
overwhelming majority.
Work is now taking place on the
building, and it is hoped the new
facility will be open later this year.
A ‘Friends of the Bishopsworth
site’ group has been set up to
manage this and the Council’s
parks service has agreed to fund
the maintenance of the outside
space for five years.
Without the Neighbourhood
Partnership, the result may have
been quite different and the
community is delighted with the
plans.
For more information,
email Gemma Dando:
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Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 7
March 2015 saw the launch of
Batook’s Blueprint – Bristol’s
Manifesto for Race Equality. The
Manifesto was initiated by the
late Batook Pandya (founder of
SARI) and developed by Bristol
BME Voice, in partnership with
local agencies and community
representatives.
The launch event, held in a packed
Trinity Centre, was chaired by
Chief Inspector Norman Pascal,
Chair of Avon and Somerset Black
Police Association, who introduced
Mayor George Ferguson as the
keynote speaker. The Mayor
celebrated the achievements of
people from BME communities
within Bristol, but acknowledged
that there is a lot more that we
can achieve together. Reflecting
on the fact that real change
comes from grass-roots activism,
George welcomed the Manifesto
for Race Equality and pledged his
support for it.
In 2014, Bristol came 7th in the
Runnymede Trust’s list of areas
with the most inequality between
ethnic minorities and white
British* (in the areas of education,
employment, health and housing).
In terms of representation, Bristol
currently has five Black councillors,
a rate of 7%, whilst the BME
population of Bristol is 16%.
The Manifesto is a challenge to
both public agencies, business and
communities to transform race
equality in Bristol. It lays down
seven principles:
1. Ensure fair representation
2. Address the impact of
multiple discrimination
3. Increase decision making and
voter registration
4. Eliminate racial stereotyping
5. Make race equality a high
priority
6. Ensure adequate resources to
enable change to happen
7. Improve social and economic
opportunities
and asks local agencies to sign
up to these principles and work
together to produce an action
plan for change.
Roger Griffiths, chair of Ujima
Radio CIC and a member of the
Manifesto steering group, said,
“The Manifesto has to involve
the large strategic organisations
working with groups and our
communities – partnership
working is essential.”
Alex Raikes, interim director of
SARI and also on the steering
group, added, “Race equality in
Bristol should have, at the very
least, the same priority as the
profile given to Bristol Green
Capital.”
Sue Mountstevens, Avon and
Somerset Police and Crime
Commissioner, was pleased to add
her support to the Manifesto.
* for more information, visit: goo.gl/SFkjJS
Bristol launches ‘Batook’s Blueprint’ - a Manifesto for Race Equality
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Read the Manifesto at:
http://goo.gl/ZlMJK8
George Ferguson, Mayor of Bristol, supporting the launch of the Manifesto with members of the steering group.
www.voscur.org April / May / June 2015 Issue 288
Grasping the nettle Support around volunteering for groups running sustainability projects
To be the first UK city awarded
‘Green Capital’ status is an
enormous achievement, of
which we are all justly proud.
This achievement also brings
unprecedented opportunities for
local communities and voluntary
groups, including those with no
previous record of environmental
or conservation activity, to
engage with the Green Capital
programme and share in the
‘greening of the city’. Many of
these projects will involve the
contributions of local people,
confirming that community action
and volunteering are central to
keeping Bristol green.
Organisations undertaking
community, environmental and
sustainability projects will need
to make preparations in order
to maximise the impact of their
projects. Voscur recognises
that small community groups
will want to know how best to
attract and retain helpers and
supporters. Even well-established
charities may need advice about
safeguarding young volunteers or
additional insurance that may be
required for outdoor work.
Voscur has been commissioned
by Green Capital 2015 to deliver
a comprehensive programme of
training and support covering a
full range of matters related to
volunteering, and has created
a suite of training workshops
tailored around the needs
of community organisations
undertaking environmental
sustainability projects. The
programme will be delivered from
April to July 2015, in order to put
organisations on the front foot
at the very start of their Green
Capital projects.
The training will consist of a
series of four half-day workshops,
delivered in small groups. Each
workshop will be held at several
community venues across the city
to help ensure access for different
communities. It will be possible
to book individual workshops, but
we advise organisations to sign
up for the full package in order to
gain a comprehensive overview of
volunteering issues.
Thanks to funding support from
Green Capital 2015, Voscur is able
to offer this training at the heavily
subsidised charge of £10 for all
voluntary and community sector
organisations taking part in green
projects. We anticipate high levels
of demand for this training, and
recommend that organisations
book early to ensure their places.
One local group that is already
signed up is the Ape Project
C.I.C., a non-profit organisation
which works with children,
young people and their families
across Bristol.
Passionate about the
importance of play and its
ability to transform both
individuals and communities,
APE uses a mixture of practical
skills, tool work, craft and
cooperation to promote
creativity, healthy lifestyles,
community development and
environmental awareness in
communities. The project
manages a children’s bike
exchange scheme and has
previously benefitted from
Green Capital support. Guy
Dobson, Co-Executive Director,
is looking forward to taking
part in the Voscur volunteer
training course, and explains:
“Ape Project’s involvement of
volunteers has really taken off
this year. We wish to manage
our volunteers effectively and
provide them with as good an
experience as possible, so this
course is ideal for us.”
Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 9
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
• What volunteering is (no contract, no compulsion, no payment, expenses).
• Why people volunteer.
• What stops people volunteering.
• Who can volunteer (including supported volunteering).
• Where to recruit (role descriptions, adverts).
• Selection of volunteers (interviews, references).
Recruiting Volunteers21 April, 29 April, 23 June 2015 (with addition of 28 April for
Green Capital Grant recipients only).
• Why people stop volunteering.
• Volunteer induction.
• Supporting and supervising volunteers.
• Valuing volunteers.
Supporting and Retaining Volunteers5 May, 13 May, 30 June 2015 (with addition of 20 May for Green
Capital Grant recipients only).
• Planning for volunteering.
• Volunteer policies and procedures.
• Anticipating issues that can arise when working with volunteers.
• Exit processes.
Managing Volunteers – Having Everything in Place21 May, 4 June, 8 July 2015 (with addition of 11 June for Green
Capital Grant recipients only).
• What is safeguarding?
• The main categories of abuse.
• Safeguarding volunteers and vulnerable groups.
• Safeguarding policy and procedures.
• Getting support.
Safeguarding10 June, 16 June, 15 July 2015 (with addition of 7 July for Green
Capital Grant recipients only).
For a full list of courses and to book, visit: www.voscur.org/
content/managing-volunteers-training. For more information,
please contact Nikki Smith at Voscur: [email protected]
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includes template certificates of
thanks that can be downloaded
and presented to volunteers.
