NVSC - Newham Voluntary Sector Consortium
March 03, 2008
The future’s bright, the future is NVSC!!
In the early nineties, Newham Council withdrew the funding from Newham Voluntary Agency Council (NVAC) which was the CVS for Newham. It was well documented at the time that this was for political reasons - in the good old days there was an appeals process, so NVAC were effectively able to operate for a full 6 months after the original decision.
In the intervening 11 years, the Voluntary Sector in Newham stagnated. There was no active Community Sector, although there were some Community Groups. The Faith sector did their own thing and any thoughts of cohesion were very far away. The large organisations got larger and dominated the sector - there was no co-ordination, no information sharing and basically it was each man for himself. The only networking was around Community Care.
In 2001, Newham Council realised that this situation could not continue. This coincided with the move by Central Government to circle and again the decision to withdraw the funding from NVSC appears to be political. NVSC is not expecting special treatment but it does expect a fair and transparent process.
In the first round of Commissioning, there were clearly gaps in services - no service specifications that supported the Equalities agenda or support for the Third Sector. Groups were assured at two very well attended meetings that both of these specifications would be available at a later date. To date there has been no specification, draft or otherwise that tackles the Equalities agenda. There is however a draft specification for Third Sector Support.
NVSC does not see that it has sole ownership in this market - there are several other organisations who provide support to the sector, however there can be no doubt that the service specification almost entirely replicates the current Service Level Agreement (SLA) we have with the Council. The SLA is currently in draft - and out for "consultation". I use the term loosely on the basis that there is no formal consultation process as defined by the Compact, the document does not have a time line or any financial information. Therefore this process is flawed.
NVSC has funding from Newham Council until March 31st. Even if the draft specification, after the consultation, is commissioned there will be a minimum gap of 4 - 5 months.
That means there will be a huge gap in support to the Third Sector. Of course, the Council does not have to commission this service. In line with the government’s guidance on support to the sector they could contract NVSC directly with a SLA or they could of course Grant Aid NVSC, thus reducing the uncertainty. They could Newham Partnership Board Page 3 even offer an interim package. NVSC's Board members are currently trying to negotiate a positive way forward. However, what is currently being offered would either take away the independence of the organisation or encourage the Board to act illegally.
NVSC is of course seeking funding from other bodies, but we all know how difficult is to attract funding for core services - funding for specific projects is always easier, but no funder is prepared to fund what they consider to be the responsibility of the Local Council.
There is additional information on our website, you can view the notes taken from the workshops held at the consultation event at West Ham on February 6th. You will also find the draft specification on our website.
We have launched an online petition, which takes a couple of minutes for you to sign it or you can send letters of support. All details are on the website at www.nvsc.org.uk
Remember this is your organisation, if you want to continue to receive the services that you want then you will need to let your voice be heard.
Sarah Ruiz - Director
Small Grants Scheme
Are you a voluntary or community organisation offering or planning to offer quality support services for children and their families in Newham?
Do you need help with costs? - Extended Services has one-off grant funding available through our Small Grant scheme. Small grants of up to £5,000 are available to support and develop good quality provision in flexible ways to meet the needs of young children and their families.
For further information and an application pack please contact Nana Poku on 020 8430 6847 or email nana.poku@newham.gov.uk for an electronic version.
The closing date for applications is noon Friday 14th March 2008.
O2 Its your community
It’s Your Community programme, which The Conservation Foundation manages in partnership with O2. Up to 60 projects from all over the UK receive awards of up to £1000 every month.
The awards are designed to support individuals and groups seeking to make a positive change in their community.
We would be delighted if you could tell your members about It’s Your Community, we welcome applications from all kinds of community projects.
Full details are available on www.itsyourcommunity.co.uk. The online application process is very straightforward and you will recieve an answer within 28 working days.
Tesco Charity Trust
The Tesco Charity Trust was set up on 1st June 1987 to support both national and local community charities, and to add a 20% top up to staff fundraising. It is run by a board of trustees recommended by the main board of Tesco PLC.
