Examples of skills development good practice from the Community Development Team at Sunderland City Council

In response to our appeal for people to email us directly with their examples of good quality skills development for charities and social enterprises, the Community Development Team at Sunderland City Council has sent us the following submission and given us permission to publish their experiences.

We are getting lots of other suggestions at our regional roundtables and at our online consultation (https://surveymonkey.com/s/VoluntarySectorSkillsSurvey). If anyone else would like to send us their examples directly please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or you can post them direct to this forum.

CONSULTATION RESPONSE:
NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY FOR THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR

Community Development Team
Sunderland City Council

Examples of good practice in:

Good quality programmes linked to quality standards:

The Community Development Team at Sunderland City Council, in partnership with Sunderland Centre for Voluntary Service (CVS) and Volunteer Centre Sunderland is developing a basic set of quality standards for VCS organisations in Sunderland. The idea is to set out standards that smaller organisations and community associations can work towards. Once these have been achieved, these organisations would then be able to towards more rigorous standards such as PQASSO and Community Matters Visible Standards.

Once a set of standards has been agreed, a mapping exercise will be conducted to identify and signpost to local training providers who can assist organisations in developing the skills needed to meet these standards.

Training based on good evidence of skills needed:

Sunderland City Council in partnership with Sunderland Community Network and Sunderland CVS is conducting a survey of local VCS organisations this autumn, which will help to identify the training needs and priorities of the sector in Sunderland

Skills development in priority areas:

Governance and leadership
Sunderland City Council produces a Community Help Booklet which aims to address issues around effective management and governance of VCS organisations and raise the profile of support available across the City, including access to training, premises management, roles of management committee, funding available and legal requirements. Governance training courses are provided by the Council’s Community Development Team and include sessions on committees, roles, responsibilities, constitutions, democratic processes, future planning and sustainability and funding advice

The Community Development Team have also arranged for the delivery of the ‘Take Part’ training programme to VCS representatives who sit on Area Committees. The Take Part Programme aims to give people the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to make an active contribution to their communities and influence public policies and services. This training will enhance the capacity of the VCS representatives to participate in the democratic process surrounding the Area Committees and influence the development of Local Area Plans. The training will be led by the Community Development Team and delivered by SkillShare North East.

Managing Volunteers
Sunderland City Council in partnership with Volunteer Centre Sunderland has produced a Volunteering Toolkit for volunteer-involving organisations in Sunderland. The Toolkit aims to promote best practice in volunteer management by providing organisations with essential information and quality procedures to help them support volunteers. For example, the Toolkit advises organisations on the recruitment, induction and training of volunteers; how to meet legal requirements; develop volunteer roles; and protect volunteers, customers and the organisation.

Measuring effectiveness and impact
Community Matters has been developing a new system that captures the ‘added value’ or difference that community organisations make in a way that makes sense to both local authorities and the organisations. Development has now reached the ‘testing’ phase, and the intention is to have a new service on offer by the end of the year. Sessions have been scheduled with local authorities and community associations to introduce the new tool, discuss the content and application, and provide feedback to the final stages of development of the tool.

For further information, please contact Julie Hodson, Policy Support and Research Officer, Community Development Team, Sunderland City Council on 0191 561 7837 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Posted by natasharoe on 01 September 2010 03:27 PM