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AVA Blog: News and Views from Chief Officer Adrian Barritt


3 February 2012

Social Action Fund: all target, no aim

Adrian Barritt

Adur Voluntary Action

Time was called yesterday, Friday 2^nd February 2012, on applications to the Social Action Fund. This is variously branded on its prospectus as “Social Action Fund: funding big ideas, inspiring social action” or alternatively “Cabinet Office: Office for Civil Society”. You might also opt for “The Social Investment Business” if that attracts.

I had a good look at it, and so did colleagues in other local CVSs running volunteering services, in case we could get together and meet the terms, within the deadline. We drew blanks, individually and collectively. This is why.

A barbed wire fence of conditions

Just take a look at the conditions fencing this one in, and you’ll twig that it’s not aimed at small local voluntary action organisations, even if they are playing the obligatory partnership tune.

·         A minimum of £100,000 (there is no maximum – sic)  must be spent over eighteen months

·         Only eighteen months allowed to make a significant and sustainable impact on volunteering, social and community action rates of engagement

·         No on-going support for groups or people when funding ends

·         Projects must be scalable upwards. More or less essential to have such a project ready and waiting.

·         Monitoring demands require a crystal ball unless the project is already running

·         Lack of available match funding handicaps an application

·         Projects must draw all funds by March 2013 and spend all by September 2013

Competition winners will :

·         Possess the greatest match funding

·         Propose projects which result in the greatest increase in volunteering

·         Result in the greatest enduring impact within pre-defined themes

·         Are large-scale or include plans to “scale up”

And for the record, the pre-defined “themes” offer a choice between:

1.       Local models which can be scaled-up or replicated, but which use people who are not traditionally volunteers

OR

2.       Generate “social action” from a specific group that can be scaled-up nationally

Finally, who’s eligible to apply.  Here we go:

·         Organisations that have a track record of delivering social action programmes

·         Constituted civil society organisations – even unincorporated ones whose members are prepared to commit personally  to controlling effective expenditure of at least £100,000 of government money within eighteen months

·         Public sector bodies such as hospital trusts, schools, universities (local authorities?)

·         Has been in operation for two years and can provide two years of audited accounts

·         Shows income  of over £100,000 in the most recent set of accounts

·         Be able to accept a grant offer by 8 March 2012 “There will be a very tight turnaround for this information and you are advised to build this in to your project planning”

·         Confirm that a grant would not break EU state aid rules

Desperate, of Big Society?

Can readers detect the notes of desperation that are beginning to creep in? For this offering sets  almost everyone against everyone, in a madcap scramble to find a model of generating sufficient national spread of “social action” to lend credibility to the Big Society and Localism myths. The speed of rolling out, short time scale for spending awards, high minimum amount of individual awards, highly quantitative monitoring conditions, absence of any reputable evaluation framework, all point to three latent functions:

·         A party political purpose, aimed at being able to demonstrate investment in voluntary action prior to an election

·         A desperation to show that, with enough effort, sufficient volunteers can jump like Jason’s armed warriors from the soil, to replace our vanishing public sector services and provide a rationale for destruction of still more

·         An intention to fund only  large-scale initiatives which will deliver on government policy, generating models of voluntary action which will permit further cuts in established services provided by the local public sector.  The audience should be advised, whilst listening to the localism mood music, to follow the centralisation cash-flow.

A recipe  for local social inaction?

Why look! There’s my  own half-completed handwritten application form for the Social Action Fund still lying on the desk!  Seems I reached question three before realising that this was nothing like what Adur Voluntary Action really needs, in order to stimulate social action amongst our communities. It’s time now to think through the logical reasons accompanying an acknowleded emotional response.

Firstly, we don’t need £100,000. Such a waste of money! Something like the£10,000 p.a cost of a part-time development worker for five years will be fine, total £50,000

Secondly, we can’t deliver within eighteen months. Community development is not like that. Our communities are developing, but at their own rates. Our working relationships are with those who come out of the woodwork bringing ideas, and gradually, one fertilises another. Until suddenly you realise there has been a step-change.

Thirdly,  voluntary means...voluntary. This in turn means unpredicatable and requiring sensitive nurture. AVA is working to offer that sensitive nurturing, and for us, this is not in harmony with a rush to meet government targets. Our intention is real change, and sustainability of community action in Adur regardless of government policies.

Fourthly, we don’t intend to launch projects that will drop people in fresh air when they end, or leave ourselves with another fund raising challenge.

Fifthly, being true localists, we do not believe in scaling-up. We believe that in the world of local voluntary action, everywhere is different, operating to different timescales, patterns of local history, strengths and handicaps. Often it even boils down to personalities. In short, to seek the magic bullet as the Social Action Fund does is both misguided and malevolent. It’s equivalent to those philosophers or scientists who seek the grand theory of everything.