Community Awards
For Community Awards criteria and application form, go to www.tescocharitytrustcommunityawards-applications.co.uk
We recommend you click on Questions before completing our online application. This may help you to prepare any information you need in advance of completing the form online.
LSP update: Newham Partnership Board
It is difficult to know what can be reported on the LSP. You may be aware that a review took place and since August, there have been no elected representatives from the Voluntary, Community or Faith sectors on the newly
formed Newham Partnership Board (NPB).
NVSC continues to facilitate the involvement of the elected representative on 4 of the 6 Local Area Partnership Board’s (LAPB’s).
NVSC understands that a meeting took place in December to discuss this issue but, if there were any decisions made, it has not been communicated to the sector. It is implicit in the guidelines issued by the Government that LSP's should be made up of key stakeholders. The review carried out last year was also very clear that key to the development of the new structure was the involvement of the Third Sector. In fact the continuing failure to build a better relationship with the Third Sector, and their continued absence from the NPB will not assist the Council when the Comprehensive Area Assessment is introduced next year.
The issue still remains that the sector do not consider it appropriate for the Chair of the NPB to select who he thinks should represent the sector. NVSC have no problem if he selects his two organisations but they will not be seen by either the sectors or Government Office for London (GOL) as representing the sector. The sensible thing to do would be to do both - have the two selected organisations but also allow the sectors to elect their three representatives.
Those representatives would have a mandate to speak on behalf of the sectors they were elected to represent answerable to the sector, leaving the selected two organisations to continue to be free to speak only on behalf of their own organisations.
Local Area Agreement
The LAA Third Sector Steering Group is currently working through the Local Action Partnership Boards and the Newham Partnership Board to develop the new shape Local Area Agreement for 2008.
The Government has now published the new National Indicator Set (NIS) which all Local Authorities will be assessed against through the new Comprehensive Area Assessment. Newham Partnership Board needs to select 35 indicators from the NIS to set targets for and include in the new LAA. The 35 indicators, when finalised, will reflect a range of Newham’s concerns and priorities but they will not be the whole local story.
The future work programme for the Partnership will therefore not focus solely on the indicators that happen to be chosen for the LAA, but they do provide an opportunity for the Partnership to focus on particular priority areas, and to take action where real improvements can be made. 16 education and early years indicators have already been identified as mandatory for inclusion within the LAA by the Department for Children, Families and Schools.
Through the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA), the Audit Commission will be interested in how the indicators have been selected, the evidence used, and the engagement process with partners and the wider community.
At the LSP Conference on 24th November and the LAA Third Sector Steering Group Engagement Event on 3rd December, delegates helped to identify the shared outcomes for the Local Area Agreement and what the priorities might be for each shared outcome. Following this, each of the LAA theme areas examined what local survey data tells us about local needs and how Newham is performing compared to the rest of London as well as the results of the LSP
Conference and LAA Third Sector Engagement event in order to produce a "long list" of indicators for the LAA. This long list has been discussed at the Local Action Partnership Boards and the Newham Partnership Board, and is currently being tested against some key criteria in order to help identify the 35 indicators for the Newham Partnership Board to submit to Government Office for London in March.
You may already have been involved in selecting the LAA indicators by contributing to the LSP Conference and the Third Sector Engagement event but you can find out more at the next Newham Partnership Board meeting on the 20th March 2008.
For more details about the LSP Conference or the Newham Partnership Board,
contact Elizabeth Cuffy at elizabeth.cuffy@newham.gov.uk
For more information about the LAA Third Sector Steering Group Engagement
event you can contact Ali Ahmed - ali@nvsc.org.uk
Comprehensive Area Assessment
To simplify the way the performance of local services is measured, the Audit
Commission aims to introduce a different assessment framework in 2009. This is to be called the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) and will take over from Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA), Joint Area Reviews, Annual Performance Assessments and social care star ratings. The Audit Commission has produced two consultation papers:
• “The Evolution of Regulation” which looks at how the Comprehensive Area
Assessment might be developed
• “The transition from CPA to CAA” discussing how the transition period will be managed, but also including much of “The Evolution of Regulation” information.
