thrive! oct/nov/dec 2014 issue

Supporting voluntary and community action Oct/Nov/Dec 2014

Supporting young volunteers

Age Friendly Streets

Pro bono property advice

Tips for collaboration

Upcoming training

and more...

In this issue:

Youth Ambassadors at Babbasa Youth Empowerment Project share their thoughts with other young people about how they can get involved in community action. Read more about supporting younger volunteers on p26-27.

Voscur’s Annual Conference and Social Impact Awards

To book your place, visit: www.voscur.org/content/voscur-agm-and-annual-conference-2014 or call 0117 909 9949.

Categories for this year’s ‘Voscurs’ include:

• Volunteer Team of the Year

• Young Volunteer of the Year

• Trustee of the Year

• Batook Pandya Award for Inclusion

• Community Venue of the Year Award

• The ‘Thanks for Supporting the Sector’ Award

• Happy, Healthy Bristol Award

“Great opportunity to celebrate the work and

achievements of the voluntary sector. Excellent networking

opportunity.” Steve Woodcock, St Pauls Advice Centre,

Voscur Annual Conference 2013

Wednesday 22 October 2014, 11am-4pmThe Bristol Pavilion, Nevil Road, Bristol, BS7 9EJ

This year, our focus is on equalities. Our guest speakers are Stephen Williams, Bristol MP and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and Alison Comley, Strategic Director of Neighbourhoods at Bristol City Council.

Conference sponsored by:

Issue 26 October / November / December 2014 www.voscur.org 3

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

4 Editorial

5 New members

6 Volunteering on the road to recovery

7 Age Friendly Streets

8-9 Celebrating Bristol’s Golden Agers

10-11 Equality Act 2010 – four years on, has the Public Sector Equality Duty worked?

12 Cities of Service

Support Hub

13 FundraiSING!

14-15 Measuring impact - theory of change

16-17 Upcoming Support Hub training

18 Pro bono property advice

20-21 Come together...right now

22-23 Keep calm and TUPE on

Voice and Influence

24-25 Painting the town green

26-27 ‘Investing in our own futures’ - supporting young volunteers

28-29 No Health without Mental Health - a national strategy

30-31 Hot topics for our sector - a productive VCS Assembly

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.

Keep up to date with Voscur online:

twitter.com/voscur www.linkedin.com/company/voscur www.youtube.com/voscurwww.facebook.com/voscur

www.voscur.org October / November / December 2014 Issue 264

Key to symbols

Our information survey this year

told us that you are interested in

hearing about and learning from

local projects, but that you also

want policy and good practice

information. With a wide range of

articles covering topics as diverse

as supporting young volunteers,

measuring your impact using

theory of change and the sector’s

role in Green Capital, I believe

we’ve met that challenge in this

month’s Thrive!

Several articles highlight

volunteering projects in the

city – all of which have been set

up to get people involved and

connected. One project aims to

support people into volunteering

as part of a recovery pathway;

another encourages people to

become active citizens, carrying

out acts of neighbourliness to

help to reduce social isolation.

Black History Month and the

Celebrating Age Festival give

us the opportunity to highlight

Dear members and friends

Training

Information & Resources

Event

the Golden Agers, a group run

by volunteers that provides

social support to older people

from Black and minority

ethnic communities. Sing Out

Bristol writes about how the

organisation’s volunteers have

put together a fundraising

programme to ensure that no one

was excluded from the choir’s

activities.

Bristol’s voluntary and community

sector organisations have long

recognised and celebrated our

volunteers, without whom the

sector couldn’t function.

Those of us running charities

and social enterprises know

it’s not enough to get a

project up and running; it’s

about enthusing, inspiring and

involving local people. We are

regularly being asked to prove

our value and demonstrate our

impact to funders, investors

and stakeholders. Getting our

governance and good practice

right is an important first step for

any organisations that want to be

sustainable and resilient. Without

it, we cannot be confident of

providing first-class services to

both end users and volunteers

that support them. We discuss this

on p14-15. Our autumn training

programme on p16-17 includes a

number of courses that will help

organisations to measure their

impact and market their services.

Trustees are, of course, volunteers

and our Trustees Network meeting

in December will focus on an

important aspect of their role:

serious incident reporting and

safeguarding.

Collaboration is another hot

topic for local organisations

as resources shrink and we

look towards working more

effectively with partners. Voscur

has produced a great set of

resources for collaboration, and

our Support Hub team can offer a

comprehensive service to those of

you thinking about collaboration.

See p20-21.

Looking forward to seeing you

at our Annual Conference where

we will be awarding this year’s

‘Voscurs’ - Bristol’s voluntary

and community sector awards.

We would like to thank Unison

South West, our main conference

sponsor this year.

Best wishes,

Wendy Stephenson Chief Executive


New members

For more information on becoming a

member of Voscur, visit: www.voscur.org/

about/joiningonline or call 0117 909 9949.

Avon Wildlife TrustWorking to protect wildlife in the West of England. www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk

0117 980 0393

Bristol Academy Community League Trying to break down social barriers through American

football teams run all over the city and beyond. 0117 919 2601

Bristol Independent Mental Health Service User NetworkMembership-based mental health network to

monitor, audit and evaluate inpatient and community

MH services commissioned by Bristol CCG.

0117 976 6600

Bristol Reconnect Working with people with histories of homelessness,

addictions, mental health issues and/or offending. www.bristolreconnect.org.uk

Free Range CreativityOutdoor learning, arts and play expertise,

delivering projects, research and consultancy. 07970 748 042

Growing CreativesDeveloping community arts projects with

people who identify themselves as isolated and

unable to access mainstream arts opportunities.

07950 221 800

KTS Training (2002) Ltd Training and supporting young people to enable them

to progress into a job, apprenticeship or further

education.

0117 960 5184

Love Windmill Hill Engaging those living and/or working

in the Windmill Hill area in activities to

improve and enrich the community.

07861 399 644

Meadow Vale Community Association Working together to benefit the inhabitants

of Speedwell, and the wider neighbourhood.

0117 960 5350

Mosaic Advocacy Centre CICA range of advocacy and support services for older

people, those with mental health issues, learning

disabilities and those in contact with the criminal

justice system.

http://mosaicadvocacy.com

PAPER Artistic Development CIC Supporting and empowering long-term unemployed

young people (18-30 years old) to value their

creativity and succeed in the creative sector.

07712 293 108

The Restore TrustSupporting ex-offenders and the unemployed into

work. www.therestoretrust.org

Theatre BristolCreating the conditions in which the most inspiring

theatre can be made and experienced in Bristol.

http://theatrebristol.net/

Tiny TrowelsCreative projects for people who identify as isolated.

07950 221 800

Voluntary Arts Promoting and increasing active participation in

cultural activities across the UK and Republic of Ireland. www.voluntaryarts.org

Windmill Hill Community Orchard Improving the planting and bio-diversity and turning

this orchard into a community asset for all to use.

www.facebook.com/WindmillHillCommunityOrchard 0117 953 2455

www.voscur.org October / November / December 2014 Issue 266 www.voscur.org6

Volunteer Bristol’s newest

project builds upon its strong

track record in delivering

supported volunteering

programmes. The Sustain

project works in partnership

with Bristol Drugs Project (BDP),

as part of the wider Recovery

Orientated Alcohol & Drugs

Service (ROADS), to promote

and enable volunteering

opportunities for people with

a history of drug or alcohol

problems.

Research shows that taking part in

volunteering has tangible benefits

for people of all backgrounds, as

well as their wider communities.

Additionally, as part of a recovery

pathway we believe that

volunteering can help people to

create new routines, increase

confidence, improve skills, find

new passions, gain valuable work

experience, and therefore help to

sustain all of the positive changes

that they have already made.

