Connect Northamptonshire Christmas Update

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Hello everyone, I wanted to take an opportunity to reflect on the inspiring year that we’ve had on the Connect Northamptonshire Project (funded by the Lottery’s Health Equality Grant – HEG) as we embed the amazing work of our Northamptonshire VCSE sector into the developing Integrated Care System.  Some of the main highlights for me have been :

  • A successful and well received Emerging Leadership Programme to increase the Capacity and Capabilities of our Sector- Our Ambassadors of Change underwent a five session network and training Programme to understand the representative roles our Leaders undertake in both the Place Delivery Model and Health Collaboratives, and how Partnerships and Collaborations are a key element both within our Sector and the Wider ICS Structures.  Feedback from the Ambassadors has highlighted that the individual and team Strengths Based Approach to their existing Leadership Skills helped to form a cohesive team of twelve passionate and enthusiastic Change Makers in our Sector.  Planning is now in place for Cohort 2 to be recruited early in the New Year for this Programme.

 

  • Connect Northamptonshire has been working with System partners to commence a Pilot Project to Test and Learn how Community Based Early Interventions,  can improve the Health Outcomes of Women in our county in areas where the highest Inequalities exist.  Our learnings from the work of the King’s Fund on this topic have been fundamental in co-designing a pilot project that will target communities in Northampton Central Local Area Partnership in the first instance What women want: addressing women’s health inequalities | The King’s Fund (kingsfund.org.uk)

 

  • The Connect Northamptonshire project will be supporting West Northamptonshire’s Public Health Team and wider system partners to apply for “WHO Ageing Better Community” UK Network of Age-friendly Communities | Centre for Ageing Better (ageing-better.org.uk)status in early 2024, following an interactive workshop in Rural South Northamptonshire to look at Community Led interventions to reduce Health Inequalities experienced by the Elderly Rural Population in the area.   A Connect Northamptonshire Pilot Project will be looking at activities and intervention for this Local Area of Rural Older People, and an Urban area of Northampton, to increase Health Outcomes for these groups.

 

  • An early Connect Northamptonshire conversation with the VCSE Thematic Partnership for Children and Young People identified the opportunity for a county wide VCSE CYP Collaboration to be established to support of CYP organisations to work closer together and provide a joined up approach to the needs of our Children and Young People in the county.  The host organisation has now received the seed funding from West Northants Council to set up this independent body for the county – Young Northants.

 

  • Connect Northamtponshire continues to support the VCSE Infrastructure Partners in North Northamptonshire to engage with wider VCSE sector organisation, and our “experts by experience” in communities, through the Support North Northamtponshire Pilot Project.  The Pilot Project is designed to embed the VCSE Governance into the ICS to provide a delivery model for early intervention and prevention actvities in our Communities for those Adults at risk of the highest Health Inequalities due to their Wider Determinants of Health.

 

  • Developing a Learning Network with the other thirteen HEG Grantees throughout the county – we meet regularly to share knowledge and experience of our Projects facilitated by the wonderful Innovation Unit (Partners of the National Lottery Community Fund)

 

  • …and finally a personal highlight for me was the invitation to Westminster Abbey to represent the Northamptonshire VCSE on the 75th Birthday of the NHS 

I want to take this opportunity too to thank you all for your continued support of our developing partnership project, its been wonderful to work with so many enthusiastic and motivated teams in the county – I’m looking forward to 2024, and the prospect of new partnerships with NHFT as we work to “Together Against Racism” and the evaluation opportunities with the University of Northampton’s Social Impact and Innovation Team.  

I hope you, your families and friends all have a wonderful Christmas break, and a happy and healthy New Year

Claire Neilson, Alliances Manager

A View from the Turret – Its Christmas 2023

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It’s about 10 days to Christmas, and can I take this opportunity to wish you all well. I hope you are all looking forward to a well-earned rest over the festivities.

I find this period is nearly always about reflection: Looking back on the year to date with three months after as everyone moves towards their financial year end.

Once again, it’s been a tough and challenging year. I dare say I am not alone in that.

The financial landscape in which we are part of is unsettling, and 2024/25 is likely to be equally so.

Despite this, the VCSE is extremely resilient and capable, and some of the transformation pieces within Unitary Development and the Integrated Care System offer a raft of opportunity.