Volunteer Bristol is planning
events across the city to mark the
week, and up-to-date details of
these will be added to our website
(www.volunteerbristol.org.uk)
closer to the time.
National Volunteers’ Week is the
annual celebration of volunteering
that aims to recognise the
enormous contribution made by
millions of volunteers across the
UK. Volunteers’ Week has taken
place every year since 1984, and
is bigger and more diverse each
year. This year, Volunteers’ Week
will take place from 1 - 7 June, and
during the week a broad range
of activities and initiatives will be
taking place across Bristol, with
support from Volunteer Bristol
@Voscur.
Sian Bunn, Volunteer Development
Manager, explains, “We want every
volunteer-involving organisation in
Bristol to join in – it’s a wonderful
opportunity to thank our fantastic
volunteers and let everybody
know how much we value them
and rely upon their support.
There are so many different ways
an organisation can show its
appreciation for volunteers - some
charities present awards or give
out themed merchandise, like
Volunteers’ Week mugs.
“Why not organise a volunteers’
picnic, or invite your local
community radio to present a
feature about your volunteers?
Whatever you do for Volunteers’
Week, we are urging all voluntary
and community organisations
across the city to let us know
what is planned. We can help with
ideas, publicity, promotion and
resources.”
Last year LinkAge hosted a
‘LinkAge Volunteer Big Thank You’
event during Volunteers’ Week
in June which was attended by
120 volunteers. They premiered a
‘thank you’ film they had made,
together with speeches from
existing volunteers, their chief
executive and trustees. This
year LinkAge is looking forward
to hosting another event along
similar lines, but with a secret
twist!
Volunteer Bristol @Voscur can
provide advice and assistance to
help organisations celebrate their
volunteers, including a toolkit that
For more information
on what’s happening
locally for Volunteers’
Week, call Sian Bunn or Emily
Bonney on 0117 989 7734
For national Volunteers’
Week, visit: http://
volunteersweek.org
Celebrating our city’s fantastic volunteers
Radio Lollipop volunteers at the Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital provide care, comfort, play and entertainment to sick children in hospital
Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 11
short-term strength and longer-
term sustainability. Not only does
our merger enhance the network
you are directly connected to for
collaboration and advocacy, but
membership fees remain no more
than 0.5% of your annual income.
We’re also launching some exciting
new services for 2015, including:
• More targeted funding
support: www.voscur.org/fars
• Low-cost volunteer
management training to
support your involvement in
Green Capital.
• Additional HR support to help
recruit and develop the staff,
volunteers and trustees your
organisation needs.
Working in partnership is a
defining characteristic of
our sector and it’s helping to
achieve great things in Bristol.
For example, we are starting to
close the gaps between different
systems that support people
with complex needs (Golden Key),
address social isolation in our older
communities (Ageing Better), fight
to not just eliminate racism but
create equality of opportunity
(Manifesto for Race Equality) and
ensure that economic growth
includes, rather than excludes,
disadvantaged communities
(Local Enterprise Partnership
investment).
These schemes are possible
because, as well as our individual
and organisational loyalties, we’re
also part of something bigger,
and tapping in to that makes us
all stronger, smarter and more
influential.
One of Voscur’s key roles is to
offer local groups the chance to
benefit from our community of
peer members. We help establish
and maintain relationships built
around common goals and values,
then turn those relationships into
action and, if that is what our
communities need, collaboration.
Doing this more responsively and
effectively was a primary reason
for Volunteer Bristol and Voscur’s
merger a year ago. In 2014 our
separate membership schemes
ran in parallel as we integrated
services and systems. This year we
will consolidate membership into a
single joint scheme that gives you
access to a larger, more diverse
network of peers and a range of
new member benefits.
What’s changing?
We’re combining membership
benefits to create the best-value
investment in terms of your
For more details, go
to www.voscur.org/
membership2015
Stronger togetherA look at Voscur and Volunteer Bristol’s new joint membership scheme
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Upcoming Voscur trainingPreparing your Accounts for your End of Year ReportThursday 16 April 2015, 9:30am - 3:30pm
This course is designed to identify key areas associated
with the production of statutory accounts for those
who have had limited exposure to this specialist area.
Safeguarding and WhistleblowingThursday 30 April 2015, 9:30am - 1pm
How do you manage issues of safeguarding in your
organisation? Do you have a whistleblowing policy?
How are concerns shared and how are decisions
made about escalating whistleblowing processes?
This training will answer the above questions, help you
identify steps to take when issues arise, and inform
you about how to develop and maintain relationships
with Bristol City Council staff and the support they can
offer to help you meet good practice standards and
legislation.
Being a Good TrusteeThursday 23 April 2015, 6pm - 9pm Tuesday 9 June 2015, 9:30am – 12:30pm
Governance has never been more crucial; in challenging
times, a strong board is essential to survive and thrive.
Yet many trustees are unclear of their duties and
boundaries with staff. This course sets out trustee roles
and responsibilities and suggests tools to help ensure
your board leads your organisation’s impact.
Contracts of Employment – How to Get it RightWednesday 13 May 2015, 9:30am - 1pm
Organisations are only as effective as the staff that
work for them, and employment contracts should help
both employers and employees get the most out of
their relationship. This course will help you create, alter
and end employment contracts using procedures that
comply with all the relevant legislation and treat staff
as people, not just ‘human resources’. This course is
being delivered by ACAS.
Working Together to Prevent and Support Young People Being Drawn into Terrorism and ExtremismThursday 14 May 2015, 9:30am – 12:30pm
The workshop builds our understanding of how young
people can become radicalised and be vulnerable to
extreme views and actions which could lead to acts of
violent extremism. Practitioners working with young
people may well become aware of changes and signs
that might indicate the early stages of vulnerability
to extremism. This workshop will enable practitioners
from all agencies to recognise signs, to know what
action to take in response to concerns, and to cascade
the learning to others in their teams.
Finance Forum - Insurance for Voluntary Sector OrganisationsTuesday 2 June 2015, 1:30pm - 3:30pm
This session will cover the reasons why VCS
organisations need to consider insurance; the legislative
requirements; the types of insurance cover required
(including good practice measures in undertaking risk
assessments); and where and how to obtain suitable
quotations. This course will be delivered by Martin
Ladbrook, of Ladbrook - specialist advisers to the
voluntary and community sector.
Minute Taking for AdministratorsWednesday 3 June and Wednesday 10 June, 9:30am - 1pm (course over two half-day sessions)
All organisations need accurate records of meetings.
They are essential if teams, committees and boards are
to have a clear account of the decisions made and the
actions required. The aim of this course is to provide
you with tools to ‘minute’ with confidence.
Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 13
Writing Small Fundraising BidsThursday 4 June 2015, 9:30am – 3.30pm
Make it easy for funders to say “yes” to your bids.
