Summary



Community Capacity and Resilience FundingRound 1 evaluation report, June 2016SummaryThe CCRF allows community-based frontline organisations to access national government funding that would otherwise be out of reachIts flexible, light-touch and supportive approach nurtures creative and bespoke projects that meet the needs of communities, and help to mitigate poverty and the effects of welfare reform87% of the funded organisations said that they could not have developed key partnerships without the fundOffering funding for more than six months would allow small organisations to create more effective projects, creating more time for project design, staff recruitment and promotionContextThe CCRF is a pilot funding scheme that used a flexible, supportive and light-touch approach to assist local community-based organisations to pilot innovative and creative projects to mitigate the impact of welfare reform and social inequality. Launched on 20 April 2015 by SCVO in partnership with Scottish Government, the fund invited applications from third sector and community organisations with an annual income of ?200,000 or less in the 2014/15 financial year. Funding amounting to ?144,500 was available for the 2015/16 financial year and granted to 34 organisations. Grants requested ranged from ?1014 to the maximum ?5000. The ambition for the pilot scheme was to deliver funding directly to the frontline, providing resource and capacity to organisations with unique insight into the needs of their communities. The fund was specifically designed to be accessible to organisations which might not have the expertise, opportunity or capacity to successfully apply to traditional grant schemes.Fund recipients’ individual project evaluations (these are available from the SCVO Evidence Library) reveal an increased capacity to deliver much needed services, to access training, and a growth in beneficial partnerships as well as individual and community empowerment. It is evident from the reported outcomes in this evaluation and the CCRF interim report that funding the frontline directly, and therefore trusting community-based organisations to develop targeted and effective solutions, is a successful means of alleviating the effects of welfare reform, poverty and social exclusion.Benefits of the fundTraditional funding schemes tend to focus on quantitative reporting, restrictive criteria and a ‘one size fits all’ approach. However, the CCRF breaks new ground by focusing on qualitative outcomes and by managing the funded projects with a proportionate approach thus granting organisations greater freedom to develop innovative solutions. Providing funding directly to the frontline means that less grant money is taken up in management fees, freeing up more resource for staff and volunteers who commit a phenomenal amount of time, effort and passion. The result is that a larger amount of the fund goes straight to where it is needed - to individuals, families and communities.The fund’s focus on supporting grassroots organisations in their funding applications and project management means that staff and community volunteers who have their fingers on the local pulse and know their communities’ needs have a good chance of receiving funding. Instead of being out bid by organisations with the resource to submit more competitive applications, they are supported to make the most of their assets to deliver solutions specific to their individual communities. Fund impactThis report showcases the benefits of delivering funding directly to the frontline through the CCRF. The CCRF projects are wide-ranging, focusing on advocacy, advice, training and specific services. For example, targeted services have delivered employability skills, tribunal support, food banks and low budget cooking courses, financial coaching, culturally inclusive approaches and materials, radio programmes focusing on welfare reform, as well as the provision of safe places such as digital cafés where people can be supported to research ways to overcome obstacles. The fund’s legacy will continue through equipment purchased, materials created, research findings, and in communities that have been brought together.By providing funding managed with a light touch, CCRF allows individuals, communities and organisations to become stronger and more resilient when tackling poverty, social exclusion and the effects of welfare reform.One of the fund’s beneficiaries, Inch Park Community Sports Club, told us:“Please keep it simple! Not all funds are like this and to be able to engage with the fund in the way we did was great!” Impact on individuals and familiesThe Scottish Government’s report Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland: 2013/14 reveals that 940,000 people living in Scotland are living in poverty, including 210,000 children. As a society we are not doing enough to help people whose physical and emotional challenges are preventing them from fully participating in communities, achieving their potential and living with dignity.The fund has gone some way to addressing these issues by directly changing lives, helping many vulnerable people across Scotland with a wide range of needs. This evaluation has focused on quality of services rather than quantitative research. However, based upon projects which provided figures in their responses, we know that funded projects have:Gained at least ?300,000 in benefits for claimantsDirectly assisted more than 900 people in services ranging from tribunal support to food provisionThe fund has been instrumental in allowing organisations to empower people, whether they were service users, volunteers or individuals who have been supported to access training, education, work placements and employment. Many organisations also reported that the fund allowed them to increase individuals’ self-confidence, which not only impacted their own lives but also the lives of their families.Fund recipient, Forres Area Credit Union, told us:“One parent set up 6 x 1:1 weekly financial coaching sessions with me to explore how to move herself and her family off the breadline. After the fourth session, she had found a part-time job and helped her husband to secure part-time work. By the sixth session she was feeling a lot more confident about how to continue the upwards momentum we had created in the three months.” CCRF funded projects have worked tirelessly to prevent individuals and families from reaching crisis point. For example, SHAX provided emergency home starter packs with key equipment for homeless people to start a new life and Speak Out Advocacy delivered a sanction appeals service for people with learning disabilities. With both the first-hand knowledge and the relationship development abilities typical to frontline organisations, they can act quickly with key services to avert people’s problems from becoming insurmountable disasters.Impact on communitiesCommunities are being overwhelmed by the pressures of poverty, social exclusion and welfare reform. The funding pilot has shown that one of the most effective ways to tackle these issues is through facilitating community involvement in the provisions of services to more vulnerable members. 