The Basis Project blog

Coping with the new external funding environment -The next East of England Basis Project Seminar - 27 June'12

East of England Basis Project Seminar: "Coping with the new external funding environment - Finding solutions and strengthening the resolve of your organisation"

In light of the recent new funding conditions we are going to talk about the possible practical approaches towards funding for community groups, funding tools, solutions or fundraising strategies which can be useful by community organisations based in East of England (RCOs or BMEs) in order to survive the funding climate changes. The selected speakers at this event are:

•Robert Beard - National Association of Vountary and Community Action (NAVCA)

•Noelle Gilbert - Paul Hamlyn Foundation

•Jane Darlington - Cambridgeshire Community Foundation (CCF)

•Rosaline Jenkins - National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)

•Jonathan Clark - Big Lottery Fund

Date: Wednesday 27th June 2012

Time: 10:00AM - 3:00PM

Venue: St Paul's Centre in Cambridge

Booking information: Attendance is free, but there are limited places available, so please book in advance by sending an email or SMS request to the contact details below. There are a maximum of two places available each organisation(RCO) .

If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact Shpetim at:

Shpetim Alimeta

Organisational Development Officer

The Basis Project, East of England.

The Refugee Council

ICVS, 1 Cornhill, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 1DD

M: 07908 952 405

E: [email protected]

www.thebasisproject.org.uk

Understanding Social Enterprise – One-day training for RCOs



Is social enterprise right for your organisation? Are you a refugee community organisation (RCO) and in a dilemma as to whether social business is really right for you? Are you struggling to increase and diversify your income? Do you really need to set up a social enterprise?

Are you thinking of setting up a business with social aims and need to know more about social enterprises? Not sure if you should transform your charity into a social enterprise?
If some of the answers to the above questions are 'Yes', then this training is for you.

What's involved?
This is one-day introductory training is designed to offer you information and advice in order to help you identify whether social enterprise is right for your organisation.
This training course will also give an overview of the different types of legal structures available to social enterprises in U.K.

The programme:
• The definition of social enterprises
• What are the opportunities for charities to benefit lawfully from doing trade without changing their status? What are the limits?
• The differences between social business and charity organisations
• Examples and case studies
• Different models and types for social enterprises
• Legal structure available
• An overview of these different legal forms for social enterprises

Trainers
This training session is designed and co-delivered by Shpetim Alimeta and Sharmarke Diriye who are very experienced trainers and advisers on organisational development for community organisations and social enterprises at the Basis Project.

When and where?
Refugee Council, Conference Room, 240-250 Ferndale Road, Brixton, London, SW9 8BB.
Friday 11 May 2012 from 9.30am to 4pm.

How do I book a place?
For information on any of the courses or to book a place please contact Liam Cranley on: 020 7346 1297 or by emailing Liam at [email protected]
  

 

Basis Project national conference

The Basis Project team were thrilled with the energy and enthusiasm, particularly from RCO speakers, workshop leads and participants at our national conference on Tuesday 24th January.

Around 250 delegates from RCOs, funders and second tier organisations come together to look at practical ways forward for Refugee Community Organisations.

Donna Covey, Chief Executive of Refugee Council opened the day and talked about the challenges facing refugees and those supporting them whilst recognising the valuable work RCOs do to raise awareness and support vulnerable refugees.

Elizabeth Balgobin, Chair of Voice for change gave her analysis of the current climate including the Big Society and the impact on BME organisations, and Micheline Safi Ngogo of Light Project International and Refugee Council trustee Sirak Berhe of Investing in People and culture shared their inspirational stories of responding to challenges on the ground.

Delegates chose from a wide range of workshops from commissioning to social media. The incredible Women Asylum Seekers Together (Manchester) choir moved the crowd with songs about their experiences, and the day finished with closing remarks from Yvonne Cass , Refugee Council Vice Chair and co-founder of Migrant and Refugee Community Organisation.

You can see an account of the day from a variety of web and social media; more videos from the day and a full report will be available in a few weeks.

The Basis Project so far

We've produced a booklet about the work of the Basis Project so far.

You can download it as a pdf file, or view it below.

Open publication

Interview with Steve Wyler, Director of Development Trusts Association

By Penny McLean and May Macnair

Steve Wyler has been Director of the Development Trusts Association since 2000. The Development Trusts Association is a fast growing UK-wide movement, bringing together over 450 community-led organisations, which use self-help, social enterprise, and community asset ownership to bring about long-term social, economic and environmental renewal, and transform their communities for good. The DTA – in common with many of its members - generates over half its income from trading activities, and the rest from governmental and independent grant-makers

Over the last twenty years Steve has worked for voluntary and community agencies and funders. For example in the 1990s, working with homeless agencies, he ran a Homeless Network, co-ordinated the Rough Sleepers Initiative in London, and set up Off the Streets and into Work.

