9th JUNE 2015

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TOWER HAMLETSCOLLABOR TIONINNOVV

VOLUNTARY &COMMUNITY SECTORCONFERENCE 2015

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Professional Development Centre 229 Bethnal Green Road, E2

Council for Voluntary Servicethcvs

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VVCS TOGETHER: Notes and learning from our conference

A SCRAPBOOK

WELCOMEIn the following pages you will find a virtual ‘scrapbook’ of feedback, comments, notes and images from our recent Voluntary & Community Sector Conference. The themes of collaboration and innovation were explored from a number of angles and we would like to thank everyone for their thoughtful and enthusiastic participation. I hope this scrapbook helps to remind you of some of your own learning and actions from the conference.

As for THCVS we will be following up on quite a few things, including:

CONTENTSWORKSHOP 1 Testing Innovation

WORKSHOP 2 Working with Business

WORKSHOP 3 Why Fund Partnerships?

MSG CASE STUDY: Developing partnerships, the THCVS experience

WORKSHOP 4 Sharing Resources

WORKSHOP 5 Building Consortia

WORKSHOP 6 Skills for Collaboration

• Providing more information about consortiums and partnership building in the borough, and thinking about new ways to facilitate and support collaboration.

• Developing an e-noticeboard to help organisations share and swap resources and skills.

• Looking into shared outcome measures and frameworks for capturing the impact of the sector

• Working with ELBA, City Action and our corporate contacts to explore new ways of going ‘beyond the boundaries’ between the two sectors.

Leonardo Zangrando provoking us to rethink innovation and failure... For his full presentation visit: www.thcvs.org.uk/conference

Kirsty Cornell (THCVS, CEO) preparing us for the day ahead...

NOTES:

How To Fail Productively…Sparked off by ‘Pretotyping’ advocate Leonardo Zangrando, this session looked at different ways in which potential new services can be trialled cheaply before large amounts of resources, funding and expectations are raised. Crucial to this approach is giving new ideas permission to fail – thus putting the ‘error’ back into ‘trial and error’ and creating space for robust solutions to emerge organically.

The session looked at existing support for innovation – such as the Tower Hamlets CCG Innovation Bursary – and examined how funders and organisations might change their culture and systems to better support productive innovation.

Workshop 1

TESTING INNOVATIONFacilitating: Salman Alam, Stifford Centre (& THCVS Trustee)Provoking discussion: Leonardo Zangrando, PretotypeSafaa Moghul, Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group

As intended, Leonardo’s ideas about ‘pretotyping’ generated a great deal of thought and discussion and became a recurrent theme throughout the day. Questions remain about how the concept might be applied in a voluntary sector context. Commercial organisations often have the capital to be more experimental - they can afford to fail. This kind of approach to risk is less common in the voluntary sector and would need a change in culture and attitudes from both front-line organisations and from funders.Valuable support for innovative ‘pilot’ projects is available from forward looking funders such as the CCG. THCVS has been commissioned to evaluate the impact of their Innovation Bursary to date, and to administer the next round of the fund. No doubt the concept of ‘pretotyping’ and the questions it poses about risk taking and attitudes to failure will be in our minds when we takeon this work...!

GUIDING QUESTIONS:• If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

• How innovative is the voluntary sector?

• How can we become more experimental within our own organisations?

• How can funders best support innovation?

• Does collaboration help or hinder innovation?

SUMMARY OF FEEDBACK

18 people joined in, including reps from...

FEEDBACK ON PRETOTYPING...

Stepney City Farm

Magic MeTower Hamlets Education Business Partnership

Circle Housing / Old Ford

City GatewayNewlon FusionApasenLBTH Public Health

CEPN

Very thought provoking. Made me

think more about the reasons that Local

Authorities fund the way they do.

Excellent concept - speaker was clearly very passionate and familiar with the concept of

pretotyping. Examples could have been refined more to make relevant for the sector

Really inspiring.

@THCH: Applying the pretotyper toolkit

to project ideas: Fake Door - Pinocchio

- Mechanical Turk - One Night Stand -

Impersonator - MVP @THCVS

All ways to help answer the ‘How

can you be sure of reach/benefit?’

questions implicit in fundraising

For more on these models,

download the ‘pretotyping

cheatsheet’ at: www.thcvs.org.uk/conference

WHAT WE LEARNED...

Adapt: Why Success Always Starts

With Failure, by Tim Harford

80% of new ‘product launches’ fail!REALLY?!!

