projects

The Foundation’s Vision is to make the most of resources for the people in the greatest need. We aim to reduce prevent and reduce poverty by developing innovative approaches that deliver maximum social value from available resources. Our work to date includes:

Emotional Resilience in the Workplace – promoting creativity and resilience amongst staff which allows organisations manage change proactively in challenging times. A focus on employee engagement empowers individuals and teams to achieve their full potential, making the most of staff resources.

Consultants with a Conscience – a pilot time bank project that demonstrates the business case for donated consultancy time to support growth and development in the third sector by making previously untapped resources available from the small business community

The Imagine Initiative which makes the most of funding and social investment through creative collaborations between funders and applicants

Emotional Resilience in the Workplace

We have been awarded funding through the Department of Work and Pensions’ Health Work and Wellbeing Challenge Fund. We are working in partnership with FSquared to pilot and develop a new approach to emotional resilience in the workplace for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs).

The project idea came from our understanding of the issues and challenges that sickness absence can create. Limited management resources can be stretched, team members can be placed under pressure and service provision can suffer. The change and uncertainty faced by many organisations during the recession have real impacts on staff wellbeing.

We wanted to create an integrated coherent model for Emotional Resilience in the workplace which:

• Reflected current understanding of mental health and wellbeing at work,
• Built on existing frameworks like Business in the Community’s Emotional Resilience Toolkit
• Could be applied directly to smaller organisations where there can be insufficient time to invest in organisational development.
  
  

It’s hasn't been a theoretical exercise - staff from FSquared and the Foundation were guinea pigs during the initial development phase. We worked with an external Organisational Change Consultant to develop and deliver the internal pilot. At an initial launch workshop the team explored what good emotional resilience looks like in organisations and individuals.  The outcomes from the workshop were used by the consultant to develop self-directed learning materials and these were made available as an on-line resource for the team. The team were involved in a set of facilitated Action Learning Sets; these created a mutual support network and forum for individuals to reflect on their learning and apply this in an organisational context.

Project funding allowed us to promote the project externally. Funding was available to deliver the approach with a limited number of organisations. We reviewed and evaluated the internal pilot and the lessons learnt from our own experience shaped FreeSpace – the refined approach for an external market. A number of voluntary sector organisations are involved in the funded pilot.

FreeSpace promotes creativity and resilience amongst staff allowing organisations to manage change in adverse times and bounce back. It’s a tested approach for small and medium sized organisations looking to:

• Renew staff engagement
• Refresh existing staff development programmes, and
• Increase individual and organisational performance and satisfaction.
  
  

Organisations participating in the funded pilot are benefiting from a bespoke 5 day learning programme which can include: Action Learning Sets, Facilitated Workshops, Mentoring and access to online Learning Resources.

You can fine out more about the project on the Ethical Leadership Society  - where we have shared information.

Consultants with a Conscience (CWaC)

This project was developed and funded by the Foundation.  We knew that there were very few structured opportunities for sole traders and smaller consultancies to donate their time - most business volunteering schemes focus on large companies and can be expensive to join.  Small third sector organisations benefit from consultancy support but can’t afford it.

The Consultants with a Conscience pilot looked at ways to join up untapped private sector resources with need in the third sector. A Time Bank of North West Businesses would provide free consultancy services to small third sector organisations and new social enterprises.

The pilot project has allowed us to test out and refine the approach whilst demonstrating the business case for consultants and beneficiaries.  All beneficiaries valued the specific experience and skills that were provided and the practical advice and support. They all viewed their involvement in the pilot with two-thirds saying it had made a ‘significant’ difference to their organisation and the beneficiaries they were working with.  One very tangible result was that it resulted in an additional £15,000 of income for participants.  The pilot mobilised nearly 100 hours of direct pro bono consultancy support. This support was worth just over £7,000 based on the consultants’ standard daily rates.

All of the consultants involved had a positive experience and would participate again in the future.  They believed the project helped to enhance their corporate social responsibility credentials.

A significant learning point from the pilot was that a brokerage role or Navigator was important. The Navigator can help the third sector organisation understand their needs. This shapes the tailored support package that will have the most social and commercial impact.  We are exploring funding sources for this role.

The Imagine Initiative

This project was part funded by Awards for All.  The Imagine Initiative is a fresh approach to social investment which delivers higher social, economic and environmental outcomes from funding. The Imagine Initiative brings together funders and bidders through creatively facilitated workshops to support fresh thinking and the development of new approaches. 

We facilitated a day event for the North West Funders Forum to market the Imagine Initiative and find a pilot partner. Through this process we developed a relationship with BBC Children in Need in the North West. They were taking the lead on a national holiday play scheme review. They were looking for ways to improve communication with applicant agencies and raise both the standard of play scheme project design and funding application submissions.

In September and October 2010 we ran two separate 2-day workshops. Third sector organisations in the North-West who work with young people attended one of the events with representatives from the play sector attending the second. Both events explored ‘What Good Looks Like’ focusing on five key areas:

• Broadening horizons for children and young people
• Involving children and young people in decision making and design of projects
• Demonstrating change through outcomes
• Encouraging networking and collaboration
• Engaging hard to reach groups

Sixty five people from 43 different organisations participated in the workshops. We had great feedback from the third sector organisations and Children in Need. ‘The most unique events that I have ever been involved with’ representative from BBC Children in Need in the North West.

The Imagine Initiative creates effective partnerships between funders and applicants through creative facilitation and collaboration. The Imagine Initiative helps:

• Funders to shape their strategic thinking and maximise the social impacts of investment
• Applicants to generate new ideas, enhance project design and foster inspiring new partnerships which drive out a higher social dividends
• Beneficiaries, who gain from the process through improved project design, new collaborations, enhanced service delivery and sustainable results.

The Imagine Initiative offers a genuinely innovative and participatory alternative to traditional grant-making methodologies, creating inspired partnerships which generate innovation and impact.

If you want to know more about any of our projects please get in touch. We are always keen to share our learning and know that that there’s so much that we can learn from others.