Recently Steve has been a member of various government advisory groups on social enterprise, community assets, and the third sector. Steve is vice-Chair of the Social Enterprise Coalition, Board member of the Adventure Capital Fund, and Board member of the Glass House Community Led Design.

Q: What is a development trust?

Development trusts are community owned and led. They use self-help, trading for social purpose and ownership of buildings and land, to bring about long-term social, economic and environmental benefits to transform their community for good.

Q: Where did the concept of the Development Trusts Association (DTA) originate, and how many currently operate across the UK?

15 years ago, a group of about 12 community activists from around the UK made contact with each other, and decided to develop a better way of making an impact within their communities. What made them distinct from other community groups/enterprises was their entrepreneurial streak; ploughing profits back into their local communities and social aims. They involved community groups, ownership of land and buildings, and local businesses - creating what we call a development trust. Since then, the number of development trusts across the UK has grown to 450.

The size of each development trust varies hugely; some trusts are voluntarily run and have few assets while most are more established and have paid staff.

Q: Can you explain the difference between a social enterprise and a development trust?

A social enterprise is a business with primarily social objectives whose profit is reinvested into its social aim, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners. Well-known examples include the Eden Project, Café Direct, Coin Street Community Builders. The social enterprise sector is extremely diverse, encompassing co-operatives, development trusts, community enterprises, housing associations, football supporter's trusts, and so on.

Development trusts are organisations which are set up to run and deliver an inclusive mix of services or facilities which respond to the needs of a community. For example one of our members, Tiger 11 in West Yorkshire, acquired and refurbished a former primary school, a Victorian Grade II listed building, for business and community use. Development trusts are about sustainable change. As independent organisations they avoid over-reliance on a single funder, and also aim to reduce dependence on grant-aid in the long term. To do so, they may create an income-earning asset base, and build up trading operations or contract income – this would be a social enterprise model.

We see development trusts as part of a community enterprise movement where organisations trade for a social purpose, within a defined community of place. Development Trusts are a model of community enterprise joining up the delivery of a range of local services to a wide ranging community.

Q: Many refugee community organisations (RCOs) haven’t heard of development trusts, can you explain how RCOs can find out about them, and how they would go about setting one up with support from the DTA?

Firstly I’d like to clarify that most development trusts are not grant funding organisations, as I don’t want to give misleading information. They can however support RCOs by providing business advice on setting up a social enterprise, which may lead to a development trust. And how can RCOs find out about development trusts? - by getting in touch with us and visiting our website where they can search for a development trust in their area.

We've moved

The Basis Project Central Team has moved from our offices in Vauxhall to the main Refugee Council offices in Brixton.

So, our new address is: The Basis Project, Refugee Council, 240-250 Ferndale Road, Brixton, London SW9 8BB

New resources section

We've created a new resources section on the Basis Project website. At the moment we're restricting it to listings of free resources (online or offline) specifically aimed at refugee community organisations.

If you know of any you think should be listed, please let us know.

Basis Project London launch

Refugee community organisations (RCOs) from around the country joined staff and a host of other guests to officially launch the Basis Project in central London on 17 March.

Chaired by the Refugee Council’s Chief Executive, Donna Covey, the event was a chance to present the work done so far and to invite discussion about how things should be taken forward.

“We have developed the Basis project with support from the Big Lottery Fund because we are committed to improving the capacity of RCOs to deliver services to members of their communities,” Donna Covey explained in the opening plenary session.

“We also recognise the importance of their role in supporting their communities and influencing the services of statutory and voluntary sector organisations to improve services for refugees and asylum seekers,” she continued. “And they play a vital role in helping the integration of refugees into our society.”

Sanjay Dighe, England Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, stressed how significant the aims of the Basis Project are. “It’s incredibly important that we help RCOs develop skills and capacity,” he said, “and that we help refugees integrate into our society.”

Sandy Buchan, Chief Executive of Refugee Action (the other partner in the Basis Project), spoke of his personal experience in seeing the vital role RCOs play in helping refugees and asylum seekers. While there were many difficulties regarding the current funding environment, he said, “the only place to start is with the grassroots and I hope the Basis Project will be able to do that.”

Finally, the Basis Project Manager, Emily Kippax, outlined the work underway so far. Organisational Development Officers (ODOs) are now in post in every English region, she said. RCOs interested in taking part should make contact with their local ODO (or via the Basis Project central team) so that an eligibility assessment could be made.

The speeches over, attendees at the launch went on to workshops covering:

• RCOs' experience of working with funders and second-tier organisations
• Consultation mechanisms and the Basis Project Advisory Group
• Outcomes of the research report that was phase one of the Basis Project
• The forthcoming Basis Project website and RCOs' requirements from new media.

Feedback from the workshops is currently being collated - we'll post more information on this blog when it's available.

Regional Basis Project launches will also be taking place over the coming months - look out for information in your area, or check back to this blog for details.