Agenda item

Geoffrey Ocen , Chief Executive of the Bridge Renewal Trust and Poppy Thomas, VCS Co-ordinator provided a presentation containing an update on how the Council works with the Voluntary and Community Sector. They were responding to a request from the Committee for information on:

·         How the Council works with the local voluntary/community sector, is strengthening their capacity and working with them to attract external investment in the borough;

·         How the Council is involving and supporting voluntary organisations to bid for services.

The Committee  noted that the Bridge Renewal Trust were commissioned in 2016 to work with the Council as the voluntary sector strategic partner to essentially support and build the capacity of the voluntary sector. The aim was to work closely together with the Council to deliver support services with The Bridge Renewal Trust specific aim of developing the capacity of the VSC .

The Committee continued to consider a presentation on the projects that the: Council , The Bridge Renewal Trust and Voluntary groups have been working on together. In particular noting :

·         The Council based voluntary sector team was established since summer 2020, to grow further capacity and provide direct support, providing workshops and training and building relationships.

·         The Team were providing network, facilitating relationships, and resources,

·         The Council and Bridge Renewal Trust , working together was not just about bringing more funding to the sector but also bringing people together in the voluntary sector and working together to address the common underlying issues affecting communities.

·         The Bridge Renewal Trust were providing information through their website on issues affecting the voluntary sector.

·         The Bridge Renewal Trust were ensuring the sector was resourced effectively and working together as collaboratively as possible.

·         The sector was provided information on core sector funding and the understanding of the funding available related to Covid project funding and available resource costs.

·         Making sure that the voluntary sector can access the available funding support.

·         Working with the sector to help them attract external funding support

·         Working on health inequalities and ensuring involvement of voluntary sector in co – production.

Responding to the presentation, the Committee sought clarification on the outcomes of the voluntary sector community group initiatives that had been funded by external funders and funded by the Council as part of the Covid support grant. It was understood that  there were several initiatives that were coming forward, post pandemic, and it was queried  how  they would  be assessed i.e. what had worked well and what had not? The Committee also needed further clarity about the composition of external funding and needed to understand what  was Council money or CCG money was.

In response , it was clarified that the external funding outlined was money coming into the voluntary sector, including Council money. It was further explained that £2.7m had come into the borough for key projects from key external funders – [this would not include Council funding].

It was recognised that an outcome to the Council Covid grant support had helped keep organisations afloat, maintaining support to communities. Some organisations were small and would likely not have the capacity to measure and demonstrate outcomes. However, the Bridge Renewal Trust was reviewing the current state of the voluntary sector and would look at supporting smaller organisations demonstrate outcomes.

The Chief Executive of the Bridge Renewal Trust continued to respond on the projects that had been funded in the last year such as supporting more stronger safer communities, building mental health support, and supporting youth projects. The Director for Adults and Health added that the Council and Bridge Renewal Trust were increasingly looking at themes of food and digital networks where organisations could work together and it was felt that this was sustainable approach.

It was noted that the Council were aiming to support grass root organisations and this would be through specific themes. These would be developed through the new Voluntary Sector Community Strategy working strategically in terms of funding deployment.

In relation to the Council funded Covid support grant , there had been ongoing engagement on the outcome of this initiative and the Council had seen an impact in terms of supporting voluntary sector groups in Haringey become sustainable. Also, during the last year , the Voluntary Sector Team had seen an increase in external funders wanting to cover core infrastructure costs of voluntary organisations and this was a welcome shift.

Responding to a further follow up query from the Committee on providing an Indication of which grassroots organisations were getting funding and then considering outcomes , in terms of the funding input, there was a more detailed finance report that can be provided and sent to the Committee in writing.