Google market research done by Nielsen.

@RainbowHamlets: Thanks @OurELBA for

a great workshop on busine

ss partnership -

looking forward to find corp

orate partners

@THCVS

What Corporate Partners Really Want…Many businesses are keen to work with voluntary organisations to express their concern about social issues and to support their local communities. Meanwhile, though eager to benefit from business support, voluntary organisations often have unrealistic expectations and lack the experience to negotiate mutually beneficial partnerships.

With contributions from East London Business Alliance, and a panel of corporate guests, we discussed the professional culture clashes that can undermine cross-sector partnerships and attempted to map out a common ground of shared values and interests to support effective collaboration.

Workshop 2

WORKING WITH BUSINESSFacilitating: Preeti Udas, JP Morgan (& THCVS Trustee)Provoking discussion: Alison White, East London Business Alliance+ Taran Wilkhu (Nomura), Sharon Auger (State Street), Linda Wickstrom (City Action)

GUIDING QUESTIONS:• Is the culture of business compatible

with voluntary sector values?• How realistic are our expectations

of potential corporate partners?• What are the key factors behind

successful corporate-community partnerships?

• What new types of collaboration can we imagine?

Further Resourceswww.thcvs.org.uk/conference

NOTES:

TOP TIPS

- Remember, the onus is on the voluntary sector

partner to ‘make the first move’ and build

links with the corporates.

- A good first place to start is to look on

Linkedn and find relevant contacts in the

organisation you wish to approach

- Also, look on their Corporate Social

Responsibility Pages to find our what their

currrent priority areas are.

40 people came to this workshop

Almost half the conference!

- Stronger boards, general business skills

- Supported staff, safe confidential challenges

- Getting pieces of work done

- A different perspective

- Different working methods

- Insight into business skills and expertise

- Support for your clients, employability, careers, world of work

- Breaks down barriers between city and community

- Promotes understanding of issues

Some benefits of working with business...

To read more download Alison’s (ELBA) presentation from: www.thcvs.org.uk/conference

Many thanks to all those who partipated in this

workshop and to our guest speakers. Taran from

Nomura and Sharon from State Street talked

about their involvement in ‘Beyond Boundary’

- ELBA’s collaborative community project based

in Bethnal Green next to the Boundary Estate.

They demonstrated that large corporations can

play a role in addressing social and community

issues, such as youth unemployment and community cohesion. But in working together

these two financial corporates also challenged

the assumption that ‘competition’ is the only

attitude that counts in the city.

The open discussion allowed participants to

probe into the ways in which such relationships

and projects can develop, and generated some

wise thoughts for finding and making contact

with potential corporate partners and how to

make these partnerships work.

The main model for corporate involvement is

through their staff volunteering programmes.

Yet there are also a range of ways in which

organisations with shared values and objectives

can collaborate - whether they are commercial

or voluntary, big corporates or small businesses.

THCVS will continue to work with ELBA, City

Action and our corporate contacts to explore

new ways of going ‘beyond the boundaries’

between the two sectors...

Download City Action’s

guide to corporate partnership working:

www.thcvs.org.uk/conference

Partnerships, The New Dimension Of Fundraising?Many funders look favourably upon projects that are run in partnership because - in theory - they should have access to a wider range of skills, contacts and resources. Yet such collaborations do not always go as smoothly as intended, and it is not always clear what ‘partnership’ really means in practice. There is consequently much caution and confusion in the sector towards calls to ‘work in partnership’.

Sparked by a presentation on the upcoming ESF / Big Lottery programme (which emphasises partnerships), this workshop aims ed to take the fear out of collaboration. We shared partnership successes and challenges, reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of different partnership models, and discussed what funders can do to support new partnerships.

Workshop 3

WHY FUND PARTNERSHIPS?Facilitating: Sharon Hanooman, WHFS (& THCVS Trustee)Provoking discussion: Nehal Depani, London Voluntary Service CouncilKirsty Cornell, THCVS

Guiding questions...• What are the benefits of partnership

working – for funders, service users and the partners themselves?

• What can go wrong in a partnership and how can we preempt and prevent it?

• How does partnership working change our relationships with funders and service users?