Whether you want £200 for a community event or
£2,000 for new equipment for your services, you need
a strong, clear proposal. This one-day course will take
you through the essentials for writing a strong bid
that’s appealing to funders, and how to avoid the most
common pitfalls.
Introduction to Time ManagementWednesday 17 June 2015, 9:30am - 1pm
Do you find that there are not enough hours in a day?
Are you always rushing around? You may think that
you don’t have time to attend this course, but you’d
be wrong! Take half a day out of your schedule to learn
how to identify your bad habits, reduce stress (using
proven time-management techniques) and discover
how to manage that daily flood of e-mails.
Being an Even Better TrusteeThursday 18 June 2015, 6pm - 9pm
Focused on governance, managing risk, effective
meetings and how to make the most of the skills in
your trustee team, this course is designed to support
your development beyond the basics of being on a
board.
Telling Your StoryThursday 25 June 2015, 9:30am - 1pm
This practical workshop will equip attendees with the
correct tools to be able to communicate effectively
with a range of audiences, from members of the public
to stakeholders and beyond. Attendees will be able to
try their hand at various disciplines and will be offered
advice on PR, marketing, social media and website
management.
Early-bird rates available!
To book your place or to find out more,
please go to: www.supporthub.org.uk/
training-hub or call us on: 0117 909 9949.
Doing ‘green’ work/running a project around sustainability?
Find out more about a range of courses that are taking place around volunteering between April and July 2015 on p8-9.
Trustee NetworkWednesday 1 July 2015, 6pm - 8pm
The Trustee Network is open to any trustees, from the
brand new to the very experienced. As well as a short
presentation on a relevant topic, Trustee Network
meetings offer a chance to meet other trustees and
share good practice.
How Decisions are Made in the CityWednesday 8 July 2015, 12pm – 2pm
Bristol has a number of locally based institutions
making decisions which have an impact on our
communities. As VCS activists, do you understand what
these organisations are and how they make decisions?
This session will inform you about our elected Mayor,
Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), business-led
bodies such as the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
and how they make decisions.
Evidence and Intelligence to Support Funding Bids – How Can Council Data Help?Thursday 9 July 2015, 9:30am - 1pm
This course can help enhance your funding applications
and project planning. It offers a chance to look in
more depth at the range of data and intelligence freely
available online via the City Council and how to make
best use of it. This course is being delivered by Bristol City Council.
www.voscur.org April / May / June 2015 Issue 2814
local people, and is willing to
take on constructive feedback
and embrace change,” says
Steve Watters, Support Hub
Development Worker at Voscur.
“I am sure lots of local people will
benefit from the new services.”
The Lockleaze Hub is now open,
with lots of activities each week
for the community as well as
rooms for hire. The organisation
continues to develop and there
are more exciting plans for the
future in the pipeline.
Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust
(LNT) is a local charity run by
residents and professionals to
help improve quality of life in
Lockleaze. They achieve this by
working to bring better services to
the area and building public pride
and community spirit.
Richard Reddrop, Chair of Trustees
at LNT, approached Voscur last
year for support as LNT prepared
for the move to a new community
hub. “As an organisation we had
been a little consumed by the
process of planning and building a
new community centre – and now
wanted a development plan to
drive us forward,” he said.
Following an organisational ‘health
check’, Voscur worked with LNT to
produce an action plan, breaking
the work into clear steps for the
trustees and staff at LNT to tackle.
Our first step was to work
with trustees to review the
organisation’s strategy, and a key
action for LNT was to listen to
the views of local people. Voscur
helped to design a survey to find
out about local views and needs.
“We sent out the survey to all our
partners and users, asking about
their perception of LNT, what they
valued and what they felt needed
to change,” said Richard.
Once some of the key themes
of this listening exercise became
clear, the organisation could start
further strategic planning with
Voscur’s advice and support.
We also gave advice on the
development of the board of
trustees through training and
recruiting new members. This led
to new people with relevant skills
joining the board and a plan for
future development.
Following Voscur’s support, LNT
restructured the staff roles and
gained funding for new projects
including the promotion of social
inclusion in the community.
“It’s great to be able to work
with an organisation that wants
to make a difference, listens to
Could Voscur’s
Suppot Hub help your
organisation? Get in
touch on: 0117 909 9949
Embracing change
Charlotte Leslie MP and Mayor George Ferguson officially open ‘The Hub’ community centre in Lockleaze with the help of some local children and volunteers.
Local organisation has support from Voscur to take its next steps
Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 15
Police and Crime Commissioner
(PCC) Sue Mountstevens set a
clear priority in her Police and
Crime Plan to ensure that victims
are at the heart of the criminal
justice process. As part of that
commitment, over the last year
the Office of the Police and Crime
Commissioner (OPCC) has been
working hard to put in place local
support services for victims of
crime and anti-social behaviour
(ASB).
When the Integrated Victim
Strategy was published,
recognising the importance
of working with providers and
partners, two of the key principles
were that the approach should be
consultative and collaborative. This
meant that we aimed to enrich
our process with the knowledge,
expertise and experience of
voluntary and community sector
(VCS) providers, partners and
other stakeholders from the very
start.
The OPCC has worked with the
VCS in a number of ways:
Consultation – we consulted on
our commissioning intentions
both online and in person from
February to May 2014. This
allowed the team to attend and
co-host a number of meetings
and events with the VCS.
Ultimately, it was this feedback
that enabled us to publish a
clear commissioning plan, which
responded to individual comments
and outlined the changes we had
made in response.
Market events – we hosted two
market events which gave us the
opportunity to answer questions
from potential providers, better
understand their views (and
service user needs), and make
clear our vision for victim services.
Purchasing methods –
recognising the importance of
smaller specialist services and
providers, the OPCC uses its
funding in a variety of ways,
opening up opportunities to the
market.
Updates – we continually sought
to keep stakeholders - including
VCS organisations and providers
- up to date with publications,
events and decisions.
Next steps…
We are now working with our
new providers, alongside criminal
justice and other partners, to
realise the PCC’s ambition. As
a relatively new commissioning
body, we are keen to continue
working in this way and to evolve
our working relationship with
partners and the VCS to bring
about the very best outcomes for
Avon and Somerset.
VCS groups can read the PCC’s
‘VCSE Charter’ online (goo.gl/
KTW2oD) and are welcome to get
in touch with the PCC’s Custody
Visiting and VCSE Officer, Anna
Hill, by emailing: Anna.Hill@
avonandsomerset.pnn.police.uk
Putting victims first
Read the PCC’s
full Police and
Crime plan at:
www.avonandsomerset-pcc.
gov.uk/
Article written by Alice Jones, Grants Officer and Violence Against Women and Children Champion, Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office.
Local organisation has support from Voscur to take its next steps
a new approach for support services
putting victims first
#whyvotebristol15Ask your parliamentary candidates how they will represent your needs and aspirations if they are elected ...
