The Development of the Poole Well-Being Collaborative
The Development of the Poole Well-being Collaborative
1. Introduction
1.1 The unique Poole Well-being Collaborative which, if successful, could bring many long-term benefits well beyond the scope of this initiative will be developing two new services, involving a wide range of partners:
i) an information network.
ii) a network of community projects.
1.2 The participating voluntary organisations in the Poole Well-being Collaborative have all welcomed this initiative particularly that in this period of austerity, the Council has committed itself to help the voluntary sector in developing new services. The participating organisations have already contributed a considerable amount of their time and expertise to develop this collaborative initiative, and will be making a similar investment in sustaining it into the future.
1.3 Both the information network and the network of community projects will be promoted as a joint initiative between the collaborative and the council, ensuring that the community has a better understanding of the council’s aims and support.
1.4 The collaborative recognises that the council will not be able to commit any further funding to this initiative from March 2015. As a result the collaborative is developing robust plans to sustain this new activity.
2. The information network
2.1 The information network will involve an extensive network of private, voluntary and statutory organisations being supported to identify adults in need of information, and to either provide it to them, or signpost them to further support. Partners will include GP surgeries, the police, faith groups, community centres, neighbourhood watch groups, newsagents and food outlets. Their local knowledge and awareness will enable the following benefits to be achieved:
· Vulnerable people will be more easily identified and referred on to help with a range of issues e.g. support with their heating bills or equipment.
· Local communities will be supported to help their vulnerable friends and neighbours, leaving a lasting legacy of community awareness, voluntary involvement and support. For example, staff employed through this initiative will identify local partners, e.g. newsagents/faith groups, and brief them on locally-available services, establish a procedure which will allow the local partners to signpost service users to them, and provide them with information they can distribute.
· Statutory, private and voluntary sector services will be brought closer to the end user. Access to services will be explained clearly, and people will be supported with their referrals. With this, use of services should increase.
· Preventative work across Poole will be enhanced, with adults being referred to the right service sooner.
· Existing sources of information, like the online SOURCE directory, will be better used, as well as being both promoted and updated more regularly.
· Service users will be enabled to choose which services they want to access and will be supported in being referred to them.
· A better understanding of need in specific local communities will be developed; this will be shared with statutory and voluntary sector partners to enhance planning and service delivery.
· Information will be produced in different formats e.g. easy read, and the way in which it is distributed will be monitored to ensure equality.
3. Community projects network
3.1 The collaborative will develop a network of community projects involving and supporting adults with additional needs. These projects will be built on the commitment of local volunteers and organisations, further developing the extensive assets and resources which already exist in the communities of Poole.
3.2 The development of the organisations, their services and community projects will lead to the following benefits:
· A range of new or enhanced activity will be developed, for example supporting social interaction to address isolation and to develop self-esteem e.g. lunch clubs, drop-ins and cultural activities, people to gain skills and enhance their employability e.g. IT skills, or supported volunteering.
· Users will have more choice.
· Projects will be developed in response to need identified by local people.
· The projects will offer a variety of opportunities to local people to contribute to their local communities.
· New partnerships will be developed.
· Community projects will be better co-ordinated.
· The skills of some service users will be enhanced by staff supporting their participation in the development and delivery of the projects.
3.3 Following are some of the potential partners who have already been identified: the Borough of Poole’s community development workers, the arts development unit and libraries, the Bourne Estate neighbourhood management initiative, the residential accommodation managed by PHP and other providers, the Bridging Communities town centre community development worker, the Bournemouth and Poole College, Bournemouth University and the Arts Institute, schools, the NHS and the many voluntary, faith and community organisations which work throughout Poole.
4. Working collaboratively to develop the information network and community projects
4.1 It is to the credit of the collaborating organisations that they have developed this initiative quickly and constructively. The Poole initiative is moving at a faster pace, and on fewer resources, than many other initiatives across the UK.
4.2 So far, the following organisations have contributed their time and expertise: Headway Dorset, East Dorset Mental Health Carers Forum, Broadstone Access Group, PRO Disability, WRVS, BrendonCare, Poole CAB, Body Positive, Bee Yourself, Poole Forum, Poole CVS, Prama, Help and Care, Dorset Advocacy, Diverse Abilities Plus, Wessex Autistic Society and Faithworks Wessex.
4.3 The seven latter organisations are taking the principal lead in developing this initiative, and have nominated staff to act as directors for a new company to govern, and develop, the information network and community projects. Another two of the organisations listed above are considering joining the company.
4.4 The new company: the Poole Well-being Collaborative will be registered with Companies House because it is necessary to have a flexible, functional, legal framework to develop the new services. Included in the memorandum and articles of association (the governing document) is a clear statement that the company is “not for profit”. Of equal importance is the extent of the collaborative work which has already been achieved, and its future impact, including:
· The participating organisations have chosen to take a collective responsibility to governing this initiative.
· The partners have taken a considerable risk which far outweighs any short-term benefit they might derive from the initiative. If this initiative fails, it could affect any other attempts with collaborative work and have a detrimental impact on their reputations.
· The success of the collaborative will also represent competition to many if not all of the respective partners.
4.5 To ensure high standards of accountability, the company will have an asset lock (this guarantees that any funding generated by the company has to be invested into improving the lives of adults in Poole) and has established a clear procedure to manage conflict of interests. The collaborative will engage with the wider voluntary sector and statutory colleagues through network meetings, so that the new services can be influenced by other local stakeholders as well as service users.
