Improving Reach (June 2010 - March 2011)

Led by the Plymouth Guild Volunteer Centre its an exciting three year programme to engage and support volunteers and employees of Black, Minority, Ethnic (BME) and Faith groups and organisations to inspire them to become Community Development workers.

The programme also involves a number of initiatives to increase the voluntary sector and infrastructure support within Plymouth, by creating a directory of BME and Faith groups, running events and researching the needs of the sector. Plymouth Improving Reach is funded and supported through Capacity Builders.

The aim of the three year project is:

• To train Community Development workers to achieve a nationally recognised qualification and offer employment mentoring and support.

• To offer and give support to small community and nascent organisations and projects from BME and Faith groups by helping to develop their workers.

• To undertake research in order to identify the needs of groups, create a directory and run events.

Aims, objectives and milestones

The Plymouth Improving Reach project mission:

‘To work cohesively in partnership with other organisations within Plymouth so that BME and Faith groups service users and organisations can get the support they need’. The vision is that ‘Local organisations and projects in Plymouth are able to deliver constructive services to a wider audience’

The specific aims of the project are:

• To train individuals from under-represented groups as Community Development Workers and offer employment mentoring and support.

• To support BME and Faith groups in delivering services to the community by creating a directory and tool kit.

• To increase volunteering among BME and Faith groups and recognise their contribution to the city through volunteering.

Development of progress to date

Smaller organisations have more skills and resources to provide support services to third-sector frontline organisations which work with excluded communities. These smaller organisations are able to continue their work after our funding has run out.

• Accredited training for participants who can build on skills and positive networks created through the programme into their future careers and continue to cascade their knowledge and experience.  

• 12 BME and faith group participants recruited from small groups and organisations achieve accreditation in National Open College Network (NOCN) level 2 Certificate in Community Development.

• 12 BME and faith group participants recruited from small groups and organisations achieve accreditation and other essential capacity building skills including City & Guilds 7300 Induction to trainer skills and group work / facilitation skills.  

• Production of the toolkit offers a useful resource for effectively working with BME groups and for BME groups to engage with future Voluntary Community Service initiatives.

• Cultural awareness training rolled out to 80 staff and volunteers within the partnership to enhance the quality of support services being offered to the sector.  

• Recruitment of staff to support programme participants and third sector organisations 10 Third sector organisations will have support from volunteer BME Trainee Community Development Workers Placements.

Evaluation progress report (June 2010)

 The evaluation objectives agreed with the Evaluation Trust in February 2010:

• To give an independent view of what input and impact the project has made on services available in the local area for BME and Faith groups by collecting and analysing feedback from colleagues, partners, and the Community Development graduates of the Improving Reach Programme.

• To discover what has been learnt so far from the programme with reference to planned and unplanned outcomes.

• To identify needs that is not being met

• To ultimately be a tool to allow Plymouth Improving Reach staff and partners to plan future project initiatives and improve on delivery.

Due to a number of factors in April 2010 it was agreed with the Plymouth Improving Reach project lead that a mid evaluation progress report would be completed. The evaluation would then be put on hold until November 2010 with the final evaluation report being produced by January 2011.

Findings

1. Learning, development and training programmes

The project has been very successful in the area of learning and development with individuals and organisations working with BME, faith and under represented groups. The key strengths have included analysing the training needs of the organisations and individuals, the organisation of training courses, mentoring of learners into further training and employment, and fostering the aspiration of learners into further and higher education.

2. NOCN Level 2 Certificate in Community Development

This was the first training programme to be organised and the flagship of the project which was delivered from January 2009 to August 2009. There were 20 applications received for the programme which had 12 places. There was a clear selection criterion which included volunteering experience in a faith or a BME organisation, and a required level of written and spoken English. After the selection process 12 participants started the programme out of 14 short listed candidates.

One of the main reasons for not being accepted on the programme was applicant’s limited levels of written and spoken English. If funds had permitted enabling participants to initially attend English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) training before the start of the programme would have enhanced the participants learning.

Plymouth Guild is committed to the development of their staff it was identified that the Plymouth Improving Reach project coordinator required community development training and was accepted on the programme.

The strengths of the programme as reported by the course tutor were numerous including, participants willingness to learn from each other, respect for each other despite the participants being from many religious and cultural beliefs.

An area of development could have been for each participant to make contact and volunteer with organisations not working with under represented groups. When interviewed the course tutor stated this would have been ideal scenario but many participants had busy lives including trying to establish a life in Plymouth, a number had paid employment and upgrading their language skills.

The NOCN Level 2 Community Development programme has been a catalyst for personal development, further training and career progression. The project has been successful through assisting participants in identifying their learning needs and finding appropriate training programmes.