32/34 of the funded organisations said the fund was extremely useful in helping them to meet the needs of their community. left1778000According to CCRF beneficiary Gallatown Gala Community Group:“There is an increased level of trust, increased levels of partnership working, more cohesion within the community, and more people engaging with services. Local people are having a say, and becoming passionate about sustaining and growing their community. There is increased understanding about local needs and strengths.” The fund has played an essential role in making communities more resilient, providing local organisations with the capacity to mitigate the effects of welfare reform. It has funded pilot projects that have not only increased community cohesion, but also helped communities to make the best use of their assets to meet their needs.Luing Shopping Club said:“The fund was a Godsend for us, we do not know what we would have done without this grant. It keeps our shopping bus running for our elderly people who do not have transport, and live in isolated villages.” The fund has also performed well in terms of meeting cultural needs and facilitating cultural integration. Incoming Syrian refugees are being assisted by settled Syrian refugees turned volunteers in Fife, welfare rights advice is being translated into Urdu and Romanian, and the Gypsy Traveller community is being engaged through storytelling and verbal sharing of information rather than using print. Fife Arabic Society told us:“Community volunteers who were furthest from the labour market now have the necessary confidence, self-belief, language and communication skills to engage with mainstream employment support agencies. Four new volunteers [Syrian refugees – Dec 2015] were recruited and will be of great help in supporting other Syrian refugees.” With the needs of communities varying so much in Scotland due to location, cultural makeup, and the number of employment opportunities, the fund has inspired and allowed organisations to create bespoke targeted solutions to meet specific community requirements.The Libertie Project reported that:“Funds like this allow us to create solutions that are tailor made to the individuals we support rather than developing a one size fits all model. It has allowed us to develop niche solutions that have exceeded our expectations.” Impact on organisationsSCVO’s 2014 mapping report, Third Sector and welfare reform on the frontline, revealed that welfare reform and budget cuts are leading to significant challenges for many third sector organisations, especially frontline organisations. An increase in service demand, lack of capacity to keep abreast of benefit changes, insufficient time to develop partnerships, limited resources to conduct research, and financial insecurity are just some of the issues frontline organisations face. The fund helps to counter and overcome many of these challenges.Partnerships are a crucial element in making organisations more robust in the face of such challenges. The sharing of resources and ideas through closer partnerships are pivotal, which the fund has recognised with its collaborative working focus.The wide variety of successful partnerships formed by CCRF projects included community organisations, schools, churches, local businesses, housing associations, councils including Scottish Welfare Fund teams, the NHS, the Scottish Prison Service, the Scottish Government, the DWP, jobcentres, colleges and universities, and a range of third sector services. In some cases these were pioneering, new partnerships which have opened the door to greater collaborative working in the future. 26/30 of the funded organisations said that they could not have developed key partnerships without the fund. South East Integration Network said:“This funding enabled us to reach out to community group Castlemilk Against Austerity. As a part-time worker I would not have had the capacity to make links with this group.” Further, partnerships allow organisations to offer a well-rounded package of support, which is essential in finding solutions to the effects of poverty, welfare reform and social exclusion which are a result of/can create many issues in an individual’s life.Glasgow South East Foodbank told us:“The impact of the fund is that we are able to provide a more holistic approach to people’s needs. Not just food, but legal advice and signposting to other agencies who can help the service user…. We formalised the partnership with Castlemilk Law Centre, and strengthened and developed relationship with the organisation who deals with fuel debt, and are building relationships with other housing associations in Castlemilk who are wanting to become voucher holders” Some organisations are running CCRF-funded projects resulting in information that can be shared and/or producing an ongoing impact. Midlothian Financial Inclusion Network said: “The Better Banking project has raised the profile of banking issues amongst advice agencies and the third sector in Midlothian. We hope that our final research report will have an impact on future work around improving access to cash locally.” The increased capacity the fund facilities allows organisations more flexibility in staffing projects and in the opening hours provided. This impacts the organisation’s services through greater accessibility for individuals with specific working schedules or those with transport considerations. Increased opening hours provide more opportunity for external organisations to get involved to offer different types of advice, therefore creating a holistic service.Lessons learned 1.??SCVO observed, supported by fund recipient feedback, that the six-month period of the project was in many cases not long enough to create a service, recruit staff, promote the project, engage hard to reach individuals and communities, find suitable and accessible venues, see through an appeals process and/or build complex partnership projects.