On Thursday 7 May there is a General Election and everyone will have the chance to vote for an MP to represent them in Parliament. Bristol West will be a close competition between the candidates. Book your place at goo.gl/7IzCfT
Thursday 16 April6 - 8pm
Trinity CentreSend us your questions by 10 April
Book your place
#whyvotebristol15 gov.uk/register-to-vote
S u p p o r t i n g V o l u n t a r y A c t i o n
Celebrating twenty
years!
We are now collecting questions to ask at the event. If you have a question you want candidates to answer, send it to [email protected] or [email protected]
We’ll choose a good mix to cover a range of subjects. There will be time on the night for questions from the audience.
Send your questions
Organised by:
For more information: 0117 909 9949 0117 954 2834
Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 17
There are opportunities that
young people don’t even know
exist – it’s about making them
understand that people aren’t
going to knock on your door and
invite you, but you can apply like
everyone else and they will snatch
your hand off! I’m on a governing
body for a local school. I say,
“You’re over 18 now, you can go
and be a governor in a school.”
It wouldn’t be something they’d
ever considered.
When you’re younger you
perhaps feel that you haven’t
got anything to give or
anything to say, but actually, it is
a really valuable insight that young
people can bring – we need young
people to be more involved in
local decision making.
Ultimately I would like to see
them being the VCS Advocates.
When they see someone they
know and trust doing things, they
are more likely to follow when
those opportunities come up.
My favourite spot in Bristol
is Brandon Hill. You only know
about it if you’re a Bristolian really.
Tourists walking up Park Street
wouldn’t even know it’s there. I
love all the history around it - the
uprisings of the working classes in
the 1800s.
Words are cheap and easy to
say; what’s important is the way
people act.
My relationships have got to
add something to my life; they
have to bring something that isn’t
already there and I haven’t already
got. They have to enrich and not
drain.
I have been a fan of snooker
from a young age. Anyone who
remembers Pot Black will get the
idea…I have been around the
country to watch it live. It’s a fiver
and you get 4-5 hours of live sport
– now that’s value for money!
There are things that need
to be changed in the world,
particularly around injustice
and inequality. It is about
standing up and speaking out –
not everybody is able to.
As you get older you can get
caught up in the systems,
the bureaucracy – you can get
battered down a bit; not speak up,
not speak out. But young people
don’t have that, they have a real
sense of justice, and it is really
empowering to see them using
that as a group of young people
to make changes. The young
people at Integrate have achieved
great changes in a short amount
of time and that drives me to do
the work I do.
Get more
information about
our VCS Advocates,
watch video updates
and find out how to get
in touch with them at:
www.voiceandinfluence.org.
uk/advocates
This is meChristine Townsend is the VCS Advocate on the Bristol Safeguarding Children Board. With a background in education, she has a strong interest in safeguarding and empowering young people. Christine is co-founder and trustee at Integrate Bristol, a charity working with young people on projects that promote equality and integration in our communities. Here is a flavour of what she does and who she is...
#whyvotebristol15Ask your parliamentary candidates how they will represent your needs and aspirations if they are elected ...
On Thursday 7 May there is a General Election and everyone will have the chance to vote for an MP to represent them in Parliament. Bristol West will be a close competition between the candidates. Book your place at goo.gl/7IzCfT
Thursday 16 April6 - 8pm
Trinity CentreSend us your questions by 10 April
Book your place
#whyvotebristol15 gov.uk/register-to-vote
S u p p o r t i n g V o l u n t a r y A c t i o n
Celebrating twenty
years!
We are now collecting questions to ask at the event. If you have a question you want candidates to answer, send it to [email protected] or [email protected]
We’ll choose a good mix to cover a range of subjects. There will be time on the night for questions from the audience.
Send your questions
Organised by:
For more information: 0117 909 9949 0117 954 2834
www.voscur.org April / May / June 2015 Issue 2818
For more
information, contact
Paul Jacobs is speaking at
Voscur’s next Children and
Young People’s Network
meeting on 6 May 2015 -
for more information, visit:
www.voiceandinfluence.org.
uk/cyp_meetings
Bristol: a learning city
Learning Cities are being developed
across the world to promote
the importance of learning and
encourage participation.
In Bristol, we’re ambitious for our
city and know that learning is at
the heart of our success, and so
we are developing the concept
of Bristol as a Learning City. Since
June we have been working with a
group of Leaders from across the
city - called the Founders Group -
including voluntary and community
sector colleagues.
We want to develop a city that
promotes learning and encourages
a culture where everyone is proud
to learn - at school, work and in
communities. We also want a city
that supports the development of
a highly skilled workforce, joining
the skills taught in schools with
business needs for the future,
resulting in an enterprising, diverse
and sustainable world-class city.
We are establishing a Learning
City Partnership, including
influential and inspirational leaders
from across the city, to change
perceptions about learning
and our schools, and deliver
change through some ambitious
challenges. We want to increase
participation and achievement
of learners and promote and
celebrate learning.
The Founders have agreed four
themed groups to drive action
in 2015. The themes and some
examples of the activities are as
follows:
Learning for life – to reduce the
social isolation of older citizens, we
will be working with Bristol Ageing
Better to support their ‘schools
for all ages’ strand, focusing on
intergenerational learning.
Learning for everyone – to
engage care leavers in learning and
employment, we will work with
partners and employers to improve
care leavers’ life chances and
outcomes.
Learning in education – to raise
young people’s attainment, we
will work with schools and other
education providers to narrow the
achievement gap.
Learning for and in work – to
develop an engagement hub which
joins together the skills taught
in schools with the needs of city
employers; we will work with
schools and businesses to establish
a shared Engagement Hub in the
Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone and
create a young person’s Passport
for Employability.
We believe voluntary and
community sector organisations
have a great contribution to make
and so look forward to engaging
with colleagues throughout the
year - look out for more updates
from Voscur.
Article written by Paul Jacobs, Service Director Education and Skills, Bristol City Council, who tells us what it means to be a ‘learning city’
Mentors from BYEP, working on enterprise ideas with young people.
Photo by Monkey Boy42 CC BY-NC 2.0
In the run-up to May’s general election, Voscur will be partnering with other organisations and agencies in the city to raise vital awareness in our communities about how to make your vote count. To kick things off, we approached the four main parties in the city and asked them what their party will be doing locally to assist in the support and development of the city’s voluntary and community sector - here is what they said...
his year’s elections offer voters a
beguiling choice between a firm
Conservative commitment towards
deficit elimination by 2017-18, and a more
woolly debt reduction plan offered by Labour.
However, what is clear from consideration of
the nation’s perilous finances is that whichever
Party is returned to Parliament, the voluntary
and community sector will be expected to
work within a political landscape of ever-
shrinking budgets.
