Engaging Partnerships
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Transcript of Engaging Partnerships
E N G A G I N GPARTNERSHIPS
This document is available onour website in pdf format ortext only version in large print
The Engaging Partnerships project was conceived in 2002 by the Black and MinorityEthnic (BME) Steering Group with the aim of involving a broad range of groups who couldbe considered to be hard to reach. The Engaging Partnerships project was developed inthe wider context of the embryonic Bolton Community Network and the developingLocal Strategic Partnership. The Great Lever Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder(NMP) also had a major role in the development of the project. The Great LeverNeighbourhood Management Pathfinder, along with Bolton Community Network andBolton Council for Voluntary Service made a commitment to invest resources in abaseline study (phase one). The project is a long term study of the involvement of hard toreach and black and minority ethnic organisations in local partnership activity.
Aim and Context
This report represents the second phase of an on-going
project being led by Bolton’s Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)
Steering Group. One of the project aims is to identify some of
the barriers that affect how local groups get involved in
partnership working. The phase two report follows initial
research undertaken in 2002 into how local organisations can
engage more effectively with hard to reach and minority
ethnic groups. The report charts developments in services and
support to local groups since phase one of the project.
Local ownership has been central to the design and delivery of
the Engaging Partnerships Project from the outset. Local
people were recruited and trained to undertake the original
research. A local manager was recruited to co-ordinate
activities and many of the subsequent developments have
been as a direct result of this local focus. Phase two of the
Engaging Partnerships Project includes a review of the original
research, an overview of developments to date and a series of
recommendations for local agencies that may be considered
for future phases of the project.
2
Summary ofPhase One Report
The phase one study was delivered by a team of locally
recruited and trained researchers who identified key
hard to reach groups using existing database information
held by Steering Group partners and identified further
groups using a ‘snowball’ sampling approach. Snowball
sampling is a simple, yet very effective technique: one
participant from a group identifies another participant or
group who, in turn, identifies a third, and so forth.
Snowball sampling was agreed by the steering group to
be an essential strategy in accessing local hard to reach
groups.
140 groups were involved in the project. Of these groups130 (93%) agreed to be added to the Bolton Council forVoluntary Service database. Of the groups involved 47%stated that they provided services specifically for black andminority ethnic communities. Almost half of the groupsinvolved in the study identified themselves as black andminority ethnic groups.
39% of the groups involved had no formal legal status andno constitution. These groups were either unaware ofissues relating to legal status or were in the early stages ofdevelopment.
In addition researchers attempted to gain access to groupsof disabled people, women’s groups, lesbian, gay, bi-sexualand transgender (LGBT) groups, travellers groups andasylum seekers and refugee groups. Researchers reportedsome success in reaching most of these groups apart fromgroups representing the LGBT community. A small numberof groups refused to engage with the project and presentedas ‘cautious’ and ‘suspicious’ about the motives of theproject and the researchers.
51% of the groups involved in the project experiencedserious financial difficulty that inhibited them from meetingtheir group aims. 33% of the groups involved had noincome and a further 21% had only short-term, projectspecific funding of less than £1,000. The groups who werein receipt of funding had accessed it in grant form through arange of sources; Grants administered by Bolton Councilfor Voluntary Service (33%); Grants from Bolton Metro(32%); Private donations (21%); National Lottery GoodCauses (11%); Charitable Trusts and Foundations (3%).32% of the groups involved stated lack of knowledge aboutfunding as a key issue with support, information andinternal resources (time, staff) also playing a part.
3
KeyRecommendationsFrom Phase One
Groups reported that internal capacity issues and funding
had a major impact on their ability to become involved
with partnership activities. 75% of groups required
support with funding; 48% with publicity; 41% with
computer skills and 41% with language issues. Issues
affecting groups ability to access current services and
support included language issues, lack of awareness of
available services and perceptions of how services are
delivered. In particular some religious and cultural
organisations were concerned that involvement from
external agencies would have a negative impact on their
internal value system.
25% of the groups were involved with some form of
partnership activity with another organisation.
30% of groups had heard of the Local Strategic
Partnership and 51% had heard of the Bolton
Community Network. Researchers reported a high level
of cynicism from groups relating to partnerships and
networks as well as a lack of general understanding of
the relevance of such networks and partnerships. On
contact with researchers 77% of the groups expressed
the desire to become involved with Bolton Community
Network.
