Voluntary Action North Somerset

ChangeUp is the framework for developing the capacity of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector until 2014. It was published by the Government in June 2004 and builds on the recommendations of the Cross Cutting Review published in 2002.

ChangeUp’s aims are to develop within that sector by 2014:

* A highly skilled workforce, performance improvement, more effective use of ICT, strengthened governance, improved volunteer support and more diverse and effective income generation

* Support for front line organisations which is available nationwide, structured for maximum efficiency, offering excellent provision which is accessible to all while reflecting and promoting diversity, and is sustainably funded.

This support will be provided by local infrastructure organisations and will be coordinated at national, regional and local levels.

The 6 main themes cover:

* Performance improvement
* Workforce development and leadership
* ICT
* Governance
* Recruiting and developing volunteers
* Financing voluntary and community activity There are 3 ‘cross cutting’ themes have to be built into all work undertaken:

* Equality and diversity
* Sustainability
* Rural proofing

The priorities are:

* Increased joint working between infrastructure organisations
* Increased access to infrastructure support by front line organisations

The money

The programme is backed by a budget of £80m which is mainly being managed by the Government Office for the South West in our case.

The money can be bid for across Consortium areas which have been defined by GoSW - North Somerset falls within the West of England Consortium which consists of the unitary authority areas of Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire

The £80m budget works out at about £250k to each Consortium area for activities until March 2006 - around £70k for North Somerset .
The local response

Infrastructure organisations from the Bristol and West of England Consortia have been working together since autumn 2003.

The members of the West of England Consortium are currently:

BANES CVS BANES Racial Equality Council
Black Development Agency Bristol Racial Equality Council
Care Forum
South Gloucestershire CVS
Voluntary Action North Somerset
West of England Social Enterprise Group

Their aim is that:

Communities in Bristol and the West of England benefit from a strong, vibrant, diverse and sustainable voluntary, community and social economy sector.

The members of the Consortia have agreed:

To work together to provide an accountable, representative and well resourced support framework with genuine influence on local, regional and national policies which impact on our communities.

They have written a 10 year investment plan which covers the whole Consortium area, but places a strong emphasis on the unique character and needs of each unitary authority area, as well as identifying opportunities for cross unitary authority area working.

There are national and regional bids which will have an impact on these plans and on local service delivery.

Due to the lack of a coordinated network of infrastructure support in North Somerset , the proposal being prepared for GoSW by the West of England Consortium will initially focus on developing that capacity in preparation for offering a wider range of support to front line organisations.

The following work is currently being undertaken in North Somerset with ChangeUp funding:

* £;23,000 capital funding towards lift installation in Badger Centre
* £28,300 to Voluntary Action North Somerset for own capacity building and some services to groups
* £23,101 to Community Action for Good Governance project - this will operate across the 3 UAs outside Bristol and is in conjunction with the Avon and Bristol Law Centre
* £15,000 to the Care Forum for an Equalities Project which will operate across the 3 UAs
* £34,500 to BDA to improve BME infrastructure services which will operate across 3 UAs
* £15,000 to Community Action for Performance Improvement in rural areas across 3 UAs
* £20,000 to West of England Social Enterprise Group for supporting an entrepreneurial approach across 3 UAs
* £71,271 to Community Action for Consortium support and development across the 3 UAs

The future

ChangeUp funding is designed to provide an opportunity to:

* work with partners to develop and implement work to deliver ChangeUp objectives
* unlock other funds by producing evidence of:
o strategic approach and vision
o clear objectives and accountability
o addressing gaps and duplication
o trying out new ideas
o generating a clear outcome focus

The Consortium and its members will continue to work jointly and with front line organisations to improve the amount and range of support available to those front line organisations in North Somerset .