To further this end, the Coalition has pursued
various community-based initiatives over this
Parliament, including the setting up of the Big
Society Network, the Big Society Bank and the
Localism Act 2011, which included numerous
provisions allowing charitable trusts and
voluntary bodies to apply to carry out formerly
council-provided services.
Locally, in addition to the Mayor’s Fund for
Bristol, the Council is still responsible for
ristol has a strong tradition
of voluntary sector
organisations, which has
changed over the last few years,
especially as a result of the
Coalition Government’s austerity
programme.
With less money around, the City
Council has altered what it does,
and voluntary and community
organisations have changed to
reflect that. Many organisations
that were principally funded
previously by the Council have
put together new partnerships,
collaborating with each other and
working with other funders to
continue to deliver and develop
their services.
Labour councillors recognise – and
celebrate – the value of the sector
to Bristol and to our communities.
We encourage councillors to work
closely with organisations in their
wards, signposting residents to
services and supporting their
activities.
Labour led the Council’s Third
Sector Commissioning Strategy
to develop a transparent
and common approach to
commissioning across the
Council. However, we know
there are real problems here,
with inconsistent practice across
different departments, and
smaller, local niche organisations
often missing out. Labour
would ensure that every Council
service commissioned follows
the guidelines and best practice,
working with the sector, involving
organisations right from the
start in scoping work. Done well,
this would inform the way other
public (and quasi-public) sector
organisations across Bristol
commission, making life easier for
the sector and enabling individual
organisations to engage, focussing
on the outcomes we all want – not
just the process.
Even when the Council improves
commissioning, Labour still
supports the retention of a
grants pot, recognising this is
an excellent way to support
innovation in the sector, keeping
flexibility for issues that arise, and
testing ways of working that can
shape future service delivery.
Labour strongly supports
Neighbourhood Partnerships.
We want to see more powers
and responsibility passed from
the Mayor at the centre, out to
communities. At national level, all
allocating £7.5 million worth of
strategic grant funding across the
city. Conservatives have previously
been prominent in championing
community causes; in this year’s
budget we secured an extra £250k
into neighbourhood sports grants.
Councillors have an essential
advocacy and leadership
role within Neighbourhood
Partnerships and other
representative forums. We are
committed to redistributing the
locus of power and resources away
from the central administration
and out into the city’s disparate
communities.
Underpinning our approach to the
third sector is a conviction that
non-government organisations
can do a better job than the state
and are much more responsive
to variations in local need. We
will continue to press for much
simpler and open procurement
processes that give small
organisations a fairer chance at
securing local authority work
contracts.
For a more in-depth exposition of
this subject, I would refer readers
to “The Blue Book of the Voluntary
Sector: Civil Society and the
Conservative Party After the 2015
Election”.
A state-centric model for the
supply of public services is no
longer an option or even always
desirable. In fact, this concept
has failed all of us on a number of
levels. Aside from the great cost
and inefficiencies it has invoked,
such an approach has resulted in
the creation of a burdensome,
overblown, wasteful and often
intrusive bureaucracy. We are
convinced voluntary organisations
can and will do better.
In any event, given the pervasive
economic constraints confronting
central and local government
following May’s elections, we really
don’t have much choice in the
matter.
political parties are talking about devolution.
They mean from “Whitehall to the town
hall”, but we don’t want to see it stop there,
believing that many more decisions about
local services and spending should be taken at
the most local appropriate level. We envisage
local voluntary and community sector groups
having a greater role in that decision-making,
using their knowledge and experience to shape
policies and projects.
Finally, Labour councillors want the Local
Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to work in a much
more transparent and accountable way, and to
value the voluntary and community sector for
the huge impact it has on our city.
For more information, email:
For more information, email:
Cllr Mark WestonConservative Party
he Green Party
acknowledges the social
value of volunteering and
of the voluntary sector in general.
Volunteers should be treated
with respect and valued for their
contribution.
Strong community groups mean
strong communities. This has
enormous benefits in terms of well-
being, engagement, looking after
your neighbours, improving your
local environment and much more.
The role of the Council is to enable
this, to encourage it, to allow such
groups to get on with it.
Where it is good, the Council should
provide large-scale stable processes.
It is far less good at innovation.
There is a role for the third sector
in starting projects up and getting
them going. The Council should
promote tendering processes
which support the third sector to
participate (along with SMEs).
We support the Bristol Compact
and measures which improve
the way in which statutory and
voluntary (and other) bodies work
together. We do not support the
wholesale replacement of Council
services with volunteers.
There is however a discussion
to be had about when and if
a service should be run by the
voluntary sector or the statutory
sector. If you go back far enough
in history, education was a
charitable activity. Clearly, it is
correct that it has become a right
for all, and state funded. Recycling
has gone from voluntary sector to
Council-run to being privatised. The
question to be answered is, when is
it right to do this?
Of course, in the current climate,
any response has to be much more
defensive than that. Facing 40%
Council budget cuts - no one can
or should pretend that somehow
it is going to be all right. Services
will suffer, possibly all of them. The
most vulnerable will be hit hardest.
Cuts will be made to the easiest
targets, and this will undoubtedly
include funding for the voluntary
sector. In this environment it is
critical that we give principles
for funding priorities. As Greens,
this means funding for the most
vulnerable.
Finally, the Green Party believes that
the voluntary sector should play a
iberal Democrats believe community and
voluntary organisations, by virtue of their
independence and close understanding of
their members, volunteers and beneficiaries,
are a powerful means by which residents can
shape and change their local communities.
Many also have far deeper connections to
the communities they seek to represent than
council officers. These officers, however
effective they are, could never realistically wish
to profess such a detailed understanding of
the needs of the many and varied communities
that make up our great City of Bristol.
It was the Liberal Democrats who brought
in devolution of many decisions to local
neighbourhoods, via Neighbourhood
Partnerships, and we want to see that role
enhanced and developed. Neighbourhood
Partnerships have the potential to act both
inside and outside the institutions of the
Council. They also have the potential to re-
engage people with the political system,
key role in campaigning within the democratic
process. In this context Bristol councillor Rob
Telford campaigned with local groups against
the Coalition’s Lobbying Bill, which tragically
placed restrictions on the role of charities and
the voluntary sector in campaigning on the
issues that people care about. The Green Party
will continue to work to repeal this affront to
the democratic process.
helping to organise citizens in
their own communities, to restore
legitimacy and a strong sense of
public purpose to our democracy,
thereby making it fit for the
challenges of our generation.
Regrettably, progress has stalled
since the Mayor took office. We
believe our citizens must have a say
on how we are governed locally.