Groups can only participate effectively in partnership
working when they are operating effectively themselves
– a small hard to reach group should not be expected to
finance their own partnership involvement, for example a
group with a part time worker doing 4 hours admin per
week, should not have to find additional resources to
send their staff to partnership meetings. Individually
tailored support packages should be put in place to
develop the capacity of each group to become involved
in wider partnership work. Resources should be
targeted to support such developments. Information
about services should be made accessible using a variety
of approaches.
Practical issues relating to partnership working should be
discussed between local organisations and agencies and a
‘good practice’ guide could be developed to cover issues
such as funding, training and support for groups.
Lack of awareness about basic services indicates that a
more direct approach may be required to distribute
information relating to support activities. Outreach
services offered on a one-to-one basis may be more
effective than paper methods. Whilst 51% of groups had
heard of the Bolton Community Network when
questioned by researchers, 77% wanted to become
involved, an increase of 26% as a result of the
information given by researchers.
Barriers to Involvement
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
1
% of Groups
Lack of Time/Staff Childcare/Transportation
Funding/Finance Language/Communication
Access
Fig. 1
5
There should be greater utilisation of existing resource
centres. Issues relating to use of existing resources
include lack of awareness of the relevance of such centres
and lack of confidence of group members. Groups may
need to be informed directly of the availability of
resources and in some cases will need initial support to
access such services. Groups reported that a personal
approach by a specific contact person was significant in
building a rapport and confidence in the services offered.
Some groups are not involved in partnership working
because they do not feel it is relevant to them. Local
organisations and agencies should devise means to
communicate the relevance of partnership activity and be
clear how this is of relevance to the groups. Clear
information packs and open and friendly, one-to-one
discussions will encourage a greater understanding.
Partnerships need to value the involvement of local
groups and this could be reflected in practical support for
example through the provision of expenses, childcare and
organisational costs incurred.
A number of groups stated that the language used in
meetings is often aimed at professionals and can be
excluding. Organisations and agencies taking a lead on
partnership activity should aim to minimise jargon and
extend the use of plain English. Use simple language
wherever possible and where jargon is unavoidable,
provide a ‘jargon buster’ to explain key terms. This will
help to ensure accessibility. Training sessions on jargon
busting at an introductory level may also be useful for
groups and professionals alike.
Where there are likely to be ongoing issues relating to
representation at partnership level, it may be worth
considering specialised projects to bring such organisations
together and support more effective involvement. A good
local example of this is the Health and Care Together
Project. This project offers support to local groups that
have a health or care focus and helps these groups to be
involved in a meaningful way with a wide range of existing
partnerships across the Health and Care sectors in the
Borough.
6
• Bolton Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) have targeted new, small and harder to reach groups with information about support services available and funding administered by the organisation. A roadshow of CVS projects and services has been rolled out across the Borough and has been successful in attracting a wide range of new groups. Workshops offered at the roadshows, as well as a wide range of workshops offered more widely have led to an increase in the number of groups applying for grants through CVS. In round three of the Community Chest Grants only 11% of applications from BME groups were successful. With targeted information and support this has risen to 50% in the last round(round eight).
• A new project focussing on faith organisations has been developed over the last twelve months. The Interfaith project aims to bring together local groups from a broad range of faith backgrounds and enable effective partnership involvement at a range of levels from local community forums to the Bolton Local Strategic Partnership. The project has worked with a number of other agencies including the Bolton Racial Harmony Forum, Bolton Hindu Forum and Bolton Council of Mosques.
• One of the local researchers from phase one of the Engaging Partnerships Project has gone on to a post working within traveller communities. Working with the Traveller Education Service this worker has begun to act on some of the issues raised during the project including the development of a women’s travellers group.
EngagingPartnerships -Phase Two
At this stage of the project the aim is to assess key
developments in services and support to local groups
and to assess the impact of these developments on the
groups from the original study. At this interim stage it is
not possible to assess the full impact of the project,
nonetheless, a number of positive achievements have
been recorded over the past eighteen months including:
• A partnership project between the Great Lever
Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder, Bolton
Council for Voluntary Service and Bolton Community
College; the ‘Great Lever Community Involvement
Project’ is twelve months old. The community
involvement project is delivered by a team of locally
recruited and trained community involvement officers
who work throughout the pathfinder area to
encourage local involvement in community and
partnership activities.
