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:
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]
International Women's Day (8th March) is an international celebration of women's strengths and achievements, and highlights the ongoing struggle for equality between women and men. 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of international women’s day- you can find out more, or get involved at http://www.weareequals.org/.
Many RCOs will be celebrating International Women’s Day this year. A selection include:
Free networking event for women - London
Tuesday 8th of March 2011 11:00am – 15:00pm At Afghanistan and Central Asian Association, Unit A11, Hatcham Park Mews, New Cross Gate, London, SE14 5QA
Refreshments will be provided. For further information please contact Dr. Nasimi on 0207 3580 222 or 0757 6989 225
Voices for Women - Middlesex
Daryeel Foundation are organising a women's fundraising event to create funds for women and children in Somaliland.
11 March 2011 – 6pm – 10pm Entry is £10; there will a small charge for light food. 71 Coldharbour Lane, Hayes, Middlesex, UB3 3EE
Thursday 24 February 2010, 1-5pm, Refugee Council, Brixton
What makes you angry? What would you like to make better for your community? What is your dream? If you can passionately answer these questions, come along to the Refugee Council’s Refugee Empowerment Project open day to find out how this one year campaigning project could help you effect change in your community.
Funded by Trust for London, this project will improve the campaigning skills and capacity of 18 London based refugees and asylum seekers, and the refugee community organisations they are involved in, through the provision of training, mentoring and other forms of specialist support.
With support from Refugee Council and an assigned mentor, recruited individuals will work together to develop their own campaign action plan to be delivered by their RCO, and make a real difference in their communities.
To reserve a place (for London-based RCOs only), please email [email protected] by Thursday 17 February 2011, or for more information call Penny Mclean on 020 7346 1052.
The official report from the Basis Project's London Region Conference ‘Supporting Refugee Community Organisations’ (RCOs) role in integration in London’ is now available to download (pdf).
Siddee Mujabah, Liver World Community Sports - Speaking at the Basis Project South East Region Conference, October 2010
I am not a professional in social enterprise, I am someone who is new to social enterprise but I will share my experience so far with you today.
We have a small community organisation called Liver World Community Sports. We organise multi-cultural football tournaments… to bring all the different ethnic communities and local people in Liverpool together. The project is owned by refugees and local people.
In the Kensington area where we are based and a lot of refugees have been settled, there was some concern and fear among the white population. We decided we wanted to take a group of young people – especially white young people – on a trip to Africa. Getting funding for such a trip was really difficult but we managed to raise about £9,000 to take 10 young people to Gambia.
When we came back it made a huge impact on the community and people were asking if we could do another trip with different young people. We said that it was difficult to raise the money and it was at this point that people started suggesting that we should form a Community Interest Company (CIC) or social enterprise.
I came up with the idea, since we are living in quite a poor community, of setting up a second-hand shop. We registered as a company limited by guarantee, to allow us to trade and got the insurance and opened the second-hand shop.
We started off thinking of it as a social enterprise but some people told us that we should register as a charity, because it is easier for people and firms to donate if you have a charity number. And someone else said that being a charity means that you are properly set-up with all the right paperwork.
So we thought that if it was the best way to get more funding we would pay for someone to come in and help us set up as a charity. We are already calling ourselves a ‘charity shop’ so that it’s easy for people to know what we are doing. We have found that people aren’t too sure what a social enterprise is, so that’s another reason why we are going to register as a charity.
We have been lucky in that our landlord has let us pay less than the full rent and we are trying to recruit as many volunteers as possible.
At an event on social enterprise I learned the importance of modelling costs and revenues, and at the moment we are starting to see some profits.
The other thing that we were advised to do was to spend money that we raised before the end of the financial year, to minimise tax.
A presntation by Jane Houben, Grants and Investments Manager at Bristol City Council. Presentation recorded at the Basis Project South West Region Conference, September 2010.
You can also
view the Powerpoint that was used with this presentation.
On 29 September 2010 the Basis Project South West region conference brought together refugee community organisations (RCOs), funders and second tier organisations to share learning and experiences on income generation. The primary objective was to provide RCOs with an overview of the different means of raising income.
Video highlights from the day are below. Two more videos from the conference - in which Jane Houben, Grants and Investments Manager at Bristol City Council, provides an introduction to commissioning - are also available.
Nuwa Serunjogi – Organisational Development Officer, the Basis Project
Today’s seminar is entitled ‘Capacity building for refugee community organisations (RCOs) to generate income’. This theme is important for me because I currently work with 11 or 12 RCOs in the South West – in Bristol, Swindon and Plymouth – and across the board there is one common challenge and that is to try and find sufficient income to run their operations and fulfil their missions.
Helen Todd – Projects Initiatives Manager, the Basis Project
What’s really important about the Basis Project is that we’re supporting RCOs and, at the end of the day, that’s supporting refugees such as many of the people in this room, to look at the needs of their communities and to develop, manage and run fantastic projects that can have a fantastic impact not only on the communities for whom they are run but also on the wider community.
