ProjectsOccasionally the Coalition members see an opportunity to work together to deliver a project under the umbrella of the Coalition. CSC staff will be involved in the project but the majority of the work will be delivered by members. The Coalition currently has two projects: Every Action Counts is a £4 million Defra designed programme which the Coalition Chairs but is delivered through a consortium of its members. The aim of this programme is to change behaviour in community groups so that they become more environmentally sustainable. The accountable body for this programme is the Community Development Foundation. The Coalition is currently undertaking research on behalf of the Performance Hub into the performance support needs of community organisations and the most successful and effective delivery mechanisms for this performance support to frontline groups. Recently the Office of the Third Sector and the Treasury in its Third Sector Review have promoted the importance of the community sector and emphasised the role of anchor organisations in providing support to smaller community groups. Alongside this, community organisations are increasingly articulating their own needs and aspirations and are facing increasing demands to deliver services and take key roles in partnerships and community empowerment. Yet their performance needs have not been comprehensively mapped or addressed, nor has the extenet to which they could benefit from national support services in this area. The work will be delivered by three of the Coalition's members: Community Matters, CLES and TPAS and it will: 1. Enable community organisations to reflect on what they need in order to achieve more and more effectively and identify how this may be different to the needs of the more formalised voluntary sector. 2. Look at what initiatives have worked/are working around performance management, planning etc with the community sector. 3. Examine the role of community sector infrastructure organisations at national, local and neighbourhood level in leading and supporting performance improvement. 4. Assess the scale of unmet need in this area amongst community organisations in relation to their access to relevant support. 5. Consider the role of national programmes in meeting this need through generalist and specialist infrastructure providers operating at all geographical levels.
|