This partnership with BDP ensures

that volunteering is embedded

as an integral part of treatment

services, with information,

support and guidance readily

available to people completing

substance-misuse recovery

programmes. In addition,

Volunteer Bristol continues

to promote best practice in

volunteer management and is

available to advise local volunteer-

involving organisations on ways

of developing and improving

their practice in working with

volunteers from socially excluded

groups, so that we can all truly

benefit from a broad and diverse

volunteer base. We’re keen to

hear from volunteer-involving

organisations that would like

to work with us to increase

the volunteering opportunities

available for people in recovery.

While we continue to welcome

all members of the public to

our Volunteer Centre during

our general drop-in hours, we

can offer Sustain clients a more

personalised one-to-one service.

As there can be specific fears

or barriers to volunteering for

people with a history of drug or

alcohol problems, face-to-face

appointments with our advisers

can really help people to unpick

these and unlock their potential.

As volunteer recruitment

procedures increasingly replicate

those for accessing paid work,

support and advice through this

process teaches skills that can

eventually help individuals to

secure paid employment.

As we recognise that volunteering

can act as a bridge between

treatment and employment, we

are also developing a series of

bite-size employability workshops.

These will offer key skills and

information that can help people

to access both voluntary and paid

roles.

Information and referral forms

for accessing one-to-one

appointments with an adviser, or

for booking on to employability

workshops, can be found on our

website: www.volunteerbristol.

org.uk/volunteers/sustain

To find out more

contact Yaz Brien:

[email protected] or call 0117 989 7734.

Volunteering on the road to recovery...


background, we might as well make

the most of them.”

Over the next year Age Friendly

Streets will be trialled in Bristol.

As the street-party capital of the

UK, Bristol is rich with neighbourly

stories and a great city for this

type of campaign.

Our campaign toolkit includes

ideas and resources for neighbours

to keep in touch and organise

informal activities between

generations. It usually starts with

hello and a chat.

You can download the toolkit

for free to make your street

Age Friendly, and also find

out about the campaign at:

agefriendlystreets.org. Do take a

look and join in!

Age Friendly Streets is a

new campaign to encourage

small acts of neighbourliness

between residents of different

ages. Chris Gittins of Streets

Alive tells us about the project

and invites us to get involved.

Run by Streets Alive, Bristol’s

neighbours and street-party

charity, Age Friendly Streets is a

response to the growing problem

of isolation, especially of older

people within our communities.

We are inviting any groups and

residents to join in and help

us encourage a new culture of

neighbourliness on our streets.

Neighbours are not a cliché, or

something on the TV. Our years of

working with residents promoting

street parties in Bristol and the UK

have shown us that knowing your

neighbours even a little makes

us all feel more at home and less

isolated.

There are many stories about

how isolation of older people is

becoming a major issue. Combined

with more mobile and diverse

lifestyles, and more fragmented

families, our ageing society is

resulting in loneliness across all

generations. To combat this we

have to be proactive and can’t rely

on bumping into people like ‘in the

old days’.

Streets Alive is a partner of Bristol

Ageing Better, a major lottery-

funded plan for age-related

solutions in our communities.

But our new Age Friendly

Streets campaign takes a multi-

generational approach. Research

by the Prince’s Trust suggests that

“more than a third of young people

in the UK aged 16 to 24 also do not

feel part of their local community”.

We have a generation gap in the UK

where suspicion and avoidance of

other ages is common.

Chris Gittins, director of Streets

Alive, says: “Neighbours are a

critical piece of the jigsaw of where

we live. ‘Communities’ can be

difficult things to join in with, but

our neighbours are right next door

– so no matter what their age or

To find out more,

contact Chris on:

0117 922 5708 or visit:

www.agefriendlystreets.org

road to recovery...

Photo provided by Age Friendly Streets


October heralds in Black

History Month, a time which

offers opportunities for

additional knowledge related to

perspectives on Black history,

culture and topical observations

for predominantly African and

Caribbean communities. October

(27 September – 12 October) also

welcomes Bristol’s Celebrating Age

Festival, so we felt it appropriate

to give a focus to a few members

from Bristol’s BME elders’

organisations.

For this, we contacted Bristol’s

Golden Agers Club. Golden Agers,

which is based in Easton, provides

social support for older people

from Black/African Caribbean and

minority ethnic groups, who travel

from all over Bristol to attend.

The group meets weekly Tuesdays

and Thursdays 10am – 4pm for

socialising, advice and information,

care, support and training. Social

activities include reggae exercise

classes, sewing projects (their

work has been displayed at the M

Shed), dominoes, day trips and a

hot lunch at every session.

Gloria Morris, who, along with

other volunteers, helps to run the

group, feels it is a lifeline for some

and she checks up on members

who are absent, delivering meals

to some who cannot attend.

The group serves as a kind of

‘lookout’ in terms of members’

mental health, especially in terms

of issues such as dementia, and

supporting each other with

finding help on a more practical

day-to-day basis.

Golden Agers is also part of a

Bristol consortium including

Malcolm X Elders, Dhek Bhal and

Somali Men’s Group who work

towards similar goals in Bristol’s

BME elder communities.

We spoke to two members of the

group, Euleck Clarke and Marge

Douglas, about why they got

involved with the organisation,

what they get from it and their

own personal histories.

Euleck has been part of the group

for three years and sees it as

hugely important for combating

the social isolation that many

elders can feel. He moved to

the UK in the 1960s from his

birthplace in the Caribbean, and

on arrival first lived with a cousin.

His expectation of Britain was of

a cold country, but with the plus

side of good prospects for work.

One of his earliest careers in the

UK was as a cobbler. Over the years

Euleck has seen huge changes

in Bristol. He feels that there is

a greater sense of unity within

communities now: people socialise

more and Bristol is generally a

friendlier city. For him, though,

the club is vitally important. He

Celebrating Bristol’s Golden Agers With Black History Month and the Celebrating Age Festival taking place during October, Voscur contacted one of our city’s fantastic BME elders’ organisations to find out more about what they do and speak to some of their members, inviting them to share with us their own histories.


has noticed that as families move

away and people pass retirement

age, without the socialisation

of regular work or friends and

family close by, many elders are

vulnerable to becoming isolated

and lonely. The group creates a

welcoming space for individuals to

interact, create, and eat together,

and for carers the group provides

some respite and a chance for

relaxation.

Marge has been part of the

group for 10 years now. She left

her home in Jamaica in 1959 at

the age of 21 and 2 months! Her

intention was to stay in the UK

for five years and then return

To find out more

about Black History

Month, visit: www.

blackhistorymonth.org.uk

to Jamaica; she never did. She

worked as a psychiatric and

general nurse for most of her life

and stayed because opportunities

for learning and work allowed her

to support her family back home.

Marge observes that when she

first arrived in the UK there was a

lot of ignorance regarding black

people. She would be stopped in

the street, people would touch

her skin and were shocked to

find that her palms and eyes

were white. She didn’t see this

as malicious but purely based in

ignorance. Many people at the

time had no knowledge of the

Caribbean and would often ask,

‘Where are you from in Africa?’

When she permanently moved

to Bristol in 1967 the Jamaican

community was so small “they

would fit into one room” and

were very tightknit and supportive

of each other. She feels British

attitudes then were less

aggravated towards immigrants

– there was no concept of ‘them

taking our jobs’ as jobs were

readily available. When she was

working in nursing she often

had friends who would move

from Jamaica to work in the local

hospitals. Marge recalls how things

were in 60s and 70s Bristol - the

working factories in Easton and

the surrounding area, the care

British people took over their

gardens (which she feels has gone

downhill sharply!), the grandeur

of Stapleton Road and the fact

that everyone left their doors

open with no fear of intruders.

But now, unlike Euleck, she feels

Bristol has changed for the worse.

The demise in factory work has

put an end to the 24-hour way

of life where individuals could

feel comfortable walking in the

city at any time among factory

workers finishing shifts at all times

of the day and night. She feels

there has been a growing lack

of respect amongst individuals

and communities that has led to

people being wary and afraid of

each other. The group counteracts

this for her; why does she enjoy

it? “Because all of the interesting

people are here!”