For a full explanation of the changes that will take place and their impact on the Third Sector please see: nvsc.org.uk/docs/caa.pdf
How can you contribute?
Views on the proposals for CAAs are welcomed by the Audit Commission at any
time, although there will be a formal consultation, jointly with other inspectorates later in 2007. At the moment they are posing a number of
questions about the proposed new arrangements on an online form available at:
audit-commission.gov.uk/CAA.
Newham Directory
NVSC’s Newham Directory has now been updated and is available to all members.
The Newham Directory, which was launched in February 2005 has been and still is the main resource of information people use to find out about the groups in Newham.
Back in July 2007, we sent out registration forms to all organisations listed on the database, requesting groups who are already listed in the directory to update their details for the new issue.
This was also a great opportunity for new groups to be added to the directory. The Newham Directory is a comprehensive guide to voluntary and community
organisations in Newham.
The directory is available in both a ring binder folder or a pdf version on cd-rom.
For groups who already have the first edition of the directory in a binder, can
request the inserts which would replace the existing pages.
To request your FREE copy of the directory, please contact Saifur Valli on
020 8519 9500 or email saifur@nvsc.org.uk
Play Seminar
On the first Friday in February, NVSC in partnership with Community Links, financially supported by Extended Services, held a Play Seminar.
Although small in number the energy and commitment shown by, in the main, playworkers was tremendous.
Each one of the workshop sessions was thought provoking and I am sure
that everyone that participated came away with fresh ideas.
Based on the 5 Every Child Matters themes, we looked at the role of play in helping to deliver the governments agenda and as important how play can also deliver the targets that the Borough has set.
It is quite clear that there has been a significant downsizing and perhaps
more concerning, in the value of play. Colleagues were all able to recall how
different the Borough was even 5 years ago.
We heard that there were currently 23 regeneration schemes happening or
planned for Newham - and the Olympics was the 17th largest. All of these
schemes will have an impact on the quality of life of the children and young people who live in the borough and a concerted effort should be made to ensure that each one of the regeneration schemes incorporates sufficient facilities for play.
The Borough have been awarded some 1 million pounds to deliver its Play Strategy from the Big Lottery. This will fund 7 different schemes - all being
delivered in the parts of the Borough that currently have little or no facilities.
The seminar pledged to continue to lobby both the Council and other Statutory
Authorities to put play higher on their Agenda.
We hope to make this an Annual event and to have an ongoing conversation
with decision makers.
Profile: Newham Youth Steel Band
Newham Youth Steel Band was formed in 1990. We are also operating as Newham Steel Band.
We are the only steel band that provides training and community services in Newham and most of East London.
Originally the organisation was called Dallaway Youth Steel Orchestra, led by Mr Sylvester Dallaway and F.C. Joseph.
There was a transition in 1994 to Forest Gate Youth Steel Orchestra when we registered as a charity and the name changed to the current one.
The past tutors ware Everley Mill, Gary Moustache, Robert Clark, Alan Baptiste and Nadine Nyapadi. The current tutor is Marcia Brown who is another
accomplished tutor.
The band is registered and is organising a youth exchange to Trinidad and Tobago in 2009. The band is partly funded by Newham Council and has been
supported by business and the local community.
Our mission statement - Our mission at Newham Youth Steel Band, in partnership with parents/carers and outside agencies, is to meet individual
needs of young people, adults and their families by providing them with equal opportunities to develop their full potential in a secure and caring learning
environment. They will be given as much support as possible to grow academically, socially and emotionally and to enhance the skills they have
gained.
Our values - Children are born with a natural curiosity so that we believe that they learn best through sessions in which they get first-hand experience of playing, hearing and understanding the steelpan. We provide a happy, secure and stimulating learning environment in which the members can enhance their abilities and learn about the history and cultural aspects of
steel bands.