I think my ultimate Christmas message is about Partnership. The VCSE talks about this all the time, and we know that the practice of Partnership varies wildly from the Theoretical. We also know that Partnership is an easy term to use, but not so easy to deliver.

Partnerships work best with organisations that have a Trustee Board willing to change, have synergy with likeminded organisations and a complementary Governance and Delivery Programme.

Part of the issue around Partnership stems from the piecemeal funding which the VCSE receives in Northamptonshire. But in reality, we are not alone in this. Speaking to CEO colleagues beyond our boundaries reveals a mixed picture of funding and sustainability. Some Places fund their VCSE extremely well and capably, and as a result their communities and community organisations are more resolute and more able to Partner.

In other places not so. Partnerships are harder to build with little funding. A lack of funding increases territoriality and a culture of mine not ours.

And my final thoughts on Partnership comes from our Power of Small Conference in October 2023. There, some 50 smaller VCSE organisations stated that Partnerships could be key to their survival, but the Practice and Governance of Partnership and how it works best is a skill which needs to be nurtured and developed.

I am therefore committed to supporting smaller organisations through 2024/2025, if I can and have the funding to do so. My driver will be Partnerships, and how VIN can best help achieve them.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my Trustees, Staff and Volunteers for their commitment to the cause which has been unwavering in difficult circumstances.

I merely steer the ship, the Trustees, Staff and Volunteers provide the engine room.

Have a Great Christmas everyone..!!!

Second Round Launch on Volunteering Opportunities.

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West Northamptonshire Council is launching its second round of Grants to create volunteering opportunities.

The link to this fund can be found here: Council launch second round of grant funding to create volunteering opportunities in West Northants | West Northamptonshire Council

Successes from round one includes:

Free 2 Talk CIC who were recently awarded funding to support new supervised volunteers work which aims to improve outcomes across academic, behavioural, emotional, and social areas of young people’s lives in Northampton.

Northamptonshire Mind received a grant to deliver their Rural Outreach Project which will recruit supported volunteers to provide community outreach in areas identified as being at the highest risk of social exclusion.

Renew169 Wellbeing Café in Towcester received funding to enable the recruitment of volunteers to support safe space sessions, which aim to reduce loneliness and isolation in people with emotional or mental health difficulties.

If you would like to speak to the Community Funding Grants Team about your project or your eligibility to apply for this grant, email: communitygrants@westnorthants.gov.uk  and include your contact telephone number.

£950K grants scheme launched to support community transport initiatives in West Northants

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West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has launched a new £950k grants scheme to create new and support existing community transport initiatives in West Northants, as well as support the expansion of current grant funded transport projects and services.

This grant funding will be available over the financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26 for eligible community transport projects from 1 April 2024, following £547,181 funding from Central Government via the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) and £60,337 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), in addition to £342,000 of Council funding.

The grant funding will be allocated to community transport projects and services that meet identified needs and assist the Council in achieving one or more of its corporate priorities, including improving accessibility to employment, healthcare, leisure and education services; addressing unmet needs where there are gaps in the commercial bus network provision; and connecting rural communities to the locations they need to access. 

Find out more on the website.

Warm this Winter

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Northamptonshire Community Foundation have launched their annual Warm this Winter Appeal to tackle fuel poverty and to keep the older and vulnerable residents who are experiencing financial hardship across our county fed, warm and well as the cold weather hits.

This appeal has been running every winter since 2010 and has raised over £255,000 to protect some of the most vulnerable members of our local communities.

please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/warmerthiswinter23

Their Winter Wellbeing Funding Programme is now also open with grants of up to £2,000 available to Northamptonshire-based groups focusing on supporting vulnerable older people this winter.

Projects must meet two out of five aims:

Keeping the home warm.

Dressed for warmth.

Staying warm at night.

Eating well OR

Keeping active.

For more information, please see here https://www.ncf.uk.com/warm-this-winter

A View From The Turret On VINs AGM

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VINs Annual General Meeting 2023

VINs Annual General Meeting took place on the 9th of November 2023.