Some attendees enjoying activities at Bristol’s Golden Agers Club


The Equality Act 2010 was

introduced to cover all protected

characteristics (formerly known

as equalities strands) and to

rationalise different pieces

of equalities legislation. What

remained in the Act from previous

legislation was a public sector

equality duty (PSED).

Where applicable, the PSED

requirements are cascaded on to

VCS groups that are contracted to

deliver public sector services.

Section 149 of the Act defines the

PSED as follows:

1) A public authority must, in the

exercise of its functions, have due

regard to the need to:

a) eliminate discrimination,

harassment, victimisation and

other conduct prohibited by or

under this Act;

b) advance equality of opportunity

between persons who share a

relevant protected characteristic

and persons who do not share it;

and

c) foster good relations between

persons who share a relevant

protected characteristic and

persons who do not share it.

2) A person who is not a public

authority but who exercises public

functions must, in the exercise of

those functions, have due regard

to the matters mentioned in

subsection (1).

It also states:

3) Having due regard to the

need to advance equality

of opportunity... involves, in

particular

a) remove or minimise

disadvantages suffered by persons

who share a relevant protected

characteristic that are connected

to that characteristic;

b) take steps to meet the needs

of persons who share a relevant

protected characteristic that

are different from the needs of

persons who do not share it;

c) encourage persons who share a

relevant protected characteristic

to participate in public life or

in any other activity in which

participation by such persons is

disproportionately low.

Positive action: the Act justifies

positive action which may involve

‘treating some persons more

favourably than others’ but does

not permit differential treatment

that would otherwise be

prohibited. For example, it would

allow a bus company to offer

women-only training to encourage

women to apply for bus driver

posts.

Commissioning public services: the

local authority remains responsible

for meeting the duty but the

contractor must also meet the

duty for those aspects of the

contract which relate to public

functions.

Demonstrating compliance: the

local authority should publish

information (at least annually)

including about its employees

(if there are more than 150)

who share a relevant protected

characteristic and for other

persons affected by its policies

and practices, for example service

users.

Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA)

is a tool to ensure that proposals

do not disproportionately

affect those with protected

characteristics. Although these are

not mandatory, they are seen as

good practice. In discrimination

cases, the courts acknowledge

that a timely and carefully

conducted EqIA is one way to give

Equality Act 2010 – four years on, has the Public Sector Equality Duty worked?

Issue 26 October / November / December 2014 www.voscur.org 11www.voscur.org 11

proportionate consideration to

relevant equality matters.

Powers of the Equality and Human

Rights Commission (EHRC): the

EHRC is the regulatory body for

the Act; it can serve a notice and

ultimately apply to the courts for

an order requiring compliance

if it thinks a public body has

failed to comply with the Duty.

Yet between October 2007 and

October 2013 it had only issued

a total of six compliance notices

(three under the gender equality

duty and three under the race

equality duty) and had conducted

three formal assessments.

Cases and breaches: from July

2005 to mid-October 2013 the

High Court for England and Wales

heard 95 applications alleging

breach of the equality duties.

Of these 27 were successful or

partially successful, and six further

cases succeeded on appeal.

Review of the PSED: this was

undertaken in May 2012 to assess

its effectiveness. In November

2012, the Prime Minister

remarked:

“Take the Equality Act. It’s not a

bad piece of legislation. But in

government we have taken the

letter of this law and gone way

beyond it, with Equality Impact

Assessments for every decision

we make... We don’t need all this

extra tick-box stuff. So... today we

are calling time on Equality Impact

Assessments. You no longer have

to do them... policy makers are

free to use their judgement and

do the right thing to meet the

equalities duty rather than wasting

their own time and taxpayers’

money.”

A year later an Independent

Steering Group concluded that it

was too early to evaluate whether

the duty is ‘working as intended’

and recommended that this

should take place in 2016. Lacking

sufficient data, it had been unable

to do a cost/benefit analysis of

the PSED and the evidence it

received was either contradictory

or inadequate.

What does the future hold for

the PSED? Any major change is

unlikely before the next election.

What may already be changing,

however, is the weight public

authorities feel obliged to give to

complying with the PSED.

Will there be the comprehensive

review in 2016? It is too soon to

know what steps will be taken or

what value the next government

will give to the achievement of the

equality goals of the PSED.

For the voluntary sector: any

changes may impact on the

communities we support. There

could be less onus on local

authorities to ensure equality

principles are prioritised in

their decision making and more

complex processes for challenging

unfair policies and practices.

This article has

been adapted from

the European anti-

discrimination law review:

goo.gl/oA7Olz

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www.voscur.org October / November / December Issue 2612 www.voscur.org12

Cities of Service

The concept was devised by Mayor

Bloomberg in New York City in

2009 and since then has grown

to involve 170 cities across the

US. What cities of service share

is a commitment to look at how

far volunteering and social action

can be used to meet citywide

priorities. The approach lays a very

heavy emphasis on the impact

that is being achieved through

volunteering – not a moment

of a volunteer’s time should be

wasted, and it should be possible

to measure the impact they are

achieving.

Over the past three years this

approach has been moved across

the Atlantic with the emergence

of Team London, which has built

on the undoubted success of the

(Olympic) Games Makers in 2012,

and ‘Count on Me’ in Madrid.

On 10 September, the new

Minister for Civil Society, Rt.

Hon. Brooks Newmark M.P., and

George Ferguson, Mayor of

Bristol, formally launched the

service plans of the seven newly

participating UK cities - Bristol,

Kirklees, Plymouth, Portsmouth,

Barnsley, Swindon and Telford &

Wrekin.

Though essentially an American

concept, the idea of Cities of

Service draws on many of the

principles of active citizenship that

we are keen to promote in Bristol.

Bristol has a long tradition of

volunteering and social action

and has been actively exploring

how far citizens can play a role in

running their neighbourhoods.

Across the city, local residents are

taking action and meeting local

needs. What attracted me to my

current role with Cities of Service

is the idea that we can take the

commitment and enthusiasm of

the people of Bristol and apply it

to the issues that affect the city

as a whole.

To start with we are going to

focus on two priorities: the needs

of our children (in particular those

who have fallen behind with their

reading skills) and preventing

social isolation amongst our older

residents (in particular those who

have been bereaved).

We will be starting small, making

sure we’ve got the process

right, and then plan to scale the

programme up to reach as far

across the whole city as possible.

For me, volunteering is just a part

of what we are seeking to achieve

with Cities of Service, enabling

people to take action in all sorts of

ways to benefit their communities

and the city as a whole. I hope

that over the coming two years

we can build the concept of an

‘active city’, where all our citizens

are encouraged and able to play

their part in the life of their city,

on their terms.

On 10 September, Bristol officially became a ‘City of Service’. Dominic Murphy, Chief Service Officer, Bristol Cities of Service, tells us more about the movement, and what being a City of Service will mean for Bristol.

For more information,

contact Dominic

Murphy: dominic.

[email protected]

Pho

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Support Hub

Sing Out Bristol

rehearse every

Tuesday evening in

central Bristol and are always

interested to meet new

singers or others who wish to

support the work of the choir.

For more information, visit:

www.singoutbristol.com

FundraiSING!Sing Out Bristol has been making beautiful music whilst tackling isolation and promoting inclusion in Bristol since 2007. Nick Stephenson, Performance Lead at Sing Out Bristol, tells us more about the group and shares some of the successful tactics that they use to raise vital funds...

We are a choir based in the

lesbian, gay, bisexual and

transgender (LGB&T) communities

of the region with objectives to

remove isolation and promote

inclusion. Worthy aims, I’m sure,

but there’s something hugely

satisfying and enjoyable too: we’ve

grown from six people meeting in

front rooms to the largest LGB&T

community organisation in the

South West; and we’ve always

valued the ‘community’ nature

of the choir – we don’t audition,

we try to be accessible, we have a

social life outside of rehearsal, and

our charitable/fundraising aims are

about bringing people together.