• Also building on the success of the one-to-one
approach as recommended in phase one of the
Engaging Partnerships Project is the Bolton
Community Network Ambassadors Project. Again
working with locally recruited and trained people, this
project is leading on work linked to capacity building
activities with many of the groups involved in phase
one.
• Almost one hundred groups from the original study
have accessed a one-to-one needs analysis with
Community Network Ambassadors. Each group is
now involved in designing their own package of
tailored training and support. Almost 70 of these
groups have become involved with forums attached to
the Bolton Community Network and have accessed
training and support from CVS and other local
agencies.
7
• The Green House Project is based at a council owned
property in the Deane area of Bolton. ERDF funding
has enabled the project to carry out a very successful
weekend of workshops, which attracted a diverse
representation of the local communities. Bolton at
Home funding has allowed the Green House to
organise healthy eating and English language teaching
which has been carried out a local refugee/asylum
seeker 'drop in' by volunteers from The Greenhouse.
CVS administered grants have allowed the support of a
youth group, purchase of a copy printer and other
office supplies.
A new lottery funded development worker who is to
be based at The Greenhouse will be targeting BME
communities. The worker will look at creating an
environmental education network, capacity building
sessions and combining English teaching with practical
English teaching activities. The worker will also facilitate
an annual multi-cultural festival to be held locally, in
conjunction with local volunteers.
• Through the Transforming Youth Work Plan, Bolton
Youth Service has developed a post to address and
develop black and minority ethnic participation within
the Youth Service. Achievements include:
• A community event held to raise the profile of
the Youth Service within ethnic minority
communities.
• Partnership with Bolton Ethnic Minority Business
Service to develop the capacity of local groups
to access mainstream youth provision.
• Targeted youth work activity within specific
areas of the Borough to reach minority ethnic
communities.
FurtherRecommendations– Phase Three Priorities
The BME Steering Group agreed that the
recommendations from phase one are retained and that
progress will be evaluated on an ongoing basis (as in fig 3
below).
Based on the European Framework for Quality
Management (EFQM)
Revisit originalreccomendations
Monitor andreview the
improvements
Develop andintroduce
improvements
Prioritise the areasthat need improving
Collect informationto establish where
you are
Identify strengthsand areas forimprovement
8
Throughout the Engaging Partnerships Project certain
hard to reach groups have been under represented (e.g.
disability groups and LGBT groups). Further in depth
work will be needed to enable these groups to become
involved with partnership activities. In some cases the
groups may be so informal that they do not even
recognise themselves as a group. In such cases intensive
one to one development support will be important in
raising the capacity of the groups to engage effectively
and bring their valuable contributions to local partnership
working.
The Engaging Partnerships Project was begun in 2002
with the aim of involving a broad range of groups who
could be considered hard to reach. It has become
evident throughout the project that in many instances it
is not the groups that are hard to reach but more often a
failure on the part of local organisations to meet them.
Local partnerships need to carefully examine their own
internal structures and cultures and make changes that
will support increased involvement from a wide range of
groups.
Groups that have participated in the project have
indicated that one to one contact with Bolton
Community Network Ambassadors has been most
helpful in allowing them to participate with the project. It
is recommended that this approach be continued as the
first point of contact for hard to reach groups. Local
agencies should consider using the Community Network
Ambassadors for similar projects as the existing expertise
and contacts will prove beneficial.
From phase one it could be seen that there are specific
issues facing many groups from within Black and Minority
Ethnic Communities (language issues, concerns over
cultural ‘diluting’, childcare, resources). The BME
Steering Group support the recommendation that a
specific post be developed to work with these groups.
Part of the remit of this post would be to develop a BME
forum as part of the Bolton Community Network. This
forum will enable wider involvement of smaller and
newer groups from BME communities. A Black and
Minority Ethnic Groups development post will also allow
services to be targeted at more hidden groups.
10
Acknowledgments
Thanks to the groups and individuals who have taken the
time to become involved in the Engaging Partnerships
Project.
Thanks to all the partners on the BME Steering group for
time, energy and expertise contributed to the project.
Thanks to the funders;
• The Neighbourhood Renewal Unit
• Great Lever Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder
• Bolton Community Network
• Bolton Council for Voluntary Service.