5. How will the information network and community projects be developed and delivered?
5.1 The Poole Well-being Collaborative will directly recruit and employ a part-time co-ordinator, on a wage of £21,363 per annum, pro rata 23 hours a week.
5.2 The key role of the co-ordinator will be to support the work of the five Resource Workers including:
· providing regular supervision
· ensuring that they are aware of partner agencies who can support them
· keeping them up-to-date with developments e.g. changes to local services
· co-ordinating a planned approach to developing the information networks and community projects
· collating evidence to ensure that the initiative is effectively monitored.
5.3 The co-ordinator will be key to linking the collaborative, the council and members of the company to the developing activities across Poole.
5.4 Provisionally, it has been agreed that Help and Care will provide line management for the co-ordinator and that Dorset Advocacy will provide the office accommodation.
5.5 The role of the five resource workers on a wage of £16,682 per annum, pro rata 20 hours a week, will be twofold:
5.5.1 Identifying need in specific geographic areas or communities of people, and working with partners and local people to develop solutions for that need.
5.5.2 Providing information and signposting to adults so that they can access the services they need. At times, this will be done directly by the resource workers; however as noted, a key aim is for them to develop a network of partners who can distribute information on their behalf, or signpost service users to them e.g. faith groups, GP surgeries and private sector organisations e.g. newsagents.
5.6 The staff team will bring specific experience and skills to this initiative however its success will also rest on the recruitment and involvement of volunteers for both the community projects and information network. The staff team will ensure that the voluntary work is well co-ordinated and supported particularly as many of the volunteers will be working with vulnerable adults.
5.7 There are a number of issues which are specific to the development of the information network:
· The co-ordinator, with the support of member organisations, will collate regular updates for the resource workers e.g. on changes to local services and the latest events.
· The resource workers will use the SOURCE directory as a key tool. They will work closely with council and voluntary sector colleagues in promoting its use and developing its content, including when necessary updating its content.
· The scope for using social media to support the work of the resource workers will be explored.
5.8 Funding has been allocated in the budget to help start-up projects and activities. It is the aim that the resource workers, with the support of member organisations, will work alongside partners in using local resources and/or people, or external funders, of which there is a variety to develop the projects. The ability to build on local assets and to develop the capacity of local groups will be key to the quality of the projects, and also for their future sustainability.
5.9 A toolkit will be produced for the resource workers to support them with this development work in particular addressing the provision of transport.
5.10 A key aim will be to engage with the College of Further Education, the University, the Arts Institute and schools, to explore whether projects can be either supported and/or hosted by them.
5.11 Developing specific cultural projects is another key aim. This initiative has been discussed with the council service unit for Culture and Community Learning.
6. Monitoring impact
6.1 To demonstrate the achievement of the outcomes listed in points; 2 and 3 above, the following outputs for the community projects will be measured:
· The number of projects developed and their aims (so that we can categorise them)
· The number and diversity of the service users
· The number and diversity of the volunteers
· The number and variety of the partners involved
· The amount of in-kind resources and funding the projects have attracted.
6.2 For the information network the following outputs will be measured:
· The number of community partners engaged by the network
· The number, and diversity, of service users supported.
6.3 The following qualitative information will be collated every six months along with the above outputs by the co-ordinator for reporting to the directors and council concerning the community projects:
· Feedback from service users via questionnaires or by interview
· Feedback from focus groups of service users
· Case studies of the impact of the activities on the lives of individual service users.
6.4 The qualitative information for the information network will be:
· Categorising the progress of the network using examples listed under the key outcomes proposed by the council; ppeople having access to locally available services, reducing social isolation in order to promote health and well-being and enhancing the contribution people can make to their communities.
· Collating specific case studies on individuals who have been helped, demonstrating the range of people who have been supported, especially if the work has been particularly complicated and the resource worker has had to focus considerable time on it.
7. Budget
7.1 Key to the success of the initiative will be the considerable amount of staff time that the collaborating organisations will contribute for no charge, which is represented in the budget as an in-kind contribution for governance and fundraising.
7.2 Other in-kind contributions are reflected in the budget because the participating organisations have chosen not to charge on a full-cost basis for some of the essential services which have to be provided to ensure the initiative is effectively managed. The total value of the in-kind contributions is approximately £90,000 over the period of the funding.
7.3 The amount of funding allocated to develop community projects has been deliberately restricted. The collaborating organisations want the challenge of having to seek external funding to develop these projects or build on local community assets e.g. buildings and volunteers to do this. This approach will also strengthen the level of collaboration e.g. through supporting smaller organisations to apply for funding and sustainability. From the outset, the collaborative will be seeking alternative sources of funding and support to develop activity. The Council funding will be a catalyst for further investment and the development of sustainable local projects.
7.4 The collaborative is confident that a minimum of 25% of the estimated expenditure for each year of operation will be contributed as “in kind.”
8. Sustainability
8.1 During 2013/15, the focus of the governance work for the initiative will shift from developing the new services to sustaining them; a key element of this will be fundraising. All of the participating organisations have a good track record of external fundraising, developing new income streams through social enterprise and managing their costs so that they remain competitive. These successes will stand the collaborative in good stead in sustaining the new services. We estimate that approximately one half of the funding allocated for governance and fundraising during 2013/15 will be invested in sustaining the services.