In June the choir travelled

to Dublin to take part in an

international festival of LGB&T

choirs called Various Voices.

Eighty choirs performed over

four days; the social and learning

opportunities were huge and Sing

Out Bristol took best possible

advantage of both. We attended

a similar event in London in 2009

and learnt so much that we

wanted to get as many people to

Dublin as we possibly could. So,

over two years, a small group of

us worked through a fundraising

programme which included

applying for grants, asking for

donations and developing our own

fundraising events.

Our objective was to ensure

that no one was excluded from

attending the festival for reasons

of finance, and to our surprise we

were successful in achieving this!

What worked for us?

1. In the first instance we were

really clear about what the choir

was about, what inclusion and

participation meant to us. We

reviewed the choir objectives:

what do we come together for?

What outcomes do we want to

achieve in our communities?

2. We worked really hard at

understanding what the benefits

of attending Various Voices

would be – what learning and

development opportunities were

available (including social ones),

and how they would help meet

the choir’s objectives.

3. We also looked at how the

choir has changed over the

years; we undertake a thorough

annual diversity survey so had this

information to hand. This has also

led to the choir being very clear

about how it wants to change and

develop in the future.

Being really certain about these

three things and having done

this groundwork meant that it

was relatively simple for us to

complete application forms and

write to organisations asking for

sponsorship. It also helped us to

build good feedback – linking the

responses we had from the choir

to our development objectives.

Now all we have to do is make

sure we build on the amazing

opportunity that taking the choir

to Dublin gave us and give back to

Bristol...


Your organisation aims to

make an impact on people and

communities, perhaps even to

change the world. You believe

in your work and can see that it

makes a difference, but can you

clearly demonstrate the impact

that you make? More and

more organisations are using

a ‘theory of change’ approach

to explain how they make an

impact and more funders value

this information.

When spending money

on a project, funders and

commissioners want to know what

outcomes will be achieved with

the money that they are spending.

However, on top of asking what

will be achieved, funders are

increasingly interested in the

detail about how an organisation

will make that impact. This is

where a ‘theory of change’ can be

useful.

Most organisations have thought

about the long-term goals of

their work and the outcomes they

are aiming to achieve. A theory

of change takes this thinking

further and sets out a roadmap

of how the long-term goals will

be achieved, including all of the

building blocks that contribute to

this.

A theory of change is usually

summarised by drawing a one-

page diagram such as the example

opposite, which is quick to read

and understand. This creates a

clear view of your work, breaking

it down into simple steps that

capture key aspects of what you

do.

Used well, it should give you a

clear and testable understanding

of how change will occur, a

framework for monitoring and

evaluation, and provide the

basis for both accountability and

learning.

Measuring impact - theory of change

The approach starts by thinking

about what you want to achieve,

not what you are already doing,

so you begin with the problem

you’re trying to solve (including

the underlying causes) and your

long-term goals (which should be

realistic and clearly defined).

Working backwards, you then

identify the steps needed to

achieve these goals, including

outcomes (the changes that need

to take place along the way) and

activities (the things that need to

happen to achieve these changes).

You then put things in order,

looking at causes and effects to

enable you to establish the links

between your outcomes. You

should question whether one

outcome really does lead to the

next and what your reasons are

for believing that. You also link

activities to show what effect your

work has.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3The other key things to consider

and include in a theory of change

are:

1. Underlying assumptions or

evidence – for example, you may

assume that a service user will be

supported by their family, or that

regularly attending a day-centre

session will enable a person to

make new friends.

2. What else is needed? Does the

success of your work depend on

other stakeholders or resources

being involved?

3. Indicators and targets – What

specifically will you measure?

A good theory of change

can reveal whether your

organisation’s current activities

make sense, given your goals;

which activities and outcomes

you can achieve alone and which

you cannot; plus how to measure

your impact.


Problem: that your

beneficiaries face

Activities: the services you deliver

Outputs: what the service

provides

Outcomes: changes

you want to achieve

Evidence: why you think one outcome

will lead to another and cases where

it will not

Ultimate goal:

what the organisation is trying to

achieve

GP identifies individual is

lonely

Individual spends less time alone

Social confidence

building sessions delivered

Individual is partnered

with an activity buddy

150 lonely people receive

six social confidence

building sessions

Factors that increase

loneliness are identified

Sector evaluations

indicate that this will

improve social confidence by

80%

Factors that increase

loneliness are

addressed

Individual gains social confidence

Individual’s personal

motivation to socialise increases

Individual’s peers/friends/

family members provide

encouragement

Lonely individuals

have increased

self-esteem

Lonely individual’s

social skills are improved

An example theory of change in practice:

Key:

A theory of change can help your organisation, because:

• It can be a great basis for a strategic plan, because it works methodically from the need you are trying to

address to the change you want to achieve.

• It provides a theoretical framework for measuring a charity’s impact.

• It can also be used to think more broadly about how different organisations within a sector are working

together, and how they could achieve greater impact through collaboration.

Need more help and support? Voscur can help! For information on a training course

in October, visit: goo.gl/1D8T23. For further resources, visit: goo.gl/GdtQqV. Our

development workers can also provide support and advice. Call us on 0117 909 9949.


Upcoming Support Hub trainingWriting Small Fundraising BidsWednesday 1 October 2014, 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.

Preventing Injury to Children and Young PeopleWednesday 8 October 2014, 1pm - 3:30pm

With around 13,500 preventable childhood injuries

being treated by emergency departments in Bristol

every year, this is a big issue for families and those who

work with them. Get the most up-to-date knowledge

about serious childhood injury and how to prevent it in

the course of your work. This free session includes an

experiential tour of the Lifeskills centre.

Commissioning: Building and Maintaining Relationships when Working Collaboratively Tuesday 14 October 2014, 9:30am - 1pm

There are many advantages to working collaboratively,

but there are pitfalls too. This training will explore the

common issues which can arise when working together

and will identify strategies for avoiding breakdowns

in working relationships. You will learn about a simple

tool which helps to identify and analyse the risks. This

session will give you opportunities to make links with

other voluntary and community sector organisations

who are interested in collaborating.

CrowdfundingThursday 16 October 2014, 9:30am - 12:30pm

Fundsurfer makes crowdfunding simple. Develop a

fully formed project or idea and learn how to create,

market, manage and promote your crowdfunding

campaign to achieve success.

Supervision Skills for Volunteer ManagersWednesday 5 November 2014, 9:30am - 3:30pm

Supervision is a formal way of supporting volunteers

on a one-to-one basis or in groups. This course is for

people with some existing experience in managing

volunteers and who would like to know more about

how to offer supervision effectively.

Making Your Message Mighty - the Power of Words Thursday 6 November 2014, 9:30am - 12:30pm

Your communication processes are powerful tools of

your organisation. Find the right words and identify

powerful stories to interest the media, support a

funding bid, recruit the right people, engage through

social media or enliven your website content.

Hot Shots – the Power of Images Thursday 6 November 2014, 1pm - 3:30pm

What do your images say about your service? This

course will show you how to take great photographs

and showcase your organisation’s activities. Some

basic camera, photography and computer skills will be

beneficial but not essential.

An A-Z of HRTuesday 11 - Wednesday 12 November 2014, 9:30am - 3:30pm

This two-day masterclass, delivered by Cornhill HR,

covers the essentials of employing staff; it will guide

you through best practice in recruitment, employment

law, redundancy, sickness and absence, storing

staff records, employee relations, performance

management and appraisals.

Finance Forum: PensionsThursday 13 November 2014, 10:30am - 12:30pm

A chance to meet others with financial responsibilities

and find out what is happening in the world of finance.


Being an Even Better TrusteeThursday 13 November 2014, 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. A natural follow-on for people who have

previously attended ‘Being a Good Trustee’ or have

some trustee experience.