Current legislation denies Bristol’s
residents a say over whether they
want to keep so much power
concentrated in the hands of one
person. There is now cross-party
consensus to give Bristol the power
to choose its own local governance
arrangements and in so doing
further devolving power to the
residents of Bristol.
Many people have told me they feel
the Council is now only interested
in the City Centre and surrounding
areas. I want to see more clarity
from the Mayor about what is
expected from the voluntary
sector in terms of work done and
outputs, and a transparent system
of ‘value mapping’ introduced to
ensure consistent value for money
for the Council Tax payer across all
contracts with the voluntary and
community sector.
The City Council must work for
all of Bristol, and working with
the voluntary and community
sector is an essential way to do
this. As everyone knows, Local
Government finances are likely
to remain tight for several years
(whoever wins the elections in
May). There will always be more
demand from projects and
organisations that need funding
than there are funds available, so
Bristol City Council must become
more accessible to voluntary
organisations that truly connect
with local communities.
For more information, email:
For more information, email:
Voscur and Up Our
Street are organising an
event in Bristol West to
give local people the chance
to ask questions of their local
parliamentary candidates
(more information on p16).
Are you registered to Vote?
Check by 20 April 2015 at:
www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
www.voscur.org April / May / June 2015 Issue 2824
A united voice is a stronger voiceBristol BME Voice’s Knowledge and Share Programme
It has been 50 years since the
creation of the Race Relations
Act of 1965, which, although
tentative, edged the way towards
race equality recognition and
legislation in the UK. Although a
huge amount has been achieved
in this arena, few will disagree
that there is still some serious
work to be done to achieve true
racial equality in the UK and, more
specifically for us, in Bristol.
Knowing how important
having influence in local
public and economic life is
for the advancement of BME
organisations and communities,
the Bristol BME Voice team
created the Knowledge and Share
Programme. This Programme
ran between September and
December 2014 and engaged
with ten BME organisations from
a diverse range of backgrounds
including West African, African
Caribbean and Polish.
The Knowledge and Share
Programme brought local BME
people together to continue the
conversation around race equality
in the city, and encouraged closer
partnership working. The purpose
of the work was twofold: on
one side it dedicated time and
resources to skills development
and confidence building – on the
other, effecting change through
discussions with city leaders. In
practice this was achieved through
four separate sessions of training
followed by a chance to talk with
key city strategic figures.
These included Bristol’s elected
Mayor, George Ferguson, Police
and Crime Commissioner, Sue
Mountstevens, Judith Brown,
Director of Operations for the
Clinical Commissioning Group, and
Malachy McReynolds from the
West of England Local Enterprise
Partnership Executive Board.
Some common themes/concerns
emerged from participants.
It is apparent that there is a
sense of distrust of public
agencies’ abilities to meet the
needs of BME communities,
which is further emphasised by
a lack of representation within
the various agencies. Another
recurring concern was connected
to commissioning processes.
Many BME groups felt that they
had been used, sidestepped
and swallowed up by bigger
organisations that had more
capacity to tender for and win
large contracts. It was clear that
a key action point is for more
monitoring on contract delivery
and clauses within contracts,
ensuring that large firms utilise
and subcontract to smaller
organisations with local knowledge
and links to their communities. All
four of the leaders acknowledged
the issues raised, and took away
their own list of action points to
follow up.
Three months on, we revisited
some of the participants.
Effiom Ene-Obong is the founder
and director of an alternative
inner city employment agency
- The Society Community Group
“I know a wider network of people as a result of these meetings and have made use of these new contacts.”
Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 25
(TSCG). He explained that he
has utilised the training and
networks to extend discussions
and plan for future work, both
with other participants and
strategic leaders. “I’m happy that
I have developed some great
networks through participation
in the programme,” he explained.
“TSCG directors have been hosted
at NILAARI and, consequently,
we have been collaborating on
recruitment into the health and
social care sector, and even
achieved internal outcomes of
building skills/knowledge. I also
found the leadership topics most
useful towards my development
as the Founder of TSCG and as a
community leader. Overall, I feel
that this remains a great platform
to raise issues or concerns, and I
am grateful for the opportunity.”
Like Effiom, veteran activist and
If you have any
questions about
the Knowledge and Share
Programme, email Ruth
Pitter: [email protected]
For further information
about Bristol BME Voice, visit:
www.bristolbmevoice.org.uk
respected elder, Clementina
Johnson-Martin, has become
“better equipped” to realise her
vision of creating an elder people’s
forum in Wick, where she lives, as
well as gaining vital support and
skills for her Bristol-based roles at
OSCAR and the Malcolm X Elders.
All participants stated that they
had increased their knowledge
and skills following involvement
in the Knowledge and Share
Programme.
“Personally I know a wider network
of people as a result of these
meetings and have made use of
these new contacts,” says Ruth
Soandro-Jones, Fundraising and
Communications Manager, Bristol
Refugee Rights. “Further sessions
would be helpful to take more
practical and coordinated actions
and to identify what the barriers
are to greater influence and
bringing about change.”
Ph
oto b
y Lou
ise Wen
der
Photo taken at Voscur’s ‘Feeling Bristolian’ Bristol BME Conference in 2014
“A great platform to raise issues or concerns, I am grateful for the opportunity.”
www.voscur.org April / May / June 2015 Issue 2826
‘Social prescribing’ refers to a
formal process of enabling general
practitioners (GPs), practice
nurses and other health care
practitioners to refer patients to a
range of holistic, local, non-clinical
services to help their wellbeing.
There is no uniform agreement,
but the main elements of social
prescribing are usually:
• Formalised referral
mechanisms from GP/
Primary Care to a ‘community
connector’ (or other such
named person), who identifies
a range of activities and
organisations suitable for the
patient.
• Excellent knowledge of local
supportive organisations and
activities.
• A holistic approach to
identifying appropriate
services (the ‘prescription’).
• Reports back to the GP/health
practitioner regarding the
‘prescription’.
• Encouragement for patients to
help them play a central role in
managing their own care.
Some social prescribing projects
refer to a limited range of
activities whilst others refer to
a wide range of activities. Social
prescribing might be offered to all
patients, but usually it works with
patients who:
• Have mental health problems.
• Are vulnerable/at-risk.
• Are frequent attenders of GP
practices/clinics.
• Are socially isolated.
• Have untreatable or poorly
understood long-term
conditions.
• Are not benefitting from
clinical medicine/drug
treatment.
What’s been happening in Bristol?
Holistic assessments and
preventative approaches are
common in the voluntary and
community sector (VCS). Bristol
City Council, Bristol Clinical
Commissioning Group and the
likes of the Big Lottery Fund have
funded a wide range of social
prescribing-type services for some
years.
In November 2013, Bristol’s Health
and Wellbeing Board considered
a report on social prescribing in
Bristol (the Kimberlee report).