Further Resourceswww.thcvs.org.uk/conference

NOTES:

Simple Gifts, Bromley By Bow Centre, Tower Hamlets Community Housing, Thai Boxing Fighters Academy, Look

Ahead Care & Support, BYM Women’s Centre, Good Shepherd Mission, Toynbee Hall, Beyond Barriers, Black

Women’s Health & Family Support, Tower Hamlets Federation of Tenants & Residents Association, Groundwork

London, Asian People’s Disability Alliance, Women’s Health & Family Services

@Dave2012Toynbee: We’ve had

some terrific conversations today at

#VCStogether event by @THCVS. Swapping

details for some #partnership ideas.

The Big Lottery / ESF Programme

- Launched on 6th June

- Deadline midday Monday 3rd August

- Requires cross-borough partnerships

19 people joined this session...

- trying to convince others that partnerships are worth trying

- forced into

partnerships

due to funding

- keeping individualism of

self - not dictated to by

lead partner

- Partners failing to Deliver

- All partners are clear

about the project (roles &

outcomes) at the start

- Be transparent (lack of)

- Capturing the intelligence (what if people leave?)

- Finding partners with funding

- networks- regular

communication

- agreements

- meeting in person

- due diligence

- flexibility

- good brokering

/ matching

- clear division of

responsibility- informal / breakfast meetings

For more info, download LVSC’s ESF

‘Roadshow’ resources from:

www.thcvs.org.uk/conference

- Contingency Planning!

Partnership working has many benefits – it can be a great way of allowing organisations to reach more beneficiaries, to grow their expertise and to access funding that they might not otherwise be able to. But we all know partnership working can be difficult – it’s not always the easy answer. To develop a strong, appropriate partnership takes time, it takes honesty, and it also requires the lead partner to follow a clear and transparent process when bringing together their partnership. So, following on from the partnership discussions and workshops at the conference we thought we’d share with you our own recent experience of developing partnerships, to give you a real-life example of partnership development and some hints and tips of things we learned along the way.

As many of you will know, some of the themes in the recent MSG funding programme required partnership applications. One of these was the third sector infrastructure theme, which THCVS applied for.

We had decided very early on the in process that we would enter into a partnership with one particular organisation – this was because they could deliver the elements of the specification that we couldn’t, and we knew them to be a high performing organisations who could provide services across the whole borough.

We hadn’t made any decisions though about other partners, so THCVS attended the Council-run partnership workshop, which provided us with a great opportunity to talk to organisations who might want to join our partnership. Following that partnership workshop, I met informally with organisations who wanted to work with us. Each organisation was asked to provide us with a written proposal, setting out their outputs for the project and importantly, their costs. For those organisations who were proposing to be a full part of the partnership (and not a sub-contractor for a training course, for example) we also asked them to provide a list of due diligence information, including copies of their governing document, copies of recent audited accounts, and copies of the documents required for eligibility to apply for the funding.

We received proposals from all but one of the organisations who wanted to join our partnership, and we then entered into a phase of negotiating over the outcomes to be delivered, the outputs, and of course the budget. We were really pleased that everyone who sent us a proposal then became part of our partnership bid – some as full partners and some in a smaller way.

DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS MSG Case Study: the THCVS experience by Kirsty Cornell, CEO, THCVS

So, what we would do differently if we did it all again?Firstly I’d develop a timetable for each stage of the process at the start, send it to potential partners and then make sure they stuck to it. The process of negotiating takes time, particularly if you are trying to get your partners to make changes to their budgets to reduce the costs of your proposal. Ask for written proposals and budgets to be sent to you as early on in the process as possible.

Writing the application takes longer than you may think when you are writing a partnership bid. Partners send you information for the bid but you’ll find that you’ll still need to check and query things with them as you are writing. You’ll need the support of your partners on hand to help you as you go.

And lastly, it’s easier said than done, but I’d complete the application earlier. Although we got our bids in a day before the deadline, the earlier you can submit the better it is for everyone’s peace of mind!

We don’t as yet know the outcome of our funding application, so our fingers are crossed. If we have been successful it will be interesting to see how our partnership develops over time as we work together to deliver our project.

To develop a strong partnership takes time, it takes honesty, and it also requires the lead partner to follow a clear and transparent process when bringing together their partnership.

TIME

HONESTY

CLARITY

NOTES:

Cutting costs without costing the earth…Cutting costs without reducing services is a key challenge for many organisations. Some are starting to experiment with sharing, swapping and bartering resources and skills. But those working in environmental sustainability already have years of experience of reducing their use of resources and making good use of the things that others leave behind.

Sharing their experience of community resource networks and alternative exchange systems, speakers from Stepney City Farm and East London Food Access sparked a lively discussion about the potentials of resource sharing. This was followed by a fun resource ‘match-making’ activity to remind us that everyone needs something, and everyone has something to offer.