Good Customer Services for Office Based StaffWednesday 19 November 2014, 9:30am - 3:30pm

The course offers the opportunity to reflect on the

service you provide to internal and external customers.

You will be given tips and techniques to develop your

expertise to delight your customers and deal with

customer complaints and challenging behaviour. This

course is practical and delivered in an imaginative and

engaging way at your pace.

Mind the Gap: How Decisions are Made in the CityThursday 20 November 2014, 12pm - 2pm

What goes on in the corridors of power? Bristol has a

number of locally based institutions both formal and

informal that make decisions that have an impact on

our communities. As community and voluntary sector

activists it is important that we understand what these

organisations are and how they make decisions.

Basic Book-keepingTuesday 25 November 2014, 9:30am - 3:30pm

This course will give an overview of prime entry

books (cash basis), typical income/expenditure

streams and transactions for small VCS groups. It will

include practical completion of a set of books, bank

reconciliations, a case-study-based facilitator-led group

exercise to demonstrate a basic key financial control

for any organisation and review of Charity Commission

receipts and payments entries for the annual return.

Theory of Change: Taking Your First StepsThursday 27 November 2014, 9:30am - 3:30pm

This course will guide you through the key steps

to develop systems that can determine your

organisation’s impact and the changes which result

from it. This session will be extremely beneficial

to your project planning, funding applications and

project evaluation.

Mind the Gap: How You Can Influence Decisions that are Made in the CityTuesday 2 December 2014, 12pm - 2pm

This practical lunchtime workshop will give you the

tools to influence decisions that are made in the city.

This session will focus on how you can identify your key

issues and what you want to achieve, find out who has

the power/resources to address these issues and build

allies and partnerships. Utilise campaigning or lobbying

techniques and plan what you’re going to do and do it!

Trustee Network: Reporting Serious Incidents and Whistleblowing Tuesday 9 December 2014, 6pm - 8pm

What should trustees do when they are aware of

serious problems in their charity? This network

meeting will look at a case study and will give you the

opportunity to discuss the pros and cons. Join trustees

from charities operating in the Bristol area and share

your experiences.

Early-bird rates available!

To book, or for further training beyond December, please go to: www.supporthub.org.uk/training-hub or call us on 0117 909 9949.

www.voscur.org18

Pro bono property adviceWith over 40% of charities

seeing their building as their

greatest risk*, the availability

of high-quality property advice

is essential to maintaining

much-needed voluntary and

community sector (VCS)

services across the city.

The risk is increased if your

organisation is not incorporated,

as then it is the individual trustees

or management board that will

own the freehold, leasehold or

tenancy for your building.

Property can present a host

of potential challenges for VCS

organisations and knowing exactly

where to turn can save your

organisation’s resources. Here are

some of the pro bono options

available:

The Royal Institute of Chartered

Surveyors (RICS) aims to provide

high-quality property advice on a

wide range of topics to the VCS.

The service offers a minimum

one-hour consultation with a RICS-

regulated firm free of charge,

visit: goo.gl/xEVM3v.

CAN Mezzanine offers free advice

to charities and social enterprises

that includes reviewing existing

accommodation; buying and

selling property and lease-related

issues; and landlord-and-tenant-

related disputes.

For more information visit: goo.

gl/e2Hht1.

Ethical Property Foundation

gives independent, ethical advice

by taking a holistic approach,

offering wide-ranging support

that is initially free of charge. For

full details visit: goo.gl/74Ua86.

The Community Asset Transfer

(CAT) process is one way to secure

a property to deliver much-

needed services and support to

your local community. Recognising

that CAT can seem daunting

the Support Hub at Voscur has

developed an advice sheet to

guide you through the process,

visit: goo.gl/KA8Bqb.

Property and more… Some

organisations may need more

than property advice or even

something completely different.

LawWorks for community groups

offers free legal advice in four

ways: free legal assistance;

factsheets; clinics; mediation. For

information on how LawWorks

could support your community

group, go to: www.lawworks.org.

uk/community-groups.

If the process of buying, renting,

leasing or managing a building

falls outside of the expertise of

your management board, the free

support available can help provide

the best protection for your

organisation.

* source: Third Sector

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October / November / December 2014 Issue 26

For more information,

contact Voscur’s

Support Hub team on:

0117 909 9949.

Have a happy, healthy team

In response to requests from the organisations we support, Voscur’s service – delivered in partnership with Cornhill HR – provides tailored support to local voluntary and community sector groups about day-to-day human resource management. Areas include:

For further details, call: 0117 909 9949 or visit: www.voscur.org/content/HR-support

Human Resources & Employment Law Support Service

Photo by peteself CC BY-SA 2.0

“Cornhill HR really put us on the right track – the adviser was very

clear, really made sure we understood the

details, very supportive, and made lots of calls.”

HR Service user, 2014

•TUPE (employee transfers)•Redundancy•Dismissals•Disciplinary and grievances•Pension auto-enrolment


Over the last year, Voscur has been

participating in Building Health

Partnerships – a joint project with

NHS England, NAVCA (Voscur’s

umbrella body), the Bristol

Clinical Commissioning Group

and Bristol Public Health. Bristol

was successful in a competitive

process to win project funds and

became one of just 12 projects

across the UK.

The purpose of the project

was to build new partnerships

and demonstrate the value of

the voluntary and community

sector (VCS) in health delivery.

Voscur worked on three different

approaches: preventing falls

among older people, to maintain

their independence; using social

assets to improve diabetes

prevention and treatment in Asian

and Somali communities; and

building the provider market by

supporting the collaboration of

smaller, specialist organisations.

For the third approach, Voscur’s

Support Hub has produced a

suite of materials to support

organisations to work together so

that they can deliver health and

other public services.

These materials are designed to

support VCS organisations in three

types of collaboration:

• Peer partnerships: those

involving a number of broadly

similar organisations in

terms of size, resources and

influence.

• Public partnerships: those

where a funder requires one

or more collaborative bids per

geographic/local authority

area, each led by one

organisation, and leaves it to

the stakeholders in that area

to organise the relationships

between themselves.

• Prime partnerships: those

with a prime contractor, or

lead agency, that holds a

main service contract with

the public commissioner,

and is typically larger than

its partners, and has more

resources and more influence.

Including briefings, workshop

plans, document templates and

references to real examples, the

resources are intended to be as

practical as possible in:

• Providing practical information

to inform planning and

decision-making about

collaborations.

• Providing practical activities

and template documents as

starting points for the various

stages of putting together a

real collaboration.

• Giving organisations more

confidence and determination

to enter into discussions

about collaboration, rather

than reject collaboration

as an option without due

consideration.

The materials are presented in an

order that loosely matches stages

in a commissioning cycle, from

strategic planning to contract

negotiation. We have done this

so that organisations can dip

in, according to their level of

development of collaboration, and

so that collaboration is considered

in a logical sequence. The diagram

on the next page indicates

steps towards partnership

and some of the resources

available. You can access the

full toolkit at: www.voscur.org/

collaborationresources

Come together...right nowVoscur has been working on a range of collaboration projects in recent months. We want to share the learning from this work with other local groups, to encourage them to come together, share their expertise and resources and deliver stronger, interconnected services in the city.


Voscur’s Support Hub offers a range of services to help Bristol VCS organisations improve

their capacity, sustainability and quality. Support offered includes one-to-one support with

a development worker, intensive support over a period of time, facilitation of discussions,

and strategic/business planning. Our support can be provided to organisations that are

collaborating with others – please contact us on 0117 909 9949.

Steps towards collaboration Important thoughts and questions Resources in our toolkit

Internal evaluationA partnership might be best. Are

we ready? What are our options?

• Is a partnership what we

need?

• What does working in

partnership mean?

Assess structuresWe’re ready to collaborate. How

do we choose a structure?

• Choosing a partnership

structure

Find partners Who can we best work with?

• What can small

organisations contribute

to partnerships?

