LEAD in REDBRIDGE

As you may be aware the ESF/LSC contract that funded LEAD has now come to an end. LEAD recently had an external evaluation that acknowledged the contribution of LEAD members to the overwhelming success of the project. The LEAD team at RedbridgeCVS would like to thank all our members for their valued contribution and support over the past few years. An evaluation report has been produced and if you would like a copy contact Aileen Shrimpton at RedbridgeCVS.

Outlined below is a brief summary of our achievements:

• 64 staff embarked on training courses leading to professional qualifications;
• 61 organisations joined the LEAD network;
• 32 organisations gained approval to offer accredited training;
• 15 organisations gained quality assurance kite marks;
• 16 new training courses were designed;
• 2 day training courses were delivered;
• 200 learners gained qualifications through the accredited training provider’s partnership;
• 38 organisations completed a training needs analysis and developed training plans;
• A variety of fundraising support was provided and organisations gained over £400,000 for their training provision.

RedbridgeCVS would like to extend our thanks to our funders, the Learning and Skills Council London East/ESF for their extensive and on-going support.

Good News

Due to a successful NLDC funding bid, RedbridgeCVS are delighted to announce that we will be able to continue to offer local organisations access to a range of similar services. Over the next year we will offer:

• Support to fund and deliver accredited training provision;
• Access to Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector qualifications. This qualification will be a minimum requirement for all staff delivering training under a mainstream contract;
• Access to workshops on delivering accredited training;
• Bursaries to enable your staff to gain Internal Moderator or Tutor Assessor qualifications;
• Access to accredited and non-accredited training for staff working with volunteers;
• Consultancy for organisations that aims to improve or develop their volunteer practice.

EAST TENDERS

Due to changes in the funding environment RedbridgeCVS have become increasingly aware that many 3rd sector organisations have been unable to access mainstream funds for training and employment services. In response, RedbridgeCVS will be leading on the development of a sub-regional, 3rd Sector Training Providers Consortium (East Tenders) based on the successful model developed in South London. East Tenders will build on the work undertaken by LEAD and will work to secure and manage mainstream funding contracts for 3rd Sector training providers. Supported by East London CVS Network, RedbridgeCVS successfully applied for 3 year funding from Capacity Builders to develop the infrastructure for this exciting new project.

East Tenders will focus on the development of cross sector, cross borough partnerships; build a network of third sector learning providers; coordinate and write funding bids and provide a contract management service. All service delivery will be undertaken by our partners.

More information on this project will become available in the near future but if you have any queries please contact Aileen Shrimpton at RedbridgeCVS on 020 8514 9614 or email aileen@redbridgecvs.net

 

 

Do you provide training in East London?

Don’t lose this opportunity for future funding!     

Proposed East London 3rd Sector Training Providers Consortium

The East London CVS Network wants to ensure that the 3rd sector can continue to play a full a role as possible in helping East Londoners reach their highest potential through appropriate, high-quality education and training. However, because of the changing funding environment we believe that 3rd sector training providers are under threat unless we develop new ways of working.  We are therefore looking into the possibility of establishing an East London 3rd Sector Training Providers Consortium.  This information explains what we are doing and why - and asks you to tell us the ways that you might be interested in working with us.

The Learning and Skills Council [LSC], and other funders of education and training, recognise that the 3rd sector can often access groups of learners that they find hardest to reach. They also recognise that their current contracting arrangements don’t make it easy for our sector to win contracts to deliver learning to these target groups. The LSC London East invested a great deal of money in the borough-based LEAD [“London East Action for Development”] projects.  These were established across our sub-region to help local 3rd sector agencies achieve the necessary skills and experience to be able to successfully tender to provide education and training under mainstream LSC [and others’] contracts. Unfortunately, along with the internal configuration of the LSC, the contracting arrangements that the LEAD projects were set up to support have now changed. The LSC now tenders out contracts which seek much higher outputs than any individual 3rd sector provider is likely to be able to achieve alone. As a result of these changes there is a real danger that local groups who have worked very hard to achieve quality marks and deliver accredited training, etc., may not now be able to find appropriate contacts to bid for.

As a result the LSC is now looking to support the development of sub-regional consortia to help 3rd sector groups who want to provide training and education under contracts.  RedbridgeCVS is leading on this work in East London on behalf of the East London CVS Network. The proposed East London Training Providers Consortium will work to find appropriate partners with whom to make joint bids and will contract-manage any successful contracts. Partners can then spend their time focusing on delivering high-quality training and education.

The Lead Agency [RedbridgeCVS] for this new project will not be delivering training and so will not be in competition with its members for contracts. Neither will the Lead Agency be delivering capacity building outside of its usual Redbridge based work, and so will not be in competition with local CVS.  Local CVS will continue to have a vital role in supporting local groups develop the skills and competencies needed to provide high-quality training to local people under properly funded and well-managed contracts.

We intend the project to become self-financing within about 3 years through earning management fees from successful contracts.

In order to test the viability of such an approach, we are now keen to find out more about third sector training and education providers across the sub-region: Redbridge, Havering, Barking & Dagenham,  Bexley, Greenwich, Lewisham, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and City.

We believe that this is a vital opportunity for part of the sector in East London to keep control over its own destiny, and that others, who may have less of a commitment to supporting the voluntary and community sector, may seek to take this opportunity if we don’t…

If you have any queries please Aileen Shrimpton  aileen@redbridgecvs.net