They agreed that a pooled
budget should be established
with appropriate commissioning
arrangements in order to develop
and extend the provision in Bristol.
The Joint Commissioning Group
met, but a joint commissioning
plan did not materialise. There are
probably three reasons for this:
1) Right idea, wrong time -
given the redesign of Public
Health in Bristol, the absence of
a permanent Public Health lead
and massive pressures on local
authority budgets, it was not the
best time for social prescribing.
2) Understanding evidence
- social prescribing suffers
from what might be described
as ‘evidential biases’. Rules
of evidence for short-term
interventions do not fit for
preventative work with a
longer time span. Sometimes
it is not clear if it is the social
prescribing mechanism or a
particular intervention that is
being evaluated. The Kimberlee
report concluded that a variety
of evaluation tools were used in
Bristol, making it difficult to assess
the different projects.
3) Value for money - the
Kimberlee report concluded that
the varying models of delivery
Just what the doctor orderedA look at social prescribing in Bristol
Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 27
in Bristol had varying costs; just
looking at staff costs alone on
four projects in Bristol, they
ranged from £223 to £883 per
client per annum. Not all decision
makers are convinced that social
prescribing is value for money.
Where now for a strategic approach for social prescribing?
Bristol Clinical Commissioning
Group has taken the lead in
developing a strategic approach.
The potential of social prescribing
is recognised in reducing hospital
admissions for older people, and
in strategies for supporting people
with long-term conditions and
improving mental health.
Voscur continues to be involved
with this work, and links are
being developed with Bristol
Ageing Better. Bristol Public
Health has funded a staff post,
seconded to the Bristol Clinical
Commissioning Group. The post
holder will continue with mapping
of local activities started by the
Joint Commissioning Group and
looking at evidence and evaluation
models.
Elsewhere, a significant report on
Social Prescribing was published
by Rotherham Voluntary Action
in 2014. NHS Rotherham Clinical
Commissioning Group funded
the work for two years. It was
part of a wider GP-led project
to increase the capacity of GP
practices to meet the non-clinical
needs of patients with long-term
conditions.
Around £1m was invested. Just
over £600,000 was distributed
to enable VCS organisations to
deliver a menu of 31 separate
social prescribing services. Twenty
nine (out of 36) GP practices in
Rotherham referred 1,607 patients
to the scheme.
This large-scale pilot provides a
comprehensive evidence base
that supports the case for social
prescribing. The evaluation
identified improvement in patient
wellbeing, and social prescribing
was found to help reduce hospital
admissions by between 12% and
21%.
Whilst Bristol might not be as far
ahead as Rotherham, we seem
to be moving towards overall
‘buy in’ for social prescribing as a
significant tool in improving health
and wellbeing in our city.
To see more on social
prescribing, visit: www.
voiceandinfluence.org.
uk/hsc_resources
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www.voscur.org April / May / June 2015 Issue 2828
Devolution is defined as the
transfer of power from central
government to a subnational level.
It can be divided into two main
types: functional public sector
service based (e.g. transport, skills)
and fiscal (taxes) devolution.
Greater Manchester has recently
announced its landmark
devolution agreement with
Government: the first for local
government and local partners. It
is far-reaching and includes major
plans for local transport, control
of a major housing investment
fund, and control of local skills
funding and health and social
care, with the objective of being
able to direct funding and services
to identified local priorities and
needs and support economic
growth and wellbeing.
Sheffield also agreed a devolution
deal shortly after that focuses
mainly on skills and transport.
This follows major developments
in policy from the Government,
Opposition and the Scottish
referendum on devolution last
year.
Along with other Core Cities and
City Regions, the Government
has indicated that it would
welcome a commitment from
the four unitary authorities in
the West of England to form a
combined authority to secure
devolved powers for strategic
functions such as transport,
planning, housing, skills, economic
development and health and
social care in an offer similar to
that agreed with Manchester, with
the Chancellor George Osborne
advising all that his door is open
for discussion.
Voscur has taken an active interest
in this debate; as well as attending
the Core Cities Summit in Glasgow
alongside the City Council, we
hosted a debate in March (in
association with the Bristol
Festival of Ideas) to consider the
role of communities in these
new developments. Community
activists from across the West of
England (WoE) contributed to the
discussion, which was opened by
Mayor Ferguson. The majority of
attendees said that the event had
increased their knowledge of City
Devolution, and many planned to
share information with others to
continue the debate. Many were
sharing information and opinions
live from the event via Twitter,
which recieved over 160 tweets
with the #futurecity15 hashtag.
“Packed conf. room today inc.
politicians, volunteer groups &
media, shows level of interest
in devolution” tweeted one
attendee. “Enjoyed @voscur
debate on devolution today”
added another, “Need for
leadership & vision and for third
sector to rise to the challenge!”
Voscur is keen to ensure that any
change in city region governance
is also an opportunity to develop
neighbourhood accountability and
enhance community democracy.
This view is shared by the think
tank ResPublica who said in
their recent report ‘Restoring
Britain’s City States’*, “Local
authorities should be given
a duty to involve, empower
and work with communities.
Legislation should be introduced
to enable the formation of
neighbourhood councils and to
enshrine their rights to draw down
City devolution & communities City devolution has been the hot topic in politics over the last few months. But what does this mean and what are the opportunities and risks for the voluntary and community sector?
Scott Jacobs-Lange @Scott _ Sovereign
“Some great debate and discussion about
#westofengland devolution today at #futurecity15
event. Thanks to @voscur and partners for organising.”
Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 29
politicians, volunteer groups &
media, shows level of interest
in devolution” tweeted one
attendee. “Enjoyed @voscur
debate on devolution today”
added another, “Need for
leadership & vision and for third
sector to rise to the challenge!”
Voscur is keen to ensure that any
change in city region governance
is also an opportunity to develop
neighbourhood accountability and
enhance community democracy.
This view is shared by the think
tank ResPublica who said in
their recent report ‘Restoring
Britain’s City States’*, “Local
authorities should be given
a duty to involve, empower
and work with communities.
Legislation should be introduced
to enable the formation of
neighbourhood councils and to
enshrine their rights to draw down
responsibilities and resources.
This would need to build on the
spirit of the Localism Act, which
aims not to restrict but actively
encourages the potential for
legitimate bottom-up community
action, by allowing for greater
cooperation and collaboration
between partners.”
Bristol and neighbouring WoE
authorities are looking at potential
devolved powers and funding
that responds to the economic
needs and priorities of the WoE
and Bristol area. Currently, there
is no agreed statement of intent
between the four West of England
authorities to secure devolved
powers and functions from
Government.
As well as an opportunity to
further improve community
democracy and accountability,
supporters of this approach
argue that there are many other
benefits that devolved powers and
governance could bring. These
include:
• Single point of decision-
making on agreed functions,
leading to quicker and more
visible decisions. Unlike the
Local Enterprise Partnership,
a combined authority also
has the relevant democratic
accountability.