The AGM PowerPoint can be seen here

The AGM Minutes can be seen here

Our Annual Snapshot can be seen here

Our certified Accounts will be posted in due course

So why you ask is an Annual General Meeting worthy of a view from the Turret: Simply that on 5 separate occasions the word challenging, VIN and our future direction was mentioned: All these comments are based on a stark reality. Every year VIN (like hundreds of other charities) forecasts its deficit and works tirelessly to reduce that deficit against a landscape of short-term grants and reducing contracts.  We know it’s a tough world for Local Authorities, under pressure from Central Government and with a w hole host of transformational pieces of work to conclude.

 

I would still class VIN as a smaller organisation in the grand scheme of things: We recently held a Roundtable for small and micro VCSE organisations. Nearly all agreed that partnering up and sharing resources was the future, in recognition of a reality that collaboratives and coalitions are best able to flex and bid for funding streams in a new world. However, there is always this inbuilt assumption that the mechanics of Partnering, from how it works to what implications it has on Governance Models, Mission Positions and Delivery Provision is somehow self-taught. These skills must be acquired, and Infrastructure has the ability when well-funded to provide this. I do not know of any other existing mechanism that does or could.

What impressed me and scared me in equal measure was the amount of work these smaller organisations undertake. Many are on the precipice. If they close, communities will be so much the poorer, but the future for many looks dim.

These organisations are going to be vital in working to the Local Area Partnership Agenda on local health inequality: They are going to be vital in engaging with communities over the wider determinants of health (a principal plank of any Integrated Care System) and crucial in finding local preventative solutions to long standing health inequality issues. To give them a chance requires giving Infrastructure a chance: Fund Infrastructure to a suitable level and there’s every possibility that more organisations can join the party. The best parties are where the audience is mixed and varied.

Annual Snapshot 2022/2023

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VIN’s Annual Snapshot (2022/2023) is now available and can be viewed here. 

The VIN CEO states:

It’ always difficult to define the level of detail required for our Annual Review. As an organisation we want the content to be as clear and concise as possible yet provide readers with an understanding of our Infrastructure Role and of our Projects.

This year we have introduced a simple star rating system which hopefully makes sense. The star system is underpinned by some of our project management methodology but without lengthy and drawn-out facts and figures which for many are unappealing to digest.

We hope you enjoy its content.

The Annual Snapshot will be circulated to key stakeholders across West Northamptonshire over the next few weeks.

 

Trustee Week – Nic Jackson (Trustee of Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire)

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It’s Trustee Week which is a national celebration of the work Trustees do in Charities.

To kick off the week here is a few thoughts from one of VIN’s latest Trustees, Nic Jackson.

Nic says:

In 2023 I’d been out of a corporate environment for a couple of years. I really missed being part of a team and working with others towards a common goal. I was introduced to the idea of becoming a Trustee for a charity to bridge that gap. When I attended the first Board meeting as a visitor, everyone’s passion for the cause was clear. It was really inspiring to see and hear the difference the organisation was having and going forward it has been great to be a part of the Strategic vision and in moving VIN forward. I wondered what I’d have to bring with no sector experience, but my questions seemed to add value, and it’s been interesting to start to learn about VIN and their objectives. There is so much experience in the ‘room’, I feel I add another perspective.

I was asked about my aspirations: For me it’s about learning more about VIN and the sector and understanding the value I can add in supporting the organisation. A natural aspiration for me is around the team at VIN and in the future I’d love to continue supporting them in their development. Helping VIN to continue to support organisations and individuals, and seeing the impact they are having as an organisation is important to me.

 

Trustee volunteers play an important in role in governing and shaping our local organisations. If you want to profile one of your own Trustees then contact russell.rolph@voluntaryimpact.org.uk with a paragraph or 2 of text and a photograph if possible.

 

 

Trustees’ Week 2023 6th – 11th November

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Trustees’ Week is an annual celebration of the people who give up their time to lead and govern charities.

If you would like to profile one of your Trustees in this week, VIN will ensure that they receive the necessary profile through our What’s New Section of our website and its associated social media.

All you need to do is complete a paragraph or 2 about the person, what they do and why you believe they deserve recognition. Please send this to russell.rolph@voluntaryimpact.org.uk prior to the 6th of November 2023.

NCVO are also providing a series of free events exploring ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) for Trustee Boards. These can be viewed below with details of how to book.

Above all, support and recognise the value of your Trustees in this week. They perform a fantastic role in challenging and difficult times.