Workshop 4

SHARING RESOURCESFacilitating: Suzanne Firth, Green Candle Dance (& THCVS Trustee)Provoking discussion: Katherine Sharp, Stepney City Farm Les Moore, East London Food Access

Guiding questions...• How can we identify underused

resources and find who needs them?• What role can building resource

networks play in community cohesion & engagement?

• What obstacles do we face in sharing resources?

• How can we encourage a culture of ‘resourcefulness’ in our organisations?

Further Resourceswww.thcvs.org.uk/conference

19 people joined this session from

East End Community Foundation, St Hilda’s East Community

Centre,Toynbee Hall, Tower Hamlets Community Housing,

Tower Hamlets Federation of TRAs, Black Women’s Health

& Family Support, Tower Hamlets Education Business

Partnership, Expression With Art, Beyond Barriers,

Songololo-Feet, Thai Boxers Fighting Academy, City Gateway,

Stifford Centre, Stepney City Farm, Groundwork London

OFFERED

WANTED

OBSTACLES TO SHARING

- Poor communication / no

awareness of needs

- Lack of trust

- Wrong timing - matching

offers to needs at the right

time.

OVERCOMING THEM- Need for a resource directory

/ noticeboard

- Relationships

- Creativity

The aim of this workshop was to inspire people to

think creatively about sharing, swapping, bartering and

pooling resources and skills with other organisations.

Katherine’s presentation got us looking at what we

have to offer each other in new ways, and Les got

us thinking about new systems for connecting and

exchanging with each other.

With more being offered that being sought, it was

clear by the end of the resource matching session

that the participants were generous and multi-

talented! Also, the clear consensus was that some

kind of gumtree style e-noticeboard would be a good

start for helping organisations connect and share their

skills and resources. THCVS is already looking into how

we can make this happen...

Are We Divided About Commissioning?The trend from grants to contracts is having a huge impact on the sector. Smaller, local organisations are finding it hard to compete for contracts against bigger, cross-borough agencies and the role of the sector as ‘service provider’ is raising ethical and political questions. Working out whether, and how, to enter the world of ‘commissioning’ is therefore a concern for many in the sector.

This workshop discussed different collective approaches to winning and delivering on public service contracts – comparing inclusive, ‘consortium-ready’ membership organisations such as Tower Hamlets Third Sector Consortium (TH3), with more ad hoc, shared interest networks like Tower Hamlets Mental Health Consortium. It also discussed how commissioning systems might be reshaped to better suit the values and capacity of the sector.

Workshop 5

BUILDING CONSORTIAFacilitating: Kirsty Cornell, THCVSProvoking discussion: Jack Gilbert, Tower Hamlets 3rd Sector Consortium (TH3)Tracy Simpson, Community Options

Guiding questions...• What impact does commissioning have on the

independence of ‘service providers’?• What are the advantages of local consortia

over large, cross-borough agencies?• Do commissioners recognise these

advantages, and how can they improve?• How can we build effective local consortia?

Further Resourceswww.thcvs.org.uk/conference

NOTES: 12 people joined this session from

Tower Hamlets Business Education Partnership, Bromley-by-Bow Centre, Stepney City Farm,

Mencap, Business Connectors, The Rooted Forum, Tower Hamlets CCG, Newlon Fusion, Newham New

Deal Partnership

• The shift from grant to contracts / bidding for large pots of money can’t be done alone

• TH3 can be a vehicle for bidding for funds,

not just from statutory funders, but - as Hackney SPV (special purpose vehicle) example demonstrates - also from 3rd sector funders such as the Big Lottery

• It can be difficult to successfully bid as a consortium with no track record

• TH3 needs members to help determine the future of the organisation

• Mental Health consortium is looking for other opportunities together after their intitial successful bid

• Importance of building consortia around shared vision / mission. Needs like-minded

and dedicated people

• Importance of structures - confidentiality,

agreements, due diligence etc..

ACTION POINTS- THCVS to list existing (and

potential) consortia on website, including TH3

- THCVS to explore links between existing forums and potential consortia building

- TH3 to refine its purpose and be clearer about its advantages / USP

• TH3 can act as external lead agency - there is a decision for each consortium about whether that’s appropriate

• Existing networks and forums could become the basis for future consortia

• Important of preparedness - get framework of consortia ready before any tenders come up (larger agencies tend to

be two steps ahead!)