• Selecting a lead agency

• Meeting potential

partners

Provisional commitment

We want to work together. What

key principles and requirements

should we agree first?

• Memorandum of

Understanding

Partner evaluationWe’re ready. What about our

partners?

• Preparing for

collaboration

• Partner information

• Due diligence

Formalise the

collaboration

We’re all ready. How do we make it

formal?

• Lead and partners

agreement

• Joint working agreement

• Consortium collaboration

agreement

Bid / tenderWe won the contract. Should

we sign it?

• Introduction to contract

law

• Example public body

contract and grant


The transfer of employees between service providers (TUPE) arises in commissioning processes and is relatively new to many VCS organisations. There is confusion and it deters some from bidding to deliver public service contracts. Mark Hubbard, Compact Liaison Officer, describes some recent changes that should make TUPE easier for VCS organisations.

What is it?

Essentially, TUPE (short for ‘Transfer

of Undertakings (Protection of

Employment) Regulations’) is the

process that protects employees’

continuing employment and terms.

It applies in two situations: (1)

when a business or undertaking is

transferred to a new employer (for

example, merger or acquisition)

and (2) upon a service provision

change, that is, when a service that

was provided by one organisation

changes to being provided by

another.

VCS organisations involved in

commissioning processes are likely

to come across the latter – either

as the current employer (that held

a service delivery contract) or new

employer (that has won a contract

to deliver services). In this case,

it is possible that employees of

the former contract holder could

transfer to the new organisation.

Those employees would retain their

terms and conditions.

Why is it important to know about?

There have been several recent

commissioning processes where

the transfer of employees has been

difficult and presented problems for

VCS organisations. Examples include:

• No workforce information

available for bidders – the lack of

information about employees’

terms (salary, payscale) has

made it difficult for bidders to

draw up detailed budgets and

proposals.

• Lack of consistency amongst

commissioners – in some cases,

commissioners have given views

on the application of TUPE; in

others, providers have been

advised to form their own views.

• Lack of familiarity of TUPE

amongst VCS organisations

– many VCS organisations,

particularly smaller, local,

specialist organisations, have

not previously been involved

with TUPE. Lack of familiarity

effectively means that energy

and resources are diverted

to this process, away from

developing innovative services.

Another important thing to note

is that, as of January 2014, TUPE

KEEPCALM

TUPEON

AND


has changed significantly. The

UK government has amended

TUPE with the new Collective

Redundancies and Transfer of

Undertakings (Protection of

Employment) (Amendment)

Regulations 2014. This was part of

the government’s employment law

review, which aims to ensure that

employment laws offer maximum

flexibility for employers and

employees.

What has changed?

There are many things to note

and those most relevant to VCS

organisations are briefly described

here.

• Service provision changes – the

new regulations state that, for

TUPE to apply, the new services

should be “fundamentally the

same” as the previous services.

This means that there will still be

debate about whether or not

TUPE applies.

• Changes to terms and

conditions – a disputed change

in work location was deemed

automatically unfair previously;

this has been removed.

• Changes to collective

agreements – new employers

will be able to negotiate

changes to terms previously

negotiated through collective

agreements one year after the

transfer (as long as the change

is no less favourable to the

employees involved).

• Links to collective agreements

are now static – the new

employer will be bound by

the collective agreement in

place on the date of transfer.

If, for example, local authority

employees transferred into a

VCS organisation, their terms

on the transfer date would

apply; any subsequent changes

to local authority workforce

terms, such as payscales, would

not apply to the previously

transferred employees.

• Redundancy consultation –

previously, each employer was

required to consult separately.

It is now possible for both

employers to hold pre-transfer

redundancy consultation about

the transfer and redundancies

at the same time.

• Employee liability information –

former employers must provide

information (including identity,

age, employment details) to

the new employer 28 days

before the transfer (rather than

the previous 14 days).

What has Voscur done about tackling TUPE-related issues?

Voscur and Bristol Compact

continue to work to improve

commissioning so that VCS

organisations can win contracts

to deliver public services. The

following activities address some of

the issues with TUPE.

• TUPE support for

decommissioned services –

we provided support for six

organisations whose drug and

alcohol services were being

decommissioned last year.

• Voscur’s HR service – provides

specialist advice on HR matters

including TUPE.

• TUPE guidance for

commissioners – Bristol

Compact co-wrote Bristol City

Council’s TUPE Guidance for

Commissioners. This guidance

standardises commissioners’

approach to TUPE, including

a TUPE questionnaire and

a requirement to facilitate

the collation of workforce

information from a provider

market without TUPE

experience.

There is still work to be done. VCS

organisations need to become

more familiar with things like TUPE

to engage with commissioning

and win public service contracts.

Commissioned contracts need to

include ‘early disclosure’ clauses so

that employee liability information

must be shared at a meaningful

time in the commissioning cycle:

28 days before contract start date

is better than 14 but still woefully

inadequate; disclosure prior to

bidding would be most helpful. We

are working on these things.

Useful links

TUPE Changes, January

2014: goo.gl/eBVUh1

TUPE Guidance for

commissioners: goo.gl/IcfZEh

Voscur’s HR service:

goo.gl/90YFDo

www.voscur.org24

Painting the town greenActivists filled St Werburghs community centre for an intensive day of debate and action planning when 100 small voluntary and community sector groups working in sustainability across the city’s most excluded communities came together to Paint the Town Green.

Assistant Mayor Gus Hoyt, Bristol

Green Capital (BGC) co-chair Liz

Zeidler and Bristol 2015 Company

Chief Executive, Kris Donaldson,

addressed the audience on their

vision for Bristol as European

Green Capital 2015.

The event, supported by Bristol

2015 Company, comprised

panel discussions and question-

and-answer sessions with key

members of Bristol Green Capital

partnership and Bristol 2015

Company. Discussions on food

poverty and food production;

reduce, reuse, recycle; fuel

poverty and community energy

solutions; and reclaiming green

spaces were the key workshop

themes.

Participants got to grips with

Bristol Green Capital objectives

and the role of the local voluntary

and community sector in working

with partners to achieve them.

Sustaining the legacy of this

initiative was a high priority.

The purpose of the event was

twofold: groups not already

linked in to BGC activities had

the opportunity to raise issues

they felt Green Capital partners

should act on and at the same

time enhance their organisations’

profile and promote their

activities.

Voscur was pleased to be able

to involve many groups not

previously connected with the

BGC agenda, working at grassroots

levels with local communities to

increase sustainable living.

Delegates from local groups

included those working with

refugees and asylum seekers

and in disadvantaged wards.

During the panel debate some

expressed concern that Bristol

2015 Company would sidestep

their local knowledge and contacts

and opt to engage with more

high-profile, public sector activity.

Bristol 2015 Company assured

delegates this would not be the

case.

Voscur is meeting with BGC and

Bristol 2015 Company and other

stakeholders to plan the next

steps.

To read about some of

the ideas proposed at

the event and our next

steps, visit: goo.gl/Qrw7lN

Are you doing ‘green’

work in the city? Do

you need help with

funding this work?

Voscur and the Big Lottery

Fund are holding two half-day

events in Bristol to increase

local awareness of the Big

Lottery’s Awards for All (A4A)

programme. The sessions are

aimed at community groups

across Bristol who are already

delivering or are in the process

of developing local green

projects, to support them to

take part in and celebrate the

Bristol Green Capital Status

throughout 2015.

Details of the events:

15 October 2014

21 October 2014

10am - 3:30pm, Southville

Centre, Beauley Road,

Southville, Bristol, BS3 1QG

To book, visit: goo.gl/ynpnIs

Photos overleaf by Louise Wender,

www.louisewender.com

October / November / December 2014 Issue 26

www.voscur.org 25

“Good, thought provoking, community

focused. Great networking

opportunities.”

Julie Evans Community

Learning West

“Very good mix of groups and

individuals. Glad to see both ‘green’ and

community/grassroots participants - all willing

to talk and listen.”