“The timescale for the fund was far too short. Robust evidence-based outcomes take much longer to achieve if resilience is to be a key part of the response to welfare reform/inequality and poverty.”?The Larder West Lothian2.??Organisations have consistently fed back that the support provided by the fund assisted in the creation of successful funding bids, improved the structure of effective projects and increased the engagement of target audiences.?“The support from Zo? at SCVO was invaluable to myself as I had never completed a funding application and the training day SCVO held was very helpful.”?Glasgow South East Foodbank3.??The relationship SCVO has developed with grant recipients has given SCVO a deeper understanding of what is happening?on the frontline.?Recipient feedback revealed that organisations are providing focused support and creative projects as well as carrying out research in their communities from which other communities can learn.4.??Fund recipients reported that the increased capacity provided by the CCRF allows for more resource intensive services such as one-to-one support, peer training of vulnerable people, and increased opening hours leading to successful outcomes. By funding community-based organisations,?SCVO has observed?that tailored solutions are developed to meet a community’s specific needs and a higher percentage of the grant goes directly to the frontline.“The fund made such a significant impact upon those we supported.? Some went from no points in the assessment process and losing all benefits, to securing enhanced rates when we supported the appeal process.”?Speak Out Advocacy Project?5.??Recipients have reported that?the proportionate approach of the fund and the qualitative rather than quantitative reporting focus gave small community-based organisations the independence to create innovative and bespoke projects.?SCVO believes, supported by recipient feedback,?that this type of accessible approach was appropriate to the size of the grants as well as the abilities of first-time grant recipients. Further, SCVO observed that the fund?did not require a prohibitive amount of reporting and monitoring resource from these capacity-challenged frontline organisations.6.??Feedback from recipients revealed that breaks between funding rounds cause small community-based organisations to lose assets such as services, trained staff and volunteers, profile, and relationships with hard to reach communities.?We have observed that these organisations are too small to bridge any funding gaps without the continuation resources typical in larger organisations and they can struggle to start their projects from the beginning a second time.SCVO RecommendationsWe recommend that future CCRF rounds offer funding for 1-3 year periods to allow grassroots organisations the space to create the effective targeted programmes that are the aim of the fund. In addition, this would allow organisations to assess the impact of the service on a long-term prehensive and accessible support must be continued in future CCRF rounds to allow grassroots organisations to be competitive and deliver the best projects possible. We recommend that future CCRF rounds as well as funding schemes targeting smaller organisations should operate a similar light-touch approach.We recommend that to effectively mitigate the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social exclusion the CCRF should continue to fund frontline community-based organisations.Conclusion This pilot funding scheme has shown that providing a flexible grant that allows organisations to determine what is best for their own communities leads to effective outcomes. Further, the direct funding process ensures an increased proportion of grant funds can reach the frontline. There are a number of grassroots and community organisations who do not have fundraising expertise nor solid structures in place to facilitate the completion of successful grant bids. However, these organisations are experts at meeting the needs of the community with insightful services. The CCRF is fairly unique in providing a range of support, as well as evaluation training, which is all many organisations have needed to create projects with a positive impact on their communities.This pilot funding scheme is evidence that a flexible, supportive and light-touch approach is key to successfully assist targeted frontline efforts to mitigate the impact of welfare reform, poverty and social exclusion.ContactZo? WestwoodFund engagement officerScottish Council for Voluntary Organisations,Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh EH3 6BBEmail: zoe.westwood@.ukTel: 0131 556 3882 Web: .uk About usThe Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is the national body representing the third sector. There are over 45,000 voluntary organisations in Scotland involving around 138,000 paid staff and approximately 1.3 million volunteers. The sector manages an income of ?4.9 billion. SCVO works in partnership with the third sector in Scotland to advance our shared values and interests. We have over 1,600 members who range from individuals and grassroots groups, to Scotland-wide organisations and intermediary bodies.As the only inclusive representative umbrella organisation for the sector SCVO: has the largest Scotland-wide membership from the sector – our 1,600 members include charities, community groups, social enterprises and voluntary organisations of all shapes and sizesour governance and membership structures are democratic and accountable - with an elected board and policy committee from the sector, we are managed by the sector, for the sectorbrings together organisations and networks connecting across the whole of ScotlandSCVO works to support people to take voluntary action to help themselves and others, and to bring about social change. Further details about SCVO can be found at .uk. ................
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