• Secure more long-term
funding, and retain more of
the benefits of local growth to
reinvest in local priorities.
• Provide resilience and
sustainability to a range of
functions that will be hardest
hit by predicted budget
cuts and ensure that each
local authority continues to
undertake its community
leadership role of promoting
the social, economic and
environmental wellbeing in
their areas.
• An avenue to formally
combine resources and efforts
in regard to economic growth
and wellbeing that respond to
local priorities and needs.
Clearly there are also risks for the
sector. For example, one question
was about how we will ensure that
neighbourhood and community
priorities are reflected in any long-
term strategic plans of an entity
covering a much larger
Continued on next page...
Photos taken at the City Devolution event in March 2015, hosted by Voscur, in association with the Bristol Festival of Ideas.
www.voscur.org April / May / June 2015 Issue 2830
www.collecteco.co.ukE: [email protected]
Free office furniture for local charities
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Continued from previous page...
geographical area. How will new commissioning
arrangements that emerge from any new entity
impact VCS organisations? As the ResPublica
report states: “In many respects the challenges
faced in devolving to communities mirror
the obstacles that need to be overcome in
transferring powers from the centre to local
government. The approach requires a complete
transformation in philosophy and approach to
change the culture of how things are done and
having the confidence to let go.”
The case that was presented at the core cities
event in Glasgow was that devolution to a city
region offers a much greater opportunity to
influence local services, rather than a national
policy approach that takes no account of local
need.
Time will tell if this approach prevails. Voscur and
the rest of the sector will continue to watch with
interest as the devolution debate continues.
*Core Cities UK are: Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Cardiff, Glasgow. They are a unique and united local authority voice to promote the role of their cities in driving economic growth and the case for city devolution. They represent the councils of England’s eight largest city economies outside London along with Glasgow and Cardiff. For information visit: www.corecities.com
Some useful links:
ResPublica report: ‘Restoring
Britain’s City States‘ http://goo.gl/P5RjZz
Core Cities’ ‘Modern Charter for Local
Freedom’ http://goo.gl/N1PKkq
A round-up of the Tweets from Voscur’s
event in March: goo.gl/F4X1J5
Issue 28 April / May / June 2015 www.voscur.org 31
To find out more
about your
Neighbourhood
Partnership, go to:
goo.gl/TLKRMC
Neighbourhood Partnerships’ conference February 2015
“We must excite people that this
is their local governance,” said
Mayor Ferguson, speaking at the
Neighbourhood Partnerships’
conference held at Circomedia
on a cold Saturday morning in
February.
The Mayor said that problems are
not understood from the centre,
and reminded us that the UK is
more centrally governed than any
other European country, but cities
and neighbourhoods are where
the problems and solutions lie.
The Mayor referred to Councillors
as drum beaters for local issues;
Councillors must be embedded in
their Neighbourhood Partnerships,
and Neighbourhood Partnerships
must be part of the ‘bigger
picture’.
He emphasised that devolution is
very relevant to Neighbourhood
Partnerships and said that if
Bristol, as part of a city region,
has more control over transport,
for example, we would be better
able to deal with how we move
efficiently around our city,
without reference to central
government.
The Mayor said that there is an
absolute desire to devolve as
much (to neighbourhoods) as is
feasible. Strategy must come from
the centre, where the joining-up
happens, but local areas should be
able to respond to local issues.
Councillors are drum beaters for local issues and must be embedded in their Neighbourhood PartnershipsThe Mayor recognised that
there is a differential in terms
of Neighbourhood Partnerships’
ability to deliver, and indicated
that there is a deal to be done
in terms of how Neighbourhood
Partnerships are resourced to
respond to local issues. Some
areas in Bristol face more acute
problems than others. But how
would others react if some
Partnerships were to receive more
resource than others, because of
the disadvantages that some
people face?
Concern about lack of
participation in Neighbourhood
Partnerships was raised. The
Mayor saw it as his role to illustrate
the benefits of Neighbourhood
Partnerships. “The biggest job is
to get people to recognise that
they exist, what they are doing
and what their potential is.”
Following a joining-up of
neighbourhood plans by City
Council officers, there will be
a relaunch of Neighbourhood
Partnerships in the autumn and a
drive to get more people involved.
www.collecteco.co.ukE: [email protected]
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For details of all the above training and events, visit: www.voscur.org/events/upcoming/voscur
Voscur Ltd. Royal Oak House Royal Oak Avenue Bristol BS1 4GB
Tel: 0117 909 9949 Fax: 0117 933 0501 Email: [email protected] Web: www.voscur.org
Voscur is a registered charity and a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. Company no. 3918210. Charity no. 1148403.
Printed on 100% recycled paper using vegetable-based inks
April 2015Date Time Event/training Location
16th 9:30am - 3:30pm Preparing your Accounts for your End of Year Report The GreenHouse
16th 6pm - 8pm #WhyVoteBristol15 Trinity Centre
23rd 9:30am - 12pm Health and Social Care Network event - Better Care Fund The Park
23rd 6pm - 9pm Being a Good Trustee Windmill Hill City Farm
30th 9:30am - 1pm Safeguarding and Whistleblowing St Werburghs Centre
May 2015Date Time Event/training Location
6th 10am - 12pm Children and Young People’s Network Meeting Barton Hill Settlement
13th 9:30am - 1pm Contracts of Employment – How to Get it Right The Southville Centre
14th 9:30am - 12:30pm Working Together to Prevent and Support Young People Being Drawn into Terrorism and Extremism
Phoenix Social Enterprise
June 2015Date Time Event/training Location
2nd 1:30pm - 3:30pm Finance Forum: Insurance for Voluntary Sector Organisations
Royal Oak House
3rd 9:30am - 1pm Minute Taking for Administrators (part one) The Southville Centre
4th 9:30am - 3:30pm Writing Small Fundraising Bids St Werburghs Centre
9th 9:30am - 12:30pm Being a Good Trustee The GreenHouse
10th 9:30am - 1pm Minute Taking for Administrators (part two) The Southville Centre
17th 9:30am - 1pm An Introduction to Time Management Windmill Hill City Farm
18th 6pm - 9pm Being an Even Better Trustee Windmill Hill CIty Farm
25th 9:30am - 1pm Telling Your Story The Gatehouse Centre
July 2015Date Time Event/training Location
1st 6pm - 8pm Trustee Network TBC
8th 12pm - 2pm How Decisions are Made in the City Royal Oak House
9th 9:30am - 1pm Evidence and Intelligence to Support Funding Bids – How Can Council Data Help?
Barton Hill Settlement
16th 10am - 2pm VCS Assembly The Park
Voscur training and events