Olivia Gore – Big Lottery Fund
We call ourselves an outcomes funder, so we’re interested in the difference that will be brought about by the project you want us to fund. Before you start planning you need to consider three questions: what difficulties do the people in your community face, why do they face these difficulties, and what needs to change in order to address that issue. People might be in need because of where they live or situations they face, but once you understand that need you can work out what you need to do to help them change things.
Don’t assume that the people reading your application know about your area. The grants officers are based in Birmingham and Newcastle and they won’t necessarily know about your local area – you need to spell it out and make it really clear for them.
Jean Marie-Nsana - African House Community, Plymouth
Our organisation tries to help refugees and asylum seekers in our community and to help them integrate. Lots of people get isolated and we try to find a way to help them to get involved and participate in the community.
I think social enterprise will be interesting for us. It’s difficult having to wait for funding, or getting funding that runs out, so that’s why running a social enterprise could be good.
Marina David – Barrow Cadbury Trust
It’s important for groups to try and keep abreast of what’s happening by going to local neighbourhood office and ward meetings and seeing how you can get together with like-minded organisations and get your voices heard. It’s also a good idea to look at what different sorts of support you can get and not just relying on grant funding. Look at generating your own income by setting up a community interest company – it can make your organisation more sustainable since you won’t be reliant on grant funding.
Tamdour Saliem – Refugee Women of Bristol
The main challenge for women in accessing information and opportunities is [not speaking the English] language and having low levels of education and skills. As an organisation the main challenge we face is funding. The local authority shifted from giving three-year funding to one-year funding and from grants to commissioning, which make it harder a small organisation like us to secure money. The competition for funds has also increased. As a small organisation we really need long-term funds; we can’t sustain, develop and improve as an organisation when we are funded year-by-year.
Alice Meason – Quartet Community Foundation
I can’t tell you the once secret about applying to Community Foundations whereby you’ll get our money, other than saying be clear about what you do and what you want to do with the money and how – be quite specific. The best thing to do is contact the Community Foundation in your area and talk to them and find out what they do. Because we give out smaller sums of money we try to keep the application process quite simple.
Christian Kayembe and he is the Chair for the Betwabu Association
I found this workshop interesting because I have learned a lot from other people and from funders, as well.
Liban Obsiye – Amana Education Trust
When I first started I was asked why I wanted to work at Amana and I said the reason I wanted to work with them was that they didn’t want to play political games, they were really serious about integration and really cared about Somali people’s ability to engage with and contribute to society.
One of the challenges that face us is that we are facing competition from bigger providers who have greater resources and can meet the financial criteria. They have reserves and buildings, which we don’t have. All we have is our volunteers and our passion, and you can’t put a price on that. But what we are being asked to do is to put a price on that passion – it’s a passion that will ensure that the people who need support will get support and will continue on their path to become successful citizens. Most of the refugees are very successful before they get here, but when they get here their qualifications are almost worthwhile and there’s a lack of support for them. The support they want is not in big offices in the centre of Bristol it’s from small organisations and local people in their community who were once refugees themselves and have a real understanding and an urge to help these new arrivals.
On 27 September 2010 the Basis Project held its London Region Conference ‘Supporting Refugee Community Organisations’ (RCOs) role in integration in London’.
The conference aimed to encourage dialogue among representatives of RCOs, funders and policymakers, to generate practical responses for long-term sustainability of the RCO sector in the current policy and funding climate.
A video with some highlights from the conference is below with a transcript underneath.
Transcript:
David Clark –The Basis Project
Good morning and welcome to this the Basis Project London Region Conference – it’s good to see so many of you here.
I wanted to let you know the vision behind this conference. It started with the Basis Project being very passionate about the role that Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs) play in the integration of refugees and asylum seekers. Of course, there are many other roles that they play but we really wanted to highlight their role in integration as it is often under-the-radar and unrecognised.
Sanjay Dighe – Big Lottery Fund
I’m really pleased to be here with the Basis Project, having previously spoken at the national conference in June. I’ve taken a special interest in the Basis Project and the support that the Refugee Council has provided to RCOs not just in London but throughout the country.
Of course, our concern with beneficiaries means that we want to work with the groups that are best equipped to help them. Organisations receiving our funding must demonstrate a capacity to meet that need and make a positive difference to people’s lives. This is where I believe the Basis Project has played a significant role for RCOs, by putting you in a better position to obtain funding and manage projects effectively.
Gladys Jusu-Sherriff - Women's Association for African Networking & Development (WAND UK)
I came here as a refugee in 1997 and since then I have been committed to refugee issues. I run and African women’s organisation, WAND UK, and we do work around HIV, mental health and domestic violence. I also chair the Islington Refugee Forum. I’m very pleased to be here today because I think I will learn a lot about what is happening and I will be able to take this back to my organisation and other RCOs in Islington.
Daniel Fashe - Educational Alliance Africa
I’ve come to the conference because I work with a lot of refugee people – in fact we’re just doing some research with the Refugee Council. So I’ve come to the conference today to see what sort of materials are developing and the assistance that people working in RCOs need.
