1. Collaboration benefits How to make partnership civil? Community Matters Conference Hinckley, 27 th September 2008

2. Why collaborate? Two heads can be better than one! Many hands can make light work! Stronger Together!

3. History Informal working together Crisis driven; lack of personnel, resources, funds External pressure e.g. partnership bids Enforced mergers

4. Why is bassac working on collaboration ? Environment - Community organisations excluded from contracting processes Structural - Lack of specialist capacity, over reliance on volunteers/pro-bono, multi-task diverting from main business/improving services Collaboration - a way forward?

5. Forms of Collaboration Informal Group - open membership, networking/information exchange Cluster - defined membership, collaborative action/collective/largely informal but strong Consortium/Partnership- closed membership, specific outputs, contractual /formal structures, formally agreed roles

6. SWiM learning Clusters developed habit of collaboration Have clearer understanding of what is needed to make partnership work Members have been galvanised to think strategically as a group Pilots left legacy of collaborative development

7. What is the Collaboration NSS ? The Collaboration Benefits Programme A collaboration between 4 organisations Developing capacity of infrastructure/support providers to reduce costs and enhance service delivery

8. Who’s involved ? bassac (lead partner) IVAR - Institute for Voluntary Action Research ACRE - Action with Communities in Rural England CFN - Community Foundation Network CES - Charities Evaluation Services (critical friend)

9. What is the programme ? Resources - Collection & dissemination of good practice Skills - Training and developing support providers Action - Developing and testing innovative collaborations

10. Resources Collecting cluster evidence Collating into a well structured national evidence database Disseminating through accessible online resource, information/advice, publications

11. Skills Seminar programme - to raise awareness of collaborative support Train the Trainer programme - to build capacity of 20 training providers Cascade training programme - to enable wider infrastructure to support collaboration with their constituency

12. Who is targeted ? Community development staff from community organisations People who support frontline voluntary and community sector organisations Local infrastructure organisations Regional infrastructure bodies

13. Action Cluster Development Working with established clusters Helping to develop new/innovative clusters Facilitation to achieve a shared purpose Evaluation

14. Potential clusters Develop joint back office functions Develop and deliver joint services Working within communities of place Develop bulk purchasing between organisations Develop joint tenders for service delivery Development of joint voice and advocacy functions

15. Potential clusters (contd) Local infrastructure partnerships working collaboratively to meet local frontline needs Regional infrastructure partnerships working to meet local infrastructure organisational needs Development of cross-sectoral partnerships to support Local Area Agreements Working in Local Strategic Partnerships Working with commissioning officers in design and implementation of services Tackling environmental issues together

16. What makes a productive partnership Mutual trust and understanding Clearly defined and shared aims/objectives Effective leadership Partner ownership and commitment Agreed and observed roles/responsibilities/ decision-making processes Good communication, feedback & review

17. Contact us : email : Collaboration@bassac.org.uk tel : 0845 241 0375 website: bassac.org.uk/collaboration THANK YOU!