Martin Fodor, Make your home eco

“Well planned. Has enabled me to have a

plan to change things.”

Ella Davidson, Places for People.


Young volunteers have a vast

amount to give to voluntary

and community organisations,

yet a lot of charities are missing

out on this opportunity.

“If charities don’t support young

volunteers, then we are not

safeguarding our own futures by

supporting the next generation of

volunteers and, more importantly,

we’re missing out on all the

benefits that young volunteers can

bring to our organisations,” said

Rebecca Brookman, Volunteering,

Citizenship and Social Action

Manager at the Jewish Lads’ & Girls’

Brigade, in a recent Guardian article

on youth volunteering.

The benefits of volunteering

for young people can include

making new friends, improved

health and wellbeing, influencing

strategy and services, gaining

new skills and experience and

utilising volunteering as a route to

education and employment.

National data from vInspired.com

(a UK website which helps young

people find volunteering roles, and

helps charities find new recruits)

shows that between March 2013

and April 2014, 25,570 14- to

25-year-olds logged on to browse

opportunities. Of these, 15,678

young people were accepted on to

volunteering opportunities. Local

data for Bristol, obtained from

Volunteer Bristol (now merged with

Voscur), shows that in 2013, 583

local young people between the

ages of 15 and 18 years and 1,993

young people between the ages of

19 and 25 years either applied or

made enquiries about volunteering

positions.

The incentives around volunteering

are clear for young people, but

what is in it for organisations?

Along with the increase in capacity

that all volunteering provides,

involving young volunteers

in particular can have its own

benefits. Involving young people

in decisions and planning (either

on management committees

or specific task groups) allows

organisations to gain a different

perspective which can be especially

useful for those which aim to

involve or benefit young people.

Young people could also bring a

strong set of skills, for example in

areas of new technology, software

and social media. If the voluntary

sector can offer flexible roles that

are of interest to young people,

and be creative in how they reward

and incentivise volunteering, then it

could well be a win-win situation.

We approached two local

organisations, Babbasa Youth

Empowerment Project (BYEP) and

The Prince’s Trust, and asked them

to tell us how and why they involve

young volunteers.

Poku Pipim Osei, Programme

Lead, BYEP, writes:

“BYEP is a Bristol-based social

enterprise empowering young

people (16-25), from mostly inner-

city communities, to pursue their

professional ambitions.

“Young people are at the heart

of what we do, and part of how

we engage them is through

volunteering on our projects.

We typically involve our young

volunteers in all phases of BYEP

projects - from design to delivery.

We call these young volunteers

BYEP ‘Youth Ambassadors’.

“Our Youth Ambassadors are

invaluable. They provide us with

intelligence around key youth

issues and trends, as well as views

‘Investing in our own futures’ - supporting young volunteers


on activities that would appeal to

their peers. They also contribute at

a strategic level through the youth

leader on our board.

“Besides making new friends,

acquiring work experience

and learning about workplace

values, we have now introduced

an accredited certificate to

acknowledge the contribution of

our youth ambassadors. To further

make it a win-win relationship, BYEP

also offer all Youth Ambassadors

additional support to access

further training or employment.

We are also normally happy to act

as their referee. All young people

interested in volunteering are

encouraged to get in touch.”

Hayley Court, Volunteering and

Secondment Manager at The

Prince’s Trust, says:

“The Prince’s Trust is the UK’s

largest youth charity. We use

volunteers to support young

people into work, education,

training or volunteering themselves.

Our Young Ambassadors empower

young people to actively participate

in the work of The Prince’s Trust,

engage with public decision making

and inspire other young people,

Ph

oto

s provid

ed by B

YEP

BYEP’s Website:

www.byep.org.uk

The Prince’s Trust’s website:

www.princes-trust.org.uk

For information on our

Children and Young People’s

Network, contact Asma

Ahmad on 0117 909 9949.

while helping to develop leadership

and communication skills.

“Young Ambassadors undertake

roles including speaking to a

range of audiences, supporting

outreach and programme delivery,

and contributing their views to

influence government and help

shape services for young people.

“Working with young people can

help them to develop transferable

skills that may help them gain

future volunteering or employment

opportunities.

“The benefits to The Prince’s Trust

of using volunteers are huge - we

simply would not be able to do

what we do without volunteer

support. We do not have the

capacity for staff to support young

people post programme and this

is a key stage in young people’s

personal development when it

is important that they keep up

their motivation to gain a positive

outcome.”

Tiff Ridd, 25, has been volunteering

for The Prince’s Trust as a Young

Ambassador since November 2013.

She says: “Volunteering for The

Trust has given me a big confidence

boost because I’ve been able to

share my personal story with large

audiences at a range of events –

something that I never would’ve

considered before. But, I’m happy

to do it because The Trust has

supported me so much; it’s great

to give something back and inspire

other young people to find out

how it can help them.”

Volunteering is just one way in

which we can value the voices and

skills of young people in Bristol.

Other local examples include the

Bristol Safeguarding Board, the

Youth Select Committee, Youth

Mayors, and the BME Youth Forum,

facilitated by Bristol City Council,

Bristol Youth Links team and

Listening Partnerships, which is part

of the West of England Centre for

Inclusive Living.


There are many surprising facts

about mental health, which were

identified in a 2012 report by the

London School of Economics,

‘How mental health loses out in

the NHS.’

• Among people under 65,

nearly half of all ill health is

mental illness.

• Mental illness is more

debilitating than most chronic

physical conditions.

• Only a quarter of those

with mental illness are in

treatment, compared with the

vast majority of those with a

physical condition.

• The cost of psychological

therapy is low and recovery

rates are high.

• Mental health accounts

for 25% of the country’s

combined ‘burden of disease’

(taking into account economic

impact), yet receives only 13%

of NHS expenditure.

The national strategy focuses

on action at a local level. The

reasoning is that working at a

local level will act as a catalyst

for change in communities. Local

leaders can tackle the causes

of mental and ill health, and act

quickly and effectively to improve

services.

At the heart of the strategy is

a recognition that if we are to

improve the mental health of

the nation we need not only to

provide good services but to

change society’s attitudes towards

mental health, and that everyone

has a part to play in shifting

attitudes.

Bristol activity includes initiatives

like ‘The Little Book of WOW (5

Ways of Wellbeing)’, ‘The Wellbeing

Workplace Charter’ and the

promotion of national initiatives

such as ‘Time to talk, time to

change’.

Local stakeholders were also asked

to create their own mental health

charters and a set of pledges,

based on the following objectives:

• More people in Bristol with

Mental Health problems to

recover.

• More people in Bristol with

mental health problems to

have good physical health.

• More people in Bristol to have

positive care and support.

• Fewer people in Bristol to

suffer avoidable harm.

• Fewer people in Bristol

to experience stigma and

discrimination.

• More people in Bristol to have

good mental health.

A large meeting was hosted in

June 2014 by The Care Forum,

who have been working with

Bristol Public Health on the

initiative. The aim of the meeting

was to encourage organisations

to set up their own pledges and

to discuss current activities, local

gaps and needs. A further meeting

is planned for the autumn. Notes

and presentations of the meeting

can be found on The Care Forum’s

website: www.thecareforum.org/

pagebristol-adults-events-archive.

html

Caroline McAleese of The Care

Forum said of the meeting

and the mental health charter

initiative: “The vibrancy of the

mental health voluntary sector

No Health without Mental Health – a national strategy In 2012 the national strategy ‘No Health without Mental Health’ was launched which, in summary, stated that if we are to improve people’s mental health and wellbeing, everyone needs to play their part.


and the breadth of local expertise

within mental health services was

clear at the No Health Without

Mental Health event in June.

Workshops showcased many of

the high-quality local voluntary

services that support people with

mental ill health and highlighted a

general shift towards prevention,

recovery, reducing stigma and

working towards the No Health

Without Mental Health objectives.