Sixthly, AVA is too small and not in with a chance. We can’t find the matching money. We don’t have a project we would offer up for scaling. We can’t handle the monitoring requirements. Being unprepared to rely like Jason upon the sowing of dragon’s teeth, we would never in any integrity guarantee outcomes in the kinds of terms that are required:  In short, though “losers” in terms of this particular offering, we and many other groups are the authentic messy  world of local voluntary action.

Seventhly, charities are not permitted to pursue party political causes. It is becoming increasingly clear that policies associated with the Big Society and Localism embody major party political ideologies intended fundamentally to alter the nature of our society.  Many in the voluntary sector object to being used as party political pawns to help politicians justify misconceived, failed or un-evaluated policies, which are diminishing the life chances of vulnerable local people, and putting public sector colleagues out of work.

 Either offer something genuinely useful, or simply get off our backs.

February 2012

1 February 2012

Now Hear This! Results coming in about Transforming Local Infrastructure Fund applications! So far 20 failed applications.

What a collective waste of time. Transformation? Sounds a bit like what the Cybermen did to you, for Dr Who fans with long memories! I think the "losers" in this inane competition that nobody needed are the real winners! So, congratulations to all of you at your narrow escape, and now let's all stand together for what we really want.

Change up, transition, transformation ....doesn't this chronicle make you weep? Why not just try to be ourselves and do our things?

Kind wishes, winners and losers all,



27 January 2012

There's a lot happening in the voluntary action world at the moment, both in Adur, across West Sussex, and nationally. Here's the main local  things we need to be getting our collective heads around:

• 60,000 people live in Adur. How can we communicate with more of them, after the loss of "Adur Outlook"?
• Some West Sussex CVSs are merging, to try to save costs and deliver more. AVA has chosen not to participate in this, intending to remain independent and directly accountable to local people and groups. How can AVA ensure that our residents and groups benefit from this decision, and that we work with the grain of our communities to help voluntary action and volunteering thrive? Read on to see!
• The financial screw is tightening monthly. AVA lost eight posts in 2011 and could lose more in 2012. There isn't a sustainable pot of funding beyond what we already receive from our partner local authorities, who themselves are stretched. The NHS has withdrawn from funding us despite our wish to major on health promotion. How can we ensure that Adur's groups work together and develop mechanisms of mutual support, that work whatever the statutory sector policies? AVA believes that support and development of voluntary action is not a "service" to be "delivered", but rather, a co-operative culture of sharing information and skills locally. Will you work with us to build such a culture?
• IT learning and inclusion is a priority for AVA, which is why we invested a lot of time into a large bid to the Big Lottery. If this succeeds, we will have resources both the offer learning, and to draw more people into on-line dialogues like the one you are reading now. Interested? We need a small network of people who are, a snowball that can start rolling ....
• Access Adur is an initiative to improve awareness of accessibility for all, currently funded by an Awards for All grant. It's website is due to be launched in Spring 2012, and we also have an awards scheme in mind. Adur Access and Mobility Group now meets regularly, and is looking for further members.  Interested? Contact Sarah Leeding at AVA
• With the support of Lancing Parish Council and church networks, we intend to open local "shop fronts" in Lancing and Shoreham-by-Sea. These will stimulate volunteering, offer local information, help people to make connections, support job clubs and IT learning, and generally act as foci for community action. But we lack the people to keep these open for many hours each week. Can you help?
• AVA's Executive Committee is elected by our membership at each AGM. Why not join AVA, then your organisation will be able to nominate people? AVA exists to support its membership, and the more members we have, the stronger we collectively are. That's a no-brainer! To see the index of voluntary action groups in Adur, go to our website www.adurva.org and click on the link on the home page.
• At our main base in Chesham House, Lancing, we work with WRVS and Lancing Parish Council to help improve the quality of life of local people. Chesham House is a busy, lively and welcoming community. We've invested a lot to make it accessible, warm, connected to the world wide web and comfortable, inviting to use. There are meeting rooms, lunch clubs, games groups, learning events. But we want to do more, and it's a matter of people power, as well as money. If you live locally, why not join in, and help us make Chesham House the greatest centre for community life in Sussex!
• Time is valuable. But why not add variety to life by swapping it, in exchange for other peoples' time? Our Lancing Time Exchange  will be doing just that, helping people to exchange services and skills. Everything you contribute earns you credits, and you "purchase" other peoples' skills with the credits you have earned. It's early days yet...why not get in at the start and help us shape the future?