Austin Taylor-Laybourn – Trusts for London
I’m one of four grants managers with Trusts for London, an independent charitable trust that works across London. The reason that we wanted to be here today is that we have a very strong commitment to refugee and migrant communities. One of main priorities is around tacking poverty and inequality in London and a lot of refugee communities within London experience high levels of deprivation, poverty and inequality.
So as a funder I’m here to provide advice around applying to funding – not just to us but more generally. I will also be giving specific information about our funding criteria which at the moment is specifically around new arrivals but also covers campaigning, training and all sorts of stuff.
Daniel Fashe
The refugee sector is a bit fragmented and hopefully an event like this will pull them together to enable them to use resources more effectively.
Luljeta Nuzi – Shpresa Programme
We started Shpresa 10 years ago – like everybody we had a good idea, we had needs to be met… but nothing else. Shpresa means ‘hope’ in the Albanian language and we work with the Albanian-speaking community that are from Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia.
From the outset we looked to work in partnership, we were really outward-looking. We didn’t want to isolate our community – get the skills and do everything for ourselves. We wanted to work with others and we started working with schools and other community organisations.
Even after 10 years and having come so far, we are still user-led. We are very creative and look at our work through different angles, as long as it meets our mission.
Eltayeb Hassan – Southwark Refugee Communities Forum
I’m here today to share out commissioning experience with other RCOs and maybe to learn from other groups’ experience of commissioning as well.
I’m very positive about commissioning, even though it sometimes brings some extra pressure to an organisation. If RCOs have the skills to negotiate and can use the skills they have gained and can highlight that that they are well-placed within their community, then they stand a better chance of meeting the commissioner’s conditions.
Sharon Long – Children England
Children England is the national children’s infrastructure organisation and we support organisations around a whole range of issues including commissioning is one of the main ones.
The lack of policy structure at the moment makes it very difficult for organisations to know what the key policy priorities are. Before we had lots of indicators, so organisations knew where they could fit in but now it’s going to be very difficult for them to know what the local priorities are. Also, for small organisations to be able to represent themselves in appropriate meetings and forums where decisions are made is a challenge in itself. Ibrahim Avcil – Hackney Refugee Forum
I came here today to find out a bit more about the current developments in the voluntary and community sector, particular in relation to RCOs.
I’ve just been in a workshop on commissioning and the point I would emphasise is that the commissioning process that has started in the past two years has unfortunately eliminated small RCOs and other small community organisations in terms of obtaining sustainable funding to provide a support service for their members.
These small organisations are mainly being asked to partner with bigger organisations when in practice we have seen that the bigger fish always eats the smaller fish. And the smaller organisations are asked to provide a service for very, very little money. Whereas bigger organisations get a lot of money from the commissioning process.
Micheline Ngongo – Light Project International
In 2004 we started just with a homework club. Now in 2010 we are running 12 different education projects and we’ve got 74 regular volunteers ready to help people. We have 350 service users from more than 35 different countries.
Kaveh Kalantari - Iranian Association
We’re based in Hammersmith and offer a diverse range of services to refugees and ethnic minorities including advice, training, health and cultural activities.
I’ve just attended the workshop on social enterprise, which was very good. I’m not new to the field; the Iranian Association has been trying to develop and social enterprise for the past five years and have generated some funds. But I found today’s presentation very useful.
Richard Barnes – Deputy Mayor of London
As chair of the London Strategic Migration Partnership and a frequent visitor to community projects around London, I’m well aware of the important role that RCOs play in the integration of refugee communities. And what has happened with destitution, people who have gone through the [asylum] process and have perhaps been refused and preferred to live on the streets or in friend’s flats with no money and no visible means of support rather than to go back to their own country should be lessons to all of us to heed.
When migrants come here and are willing to work we must be willing to reach out our hand to help them to integrate. And by integration I do not mean assimilation. London is a glorious jigsaw of different communities, a tremendous kaleidoscope, and we must encourage that kaleidoscope and appreciate the culture, the music, the poetry, the faith, the holy books that people carry with them. So we must remember that at heart we are all Londoners and we must give everyone, migrants and refugees, the opportunity to be Londoners. But there is also a pressure on refugees and migrants that they too should hold out their hands and integrate and take part in civil society.
On Sunday I was at Eid in The Square and I was asked by a French television crew: “Why are you celebrating these things for the ethnic minorities?” And my response was that this iss not a celebration for the ethnic minorities it is a celebration for London. Muslims within London are an important part of London and it is right that we should understand and share their festival just as we invite them to share carol service when we light up the tree on Trafalgar Square and when we celebrate Diwali and Vaisakhi in the Square as well. All of these elements add together to make London the most glorious city in Europe and probably the world. And it is my pleasure to be part of the process of polishing that reputation and to hold out the hand of friendship to those who wish to be here.
The Basis Project Run in partnership by the Refugee Council and Refugee Action, the Basis Project is working with Refugee Community Organisations across England. Read more on our website. Contact us.