The participants were issued with laptops and translator devices to borrow for the duration of the programme. This enhanced their learning and the ability to complete the coursework.
The participants were working and volunteering in 11 organisations. Most of these organisations are committed to working with BME and faith groups.

3. City and Guilds (C&G) 7300 Introduction to Training Skills

This programme ran over three days in August 2009. This qualification is for people who train others in organisations. This intensive course is usually delivered over two days and provides the participants with an introduction to the concepts of a systematic approach to training. The course tutor ran the programme over 3 days to fit in with participants commitments. There were 12 places on the course.

The course was advertised through the Plymouth Improving Reach project network. The project lead stated the main reason for spaces was the level of English required was a barrier to many of the participants.

4. Employment mentoring

Another element of the project was employment mentoring for participants on the Community Development and C&G Training Skills programmes. Initially this was to be conducted by Plymouth Improving Reach project partner Fatahe, due to capacity issues this part of the project was conducted by Plymouth Guild through the project lead and project coordinator.

The project also commissioned Action for Employment to work with participants on CV and interview skills. Most participants are currently involved in studying and volunteering rather than being in employment. Four participants were in work at the time of the programme and continue to be employed.

One participant has been promoted from case worker to manager. This course member stated that the programme helped develop new skills especially in the area of funding applications which contributed to her promotion.

The majority of the participants on the programme were relatively new arrivals in Plymouth and were busy establishing homes and lives in the city. Further study and employment for most was their priority rather than volunteering. Some participants did view volunteering to be a route to language acquisition, skill acquisition and eventual employment.

The project has now commissioned some research into employment opportunities for students with community development qualifications, skills mapping and transferability. This will form part of the toolkit.

5. Training programmes for volunteers, staff and community groups

The project has been very successful in involving under represented BME and Faith groups in learning and development. In conjunction with the Volunteer Centre the project offered advice, guidance and training needs analysis with organisations and then appropriate training is identified.

During June 2009 Plymouth Guild Volunteer Centre with the Plymouth Improving Reach project ran a training event aimed at assisting organisations to write successful Lottery funding applications. This training need was identified from the number of BME groups having unsuccessful Lottery bids.

The Volunteer Centre and Plymouth Improving Reach have also organised workshops on funding and a Lantra accredited programme on Volunteer Management.

At present a 2 day training programme is being organised for Trustees and lead personnel from BME organisations and faith groups on the topics of Business Planning and Governance.

Cultural awareness training was delivered by the project partner Fatahe to enhance the quality of support services being offered to the sector. This training was delivered to all staff, volunteers involved with Plymouth Guild.

6. Dissemination and outreach

In March 2010 the second symposium was organised. ‘Bridging Generations and Cultures’ was the theme of this event which included youth theatre performance, workshops and speakers and an opportunity to network and develop ideas for people working and volunteering across Plymouth. This event was a shared event between Plymouth Generations Together and Plymouth Improving Reach with over 100 participants from 50 organisations from the third sector, the local authority, Police, faith groups, Plymouth University, housing, elder and youth groups. Again the feedback was very positive especially valued was the opportunity to network between intergenerational individuals and groups.

The business planning and governance training programme was developed in conjunction with training needs identified together with the Plymouth Third Sector Consortium (PTSC).

7. The Plymouth Improving Reach toolkit

The aim of this toolkit is to assist front line delivery organisations working with BME and under represented groups to access information and implement best practice when working with BME volunteer’s staff and BME organisations.

The project lead identified the key elements of the toolkit to include:

• Introduction to Community Development

• Context

• Participants and stakeholders

• Skills mapping

• Opportunities

• BME directory

• Standards of practice

• Links and contacts  

The production of the toolkit has been delayed due to staff illness but is due to be commissioned for development and produced in autumn 2010.

8. Project management

The Plymouth Guild Volunteer Centre is the host organisation, there is stakeholder group consisting of 16 people from organisations with significant interest in the project, the project lead is the Volunteer Centre manager and a project coordinator.  

The stakeholder group from the public sector, the Police, voluntary organisations and faith groups have been consulted throughout the life of the project to ensure the outcomes are congruent with the needs of the BME community and faith groups.

The project staff have received project management training. The project coordinator was new to this role and from the BME community. She attended and achieved the Community Development and Introduction to Training Skills awards and received support from the Project lead.

9. Recommendations

• The limited English Language ability of the participants has been a key barrier to learning, employment and career progression. Research and identify funding for ESOL training.

• Enquire into the possibility of using student volunteers from Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), ESOL and Higher Education courses to teach English to potential course participants and volunteers.

• Much of the project has been involved with groups who work with and around BME and faith groups. Explore ways of reaching community organisations who traditionally do not work with BME groups or individuals. Work with these groups to educate, motivate and engage them with BME representatives and communities.

For more information please visit the Plymouth Improving Reach website here or the Fatahe website here.