Invest Local the First Three Years This Is a Summary of the Findings from the First Evaluation Report of the Invest Local Programme
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Invest Local The First Three Years This is a summary of the findings from the first evaluation report of the Invest Local programme. The evaluation has been produced by People and Work (peopleandwork.org.uk). The evaluation aims to: Help Understand communities get whether Invest as much as they Local is doing can from what it set Invest Local. out to do. Look at whether Invest Local’s way Help BCT of working is a good to work as way to help effectively communities make as possible. their areas better. To request a full version of the evaluation report, email [email protected], or download a copy from our website: www.bct.wales What is Invest Local? 5 Invest Local is a ten-year 8 programme of funding and 12 support for 13 communities across Wales. The 13 communities are: 1 Aberfan, Merthyr Vale and Ynysowen, Merthyr Tydfil 2 Caerau, Bridgend 3 Cefn Golau, Blaenau Gwent 4 Clase, Swansea 5 Glyn, Conwy 6 Hubberston and Hakin, Pembrokeshire 7 Llwynhendy, Llanelli 8 Maesgeirchen, Gwynedd 9 Penywaun, Rhondda Cynon Taf 10 Phillipstown, Caerphilly 6 7 1 3 11 Pillgwenlly, Newport 9 12 Plas Madoc, Wrexham 4 10 11 13 Trowbridge and St Mellons, Cardiff 2 13 1 Offer Each community is offered funding (£1million) and support (an Invest Local Officer to support the community, opportunities for Shared Learning with other Forming a communities and projects). Steering Group The community forms a steering group made up of people who live and work H in the area. o w Invest Local is funded by a £16.5m endowment from the National Lottery Community i Getting Going Fund. Each community has t The steering group run events, activities and small projects to up to £1million to invest, and w promote Invest Local and consult the community decides the local people about their priorities priorities for the local area, who o for the area. they will work with and how the money will be used. r k s Driving Change The steering group looks at the community’s priorities, and comes up with projects to meet these priorities in their Shared Learning Driving Change plan. Throughout the programme, Invest Local offers opportunities to share knowledge and experiences with other communities. 2 CASE STUDY Plas Madoc: Investing in an Organisation Plas Madoc Leisure These include a family wellbeing Centre was struggling. day, free yoga classes, bingo nights, a kids’ drama club, a Old and inefficient boilers “brunch and munch”club, and one meant running costs were of the squash courts has been high and the centre was converted into a community room that local groups can access free reportedly little used by of charge. local people. Engagement with We are Plas We are Plas Madoc’s (the local Madoc has also helped change steering group’s) funding for the culture of the centre. It is new boilers for the centre has now seen as much more open proved a strong investment in a and welcoming, with many more key community asset. The new people from the community boilers save the centre almost reported to use the centre. It has £20,000 in running costs each also become a community space year – money that has been used where tenants and residents meet. to develop the centre and provide more activities for the people of Plas Madoc. 3 Theory of Change This is a simplified version of Invest Local’s Theory of Change, which shows how the programme is expected to work and create change. ENGAGEMENT: ACTION: people discuss how Invest Local supports to use the funding actions chosen by the (eg a steering group community (increase in forms, consults others) community activism) MOTIVATION: OUTCOMES: Invest Local’s capacity and influence offer of funding and increase and people in the support to communities community feel stronger, provides a motivation happier and better able to for change address challenges CAPACITY: INFLUENCE: people’s ideas, skills, public services listen confidence and social to people, and change the relationships develop way they work 4 The programme blends aspects of: • traditional place-based community development programmes (like the first phase of Communities First) • traditional grant giving programmes (like People and Places) • asset-based community development programmes (like the Building Livelihoods and Strengthening Communities in Wales projects) image? 5 Invest Local’s context The key external factors that have impacted upon Invest Local are: 1 2 3 4 Austerity (including Poverty. Mistrust of community Qualities of each cuts to public services development community (eg size, and welfare reform). programmes after or what groups, previous experiences organisation and of programmes that activities are already were felt to have failed. in the area). These things have all shaped the priorities that communities identified and have made community engagement with the programme more challenging. 6 CASE STUDY CASE STUDY Cefn Golau MUGA Clase Park The Invest Local Group in Cefn Golau, Clase4All is the Invest Local Group in Tredegar (Blaenau Gwent) have created Clase, Swansea. Their biggest project so a new MUGA (Multi-Use Games Area) far has been the transformation of their for the community. local park. The group decided to create the open access sports More things for children and families to do was a court in response to the community’s request for top priority for residents, and the local park was more sports activities and facilities for young people. highlighted as an important community space that The group worked with Game On Wales (an initiative needed to be upgraded and improved. from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust), who project managed the design and build of the MUGA. The group The project has involved families from the continue to work with Game On Wales and the local community throughout the process. The group leisure trust to run a programme of activities for the visited lots of different parks across South Wales, new MUGA, such as ‘sports and snacks’ sessions during and brought ideas and photographs back to local the school holidays and pop-up girls football sessions. children and families. Working together, the community came up with a list of equipment and facilities that they would like to see in the park. The group asked three different park designers to come up with final designs for the park, then local children from Clase Primary School had the final say on which park got the go-ahead. The Clase4All group took ownership of the whole process – from working closely with Swansea council on the project to liaising with contractors during the build of the park. 7 CASE STUDY Hubberston and Hakin Community Centre Hubberston and Hakin community centre was on the brink of closure when the Invest Local programme arrived in the area. Local people decided to use some of the funding to save this vital community asset. Eight local people formed a CIO and took over the lease of the building from the council for a six-month trial. That was a success, so the building is now totally owned and run by the community. Today, the centre has become a vibrant community hub with wellbeing at the heart of its activities. It’s home to a popular local daily playgroup, hosts a regular luncheon club for older people in the area, and also offers everything from youth club sessions to table tennis through U3A. 8 Invest Local’s ‘offer’ to communities and the communities’ response All 13 communities However, beyond the steering areas. This has stretched the agreed to be part of the groups, Invest Local did not create Invest Local Officers, as they a wider interest or excitement have limited time to work with programme across communities. In almost all each community. Local residents The offer of ‘up to £1million’ was areas, steering groups struggled running the Steering Groups want enough to inspire a group of people to fully engage the wider to lead the process, but in some to form a – usually quite small – community, in terms of both the cases have decided they need steering group in each community, total number of people and hard some paid support. As a result, so that Invest Local could get going. to reach groups. many communities have decided This was an important factor that to use some of their funding to got the programme started in each BCT staff are more employ a development worker community, and local volunteers involved than originally based in the community, who can have committed an impressive coordinate and progress projects amount of time and energy to the anticipated and plans and help more people groups. BCT originally intended to get involved. provide very ‘light touch’ support, Engaging the wider to help steering groups get up community was difficult and running. However, in some places, BCT staff are doing a lot Invest Local steering group more ‘traditional’ community members feel that £1m is a large development than expected, enough sum of money to make a because of the scale of the difference that local people can challenge and the weakness of see or feel. existing organisations in some 9 Processes can be challenging At the start, some of the BCT initially used a traditional programme’s processes created trustee-led assessment process challenges. One of the few for agreeing funding bids. requirements of Invest Local is However, community members that as many people as possible felt that this undermined the from the community need to programme’s message that: “local have their say in how the money people will decide how the money is spent. However, the scale is spent and how key decisions of community engagement are made”.