Partnership Working - funded consultancy support available
Thinking of working in partnership? Voscur can help.
Are you thinking of forming partnerships for joint working? Need time to explore your ideas on this a bit more?
We know that partnership working takes planning and resources. If you are thinking of joint working with another organisation or agency from a different sector we can assist by offering you a bursary of £1,000 to pay for a consultant to help you discuss how you might do it.
It could be sharing resources, delivering a joint service for members, opportunities for staff working together, or merging projects, sharing premises, commissioning, planning an event etc.
The application process for this bursary is very straightforward, complete our very quick on-line application and then we will get in touch to check you meet the criteria – mainly that your annual turnover is not more than £150k. Do this as soon as you can as bursaries are granted on a first come, first served basis as places are limited.
This scheme is being managed by Voscur and supported by Voluntary Action North Somerset www.vansweb.org.uk, DEVELOP (Bath and North East Somerset Council for Voluntary Service) www.developecs.org.uk, and South Gloucestershire Council for Voluntary Service www.cvs-sg.org.uk
Please see additional information below or for further details contact support@voscur.org, or telephone us on: 0117 909 9949
To apply
Please complete the online application form via the link at the bottom of this page.
What is Collaboration and Merger?
NCVO's Collaborative Working team defines collaborative working as partnership between two or more voluntary organisations. Organisations can work together in a spectrum of ways from informal networks, through joint delivery of projects to full merger. Collaborative working can last for a fixed time or be permanent.
For more information see: NCVO: http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/collaborativeworking/index.asp?id=2038
Collaborative working describes joint working by two or more organisations in order to fulfil their purposes, whilst remaining as separate organisations. This may relate to any aspect of the organisations’ operational activity, including administration, fundraising, profile enhancement, resource sharing and streamlining of costs and service delivery.
The merger of organisations means two or more separate organisations coming together to form one organisation. In such cases, either a new organisation is formed to carry on the work or take on the assets of the original organisations, or one charity assumes control of another. Trustees must act in accordance with the powers in their organisation’s governing document or those given to them by law to make sure that any merger is legally sound. If these powers are insufficient, the trustees may wish to come to us for additional powers.
For more information see: the Charities Commission:
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/enhancingcharities/cwmresources.asp
For more summary guides please go to this link: http://www.modernisationfund.org.uk/about/further-support.html
Working with an Advisor
As part of the Collaboration and Merger bursary fund you will be able to select an Advisor to support your exploration of collaborative work or merger with another organisation. A list of Advisors will be available for you to choose from should your application be successful. The £1,000 bursary will entitle you to a day and a half of consultancy sessions from an Advisor and a follow up report produced by the Advisor.
Criteria for groups
To qualify for this bursary you will need to demonstrate the following criteria:
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Criteria for applicants |
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Be a non-profit making organisation in the voluntary, community and Social Enterprise sector
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Provide evidence of a Governing document for your organisation |
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Have been established as a group for at least 2 years |
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Have an annual turnover equal to or less than £150,000 in the most recent year accounted for, or taken as an average for the two most recent reporting years. Evidenced by latest two audited or independently examined accounts. |
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Be operational as an organisation in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, or Bath and North East Somerset. |
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Carrying out work supporting groups and individuals through the economic downturn, or be an organisation experiencing change due to the economic downturn. |
A limited number of bursaries are available and these will be allocated on a first come first serve basis to groups that match the criteria.
Successful applicants will be able to schedule sessions with Advisors over a period of three months, from November 2009 – February 2010
Application process
To apply click on the following link Online application form
Groups will be contacted as soon as possible and advised if their application has been successful.
Voscur contact
For more information please contact: support@voscur.org