• Is helpful for early stages of consortium building to be facilitated independently / someone who is not a provider. Can be important for gaining trust of all parties and for resolving any difficulties

Like any relationship, making a partnership work can be challenging for both sides. It can unsettle our established working culture and, especially when money is involved, threaten our sense of independence. Unsurprisingly, those partnerships that can pre-empt, manage and resolve potential conflicts quickly tend to be more successful.

Delivered by Voice 4 Change England, this training workshop took us through the approaches, skills and resources necessary to make our partnerships work. In particular it looked at the importance of transparency, equality and accountability in building trust between partners; and show how best practice models can support effective negotiation.

Workshop 6

SKILLS FOR COLLABORATIONA participatory training workshop with: Saqib Deshmukh, Voice 4 Change England

Guiding questions...• How do we develop good practice to

ensure that all collaborating parties are treated equitably?

• What are the best processes for negotiating change and dealing with differences and disputes?

• What information and resources are necessary to make a partnership work?

Further Resourceswww.thcvs.org.uk/conference

NOTES:12 People took part in this workshop from

Circle Housing / Old Ford, Simple Gifts, Stifford Centre, LBTH, Look Ahead Care & Support, MTBFA, Asian People’s Disability Alliance, Queen Mary University, Tower Hamlets Education Foundation

MISSIONETHOS

GOVERNANCE CAPACITY

EQUALITYPROCESSES

Modelling Fair & Equitable Collaborations Project:Framework for Partnerships, Collaborations and Mergers

MANDATE

Community

Opinion

Permission

Legitimacy

Structures

Accountability

Roles & Responsibilities

Transparency

Ideology, Vision, Equality, Culture

Aims, objectives, rational, identity

Community - opinion,

permission, legitimacy

Structure, accountability, roles & responsibilities, transparency

Resources, funding, timescales, trainingResearch,

feasibility,

agreements,

brokerageRepresentation, inclusion, power, decision making

Framework for Partnerships, Collaborations and Mergers To read more download Saqib’s presentation from: www.thcvs.org.uk/conference

REGISTERED ORGANISATIONSAll Hallows BowApasenAsian People’s Disability AllianceAsian Women Lone Parents AssociationAssociated PressAttlee Youth and Community CentreBangladesh Youth MovementBeyond BarriersBlack Women’s Health & Family SupportBowHavenBromley by Bow CentreBusiness in the CommunityBYM Women’s Centre of ExcellenceCASA Latin American Theatre FestivalCircle Housing Old FordCity ActionCity GatewayCommunity OptionsEast End Community FoundationEast London Business AllianceEast London Food AccessEast London Small Business Centre LtdExpressions With ArtF.E.E.L.Fab Foundation UKFederation of TH Tenants & Residents AssociationsGeoff Ashcroft CommunityGood Shepherd MissionGreen Candle DanceGroundwork LondonHealthwatch Tower HamletsJ-go Training LtdJP MorganLifelineLondon Borough of Tower HamletsLondon Voluntary Sector CouncilLook Ahead Care and SupportMagic MeMencapMouth That RoarsNeighbours in PoplarNewham New Deal PartnershipNewlon FusionNomuraNu Social Health OrganisationOcean Somali Community Association

OutwardProvidence Row Housing AssociationPublic Health, LBTHPyramid Health And Social Care AssociationQueen Mary UniversityQueen Mary University, Students’ UnionRainbow Film SocietyRainbow HamletsREALRoot66SECPSelflessShadwell and St Katharine’s CollaborativeSimpleGifts: Unitarian Centre for Social ActionSocial Action for HealthSomali Senior Citizens ClubSonali Gardens LinkAge PlusSongololo-FeetSouthern Housing GroupSt Hilda’s East Community CentreState StreetStepney City FarmStifford CentreThai Boxing Fighters AcademyTower Hamlets 3rd Sector Consortium (TH3)The Good Shepherd MissionThe Rooted ForumTower Hamlets Chinese SchoolTower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning GroupTower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH)Tower Hamlets Community Transport (THCT)Tower Hamlets Co-operative Development AgencyTower Hamlets Education FoundationTower Hamlets Education Business PartnershipTower Hamlets Federation of TRAsTower Hamlets Friends & NeighboursTower Hamlets HealthwatchTower Hamlets Somali Organisations NetworkToynbee HallVoice4Change EnglandVolunteer Centre Tower HamletsWeavers Adventure PlaygroundWeavers Community ForumWomen’s Health & Family ServicesWorking Well Trust