Our aims - At Newham Steel Youth Band, we work as a team to ensure
that members:
• Develop their confidence and self-esteem through their music
• Have a positive view of them-selves and feel confident enough to perform in an independent capacity as well as part of the group
• Acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need now and in the future
• Are valued as individuals
• Get the opportunity to develop their full potential and achieve their goals regardless of race, gender, ability or class
• Recognise the benefits of learning steelpan in a multi-cultural environment where they can develop wareness and respect for others by learning and
performing alongside them
Our activities -
We provide free performances for the community, mainly after the Autumn and also sessions at schools and local venues. We are also available for
contract to perform at:
• Barbeques
• Boat Excursions & Trips
• Carnivals
• Christenings
• Community festivals
• Community steelpan workshops & demonstrations
• Dances, parties and school concerts
• School steel pan workshops & demonstrations
• Remembrance & commemoration events
• Sessions for people with learning difficulties
• Tuition/training sessions (both in groups and one-to-one)
• And other appropriate activities
For more information on our work, please contact Felix Joseph on 07927 644 629 or 07808 847 974 or you can email felixsteelpan@yahoo.co.uk
Global Xchange Youth Volunteer Programme in Newham
Global Xchange, an international volunteer exchange programme (which is a joint initiative between VSO and the British Council) will be running an exchange between Newham and the Philippines, beginning at the end of March this year.
This exciting 6-month programme brings highly motivated young people together to live and work in host communities in their own and another country. Global Xchange is an opportunity for the volunteers and the communities in which they live and work to learn more about themselves and each other, develop a global perspective and work for positive change in a diverse world. The programme aims to support the development of active global citizens and further cross-cultural understanding.
Volunteer Placements - Volunteers are placed with organisations in pairs and we are looking for organisations with a real need for two or more volunteers, who could provide an effective and rewarding work placement for young people, where they can contribute positively to the community (for up to 4 days per week). The theme of this exchange is peace-building and development and so we would be particularly keen to work with organisations who are working in this area (e.g. conflict resolution for young people), organisations working with refugees and migrant communities, and interfaith work. We would also be keen to involve a cross-sector of the community, and so would be very pleased to hear from any organisation that could make effective use of two volunteers, where they would be able to make a real contribution to their work. If you think that Global Xchange volunteers could support the work of your organisation and you would be interested to find out more about the programme, we'd be very pleased to hear from you.
Host Homes - We are also looking for host homes (in or near the borough) who would be willing to accommodate the volunteers, which also enables the volunteers to learn more about life in the community. Volunteers are placed in pairs (same gender - one from the UK and one from the Philippines) and do expect to share a room, so we are looking for people who have one spare room or more. In return, we are able to offer hosts a weekly
allowance of £85 (per pair) as a contribution towards the cost of food & accommodation, and two programme supervisor will be on hand to offer support whenever necessary.
If you would be interested to find out more about how you could get involved in the programme either as an organisation providing a volunteer placement or by becoming a host home, please get in touch with Victoria Fanthorpe on 07968 506145 or email victoria.fanthorpe@vso.org.uk
£50 Million loan fund available to social economy organisations
We are so confident in the future growth of the sector that we have launched a £50 million loan fund which will be used exclusively for social economy organisations.
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Faith Action Network
FaithAction a national network of faith-based and community organisation delivering public services and represents faith-based and community organisations that are engaged or seeking to become engaged in the delivery of public services and supports the increase of public service delivery by such organisations.
FaithAction is a Strategic Partner of the Office of the Third Sector, within the Cabinet Office, one of 20 national infrastructure organisations funded to establish key partnerships to enable the effective representation of the third sector.
FaithAction ties together existing faith and community networks around the country, raising their voice to government and providing them with a collaborative link to each other.
FaithAction is also seeking to develop consortia that can deliver contracts, to broker sub-contracting and partnership relationships between larger providers and smaller third sector organisations and to identify and access additional investment for third sector organisations.
For more details on FaithAction and about our conference, visit our website at
www.faithaction.net or contact Dominic Ellison on 0845 094 6350 or email dominic.ellison@faithaction.net
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