“We hope a further mental health

event - ‘Spectrum’, being led by

Bristol Public Health in October,

of which The Care Forum, Voscur,

Safer Bristol and Mental Health

Bristol are partners - will build on

some of the work around mapping

of services that was discussed

at the No Health Without Mental

Health event in June.”

Other local activities include a

new ‘mental health concordat’:

a pact between hospitals, police,

ambulance services and the local

authority to ensure those in

mental health crisis are supported

appropriately.

Following on from the national

strategy another important

national document was published

by the Department of Health in

January 2014 - ‘Closing the Gap’.

(www.gov.uk/government/

publications/mental-health-

priorities-for-change).

This document highlights the gaps

in services for those with mental ill

health, and the document sets out

25 priorities for change. At a local

level Avon and Wiltshire Mental

Health Partnership, NHS Trust,

launched ‘Bristol Active Life’ which

supports people in community-

based activities, with a focus on

physical activities. The programme

has supported over 600 people

locally, and has run sessions for

sports workers on mental health

issues.

There are many local and national

resources available; a selection

includes:

• The Little Book of Wow (5

Ways of Wellbeing – 5 Great

Tips for Improving Personal

Wellbeing). For copies contact

Blanka Robinson (see next

bullet).

• No health without mental

health initiative, for more

information contact Blanka

Robinson at Bristol Public

Health: Blanka.Robertson@

bristol.gov.uk

• Bristol City Council

Workplace Wellbeing Charter:

www.bristol.gov.uk/

wellbeingcharter

• Time to talk, time to change

– a national campaign to

encourage everyone to start

talking about mental health

problems. Visit: www.time-

to-change.org.uk

• www.mentalhealth.org.uk

(sign up to their Facebook

page to receive useful

updates and information

on mental wellbeing:

www.facebook.com/

mentalhealthfoundation)

• The national strategy: www.

gov.uk/government/

publications/the-mental-

health-strategy-for-england

Ph

oto b

y Earl - Wh

at I Saw 2.0, C

C BY-N

C-SA 2.0


Over 100 voluntary, community

and social enterprise activists

gathered at the Trinity

Community Centre in Lawrence

Hill in July of this year to take

part in Voscur’s assembly event

organised on behalf of the

city’s voluntary and community

sector (VCS).

The agenda for the day combined

three policy discussions, followed

by three training opportunities.

The first group discussed

possible changes to the City

Council’s voluntary sector grants

programme.

Voscur’s CEO, Wendy Stephenson,

and Board member Joanna Holmes

led this discussion. Di Robinson,

Service Director, Neighbourhoods

and Communities, gave the City

Council’s perspective. She said:

“The Council is committed to

ensuring there is an open and

transparent discussion and to

getting to a place where grant

funding gives the best impact for

our communities and is visible for

communities to see in one place

where spend is going. We are

committed to retaining a grants

‘pot’ but want to ensure spend is

efficiently managed and supports

the council priorities.”

A full discussion followed. The

City Council will, of course, carry

out a formal consultation on any

proposed changes.

The second workshop focused

on “How can we improve

commissioning?”

Mark Hubbard, Compact

Liaison Officer, talked about

improvements to commissioning

practice to date, and highlighted

some of the problems that the

sector still faces:

• Commissioning practice

is inconsistent across the

Council.

• There is a perceived bias

against small, local, niche

organisations.

• There are conflicting messages

about collaboration.

Recommendations from this

session included training for

commissioners, standardisation of

(good) practice and a clear, easy-

to-find policy on services that will

be commissioned.

Voscur was asked to help small

VCS groups to work with larger

groups and facilitate more public

involvement with the process.

Voscur is now working directly

with the City Council at strategic

director level to ensure that these

issues are addressed.

Hot topics for our sector - a productive VCS Assembly


Paul Hassan introduced the

third workshop, which posed

the question “How can the

sector engage with the new

opportunities afforded by the

Local Enterprise Partnership?”

The LEP has allocated £6m against

the specific activity of: ‘Removing

barriers to employment’. This

includes £3m ‘opt in’ Big Lottery

Funding. The VCS is in the best

position to ensure those facing

multiple barriers to economic

activity are brought into the

mainstream.

Voscur, Voluntary Action North

Somerset, South Gloucestershire

CVS, Social Enterprise Works,

Quartet, the Care Forum, the

West of England Rural Network

and WESPORT have set up a

partnership to ensure social

inclusion funds are allocated to

the VCS sector to tackle economic

exclusion.

The audience asked questions

around how the funds would be

allocated and eligibility criteria.

Paul Hassan talked about an event

scheduled for 2 October 2014

which would begin the process of

answering these questions.

After a short break, the Assembly

split into three training workshops.

Paula Cannings from Voscur

delivered an entertaining

workshop to allow delegates to

explore key issues in negotiation

processes.

Jonathan Crutchlow and Ruth

Summersbell from Lloyds Banking

Group ran a session on working

with the private sector, and

took delegates on a tour of the

different ways we can engage

with the private sector, from

funding to volunteer support.

Finally Max Boon from Spirit PR

introduced delegates to a range

of techniques and approaches

to get the best out of the local

media.

Despite difficult acoustics at

times, the attendees found

the topics relevant and useful.

The Assembly concluded with a

networking lunch provided by

FareShare South West.

For information and

resources from the

day, along with minutes

from the workshops, visit:

goo.gl/V6oq1m

For more information

on the VCS Assembly

and how to get involved,

contact Paul Hassan on

0117 909 9949 or email:

[email protected]

I find learning and networking with colleagues in the voluntary sector very valuable to my work.Attendee, VCS Assembly, July 2014

“”

Photos by Louise Wender, www.louisewender.com

For details of all the above training and events, and those taking place beyond December, visit: www.voscur.org/training-and-events

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

October 2014Date Time Event/training Location

1st 9:30am - 3:30pm Writing Small Fundraising Bids Phoenix Social Enterprise

2nd 9:30am - 1pm The Voluntary and Community Sector and the Local Enterprise Partnership: Next Steps

The Station

8th 1pm - 3:30pm Preventing Injury to Children and Young People The CREATE Centre

14th 9:30am - 1pm Commissioning: Building and Maintaining Relationships when Working Collaboratively

Easton Community Centre

15th 10am - 12pm Children and Young People’s Network meeting - Children and Young People’s Community Health Services’ draft commissioning plan - what are your views?

Barton Hill Settlement

16th 9:30am - 12:30pm Crowdfunding The Greenhouse

22nd 11am - 4pm Voscur Annual Conference and Awards The Bristol Pavilion

November 2014Date Time Event/training Location

5th 9:30am - 3:30pm Supervision Skills for Volunteer Managers St Werburghs Centre

6th 9:30am - 12:30pm Making Your Message Mighty - the Power of Words The Gatehouse Centre

6th 1pm - 3:30pm Hot Shots - the Power of Images The Gatehouse Centre

11th - 12th 9:30am - 3:30pm An A-Z of HR St Werburghs Centre

13th 10:30am - 12:30pm Finance Forum Royal Oak House

13th 6pm - 9pm Being an Even Better Trustee Barton Hill Settlement

19th 9:30am - 3:30pm Good Customer Services for Office Based Staff The Gatehouse Centre

20th 12pm - 2pm Mind the Gap: How Decisions are Made in the City Royal Oak House

25th 9:30am – 3:30pm Basic Book-keeping St Werburghs Centre

27th 9:30am – 3:30pm Theory of Change: Taking Your First Steps Easton Community Centre

December 2014Date Time Event/training Location

2nd 12pm - 2pm Mind the Gap: How You Can Influence Decisions that are Made in the City

Royal Oak House

9th 6pm - 8pm Trustee Network: Reporting Serious Incidents and Whistleblowing

TBC

Voscur training and events

thrive! oct/nov/dec 2014 issue

Documents

year award

year young volunteer

year trustee

ejthis year

young people

bristol mp

young volunteers28

voscur annual conference