Voice and Influence

Voice and Empowerment Project News

Voice: We held a thought-provoking and inspiring Voice Workshop with the support of bassac and changes during July, where a very diverse range of organisations used the Voice tool to explore how influential their organisation is and how they can gain a stronger voice. We are now planning to run facilitator training so that you will be able to deliver Voice workshops to help community groups become more influential, and Echo workshops to help local authorities get better at community engagement.

Please Email me if you are interested in facilitator training.

Project review: We are reviewing the project and developing our workplan for the next two years, in light of major changes to the environment we are working in. I'd really value your input on our plans so if you have five minutes to spare please take a look at this short outline (93KB MS Word document) and email me or call me on 07792 206741 or 01752 588994 with your thoughts. Input welcome at any time as we are always flexible with what we're offering.

Empowerment campaign: We are working with Creating Excellence and the Empowering Communities partnership on 'legacy campaign' to ensure the learning from their programme of work is passed on and promote the value of empowerment to decision makers in the South West.

LSPs and LEPs: We have sought clarity on the future of Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs), and have heard from the Local Government Association that no specific government statements have been made about the future of LSPs. On the one hand, the general direction of travel towards localism, greater autonomy, and more freedoms should strengthen the role of these bodies. On the other hand, the uncertain future of Local Area Agreements (LAAs) and Total Place, and the abolition of Comprehensive Area Assessments (CAAs), means that some of LSPs core work no longer exists and some of the dynamics which brought (and kept) local partner agencies to a shared table are no longer there. There has so far been very limited discussion of the role of voluntary organisations in the new proposed Local Enterprise Partnerships (replacing the Regional Development Agency), but they are likely to make decisions that have a big impact on people's lives so it's important voluntary organisations are there to hold Local Enterprise Partnerships to account. See below for news on how some areas in the South West are approaching this.

News from around the region

Wiltshire Infrastructure Consortium has piloted training on the Voice and Echo tools combined together for Parish Councillors. The training was delivered by voluntary organisations to Parish Councillors to help them explore and improve their roles both listening to the community and influencing the county council.

Cornwall Voluntary Sector Forum is helping voluntary organisations influence the development of the proposed Local Enterprise Partnership, and a group of organisations in the West of England is developing a shadow proposal from voluntary organisations to go alongside the West of England's proposal for a Local Enterprise Partnership.

Dorset Community Action is delivering Skilling Up for Stronger Voices training to representatives in Dorset.

The Take Part programme is planning a conference on Making Big Society Work on 4th November in Taunton, hopefully with Nick Hurd (Minister for Civil Society) as a speaker.

Many areas have been discussing spending cuts with local authorities - Voscur has been invited to a meeting with Bristol City Council about how it can make cuts, and they are surveying their members for input before the meeting. Gloucestershire Assembly has hosted the leader of Gloucestershire County Council at their assembly board meeting to discuss spending cuts and put their views to him.

If you'd like to share your voice and empowerment news with others around the region please email me.

As always please get in touch if there's any support you need around voice and empowerment and we'll do our best to provide it.

Isabel Livingstone, Voice and Influence Co-ordinator

Email: isabel@southwestforum.org.uk
Mobile: 07792 206741
Direct line: 01752 588994

Event: Is anyone listening? Helping voluntary and community organisations get their voice heard

This FREE EVENT was organised by South West Forum on Tuesday 18th May and aimed to:

• explore barriers preventing marginalised groups from influencing decision making, and how to make your project inclusive;
• develop understanding of how to measure your influence;
• network with other people running voluntary sector assemblies, forums and networks.

Read more about the conference.

Ideas, resources and creative approaches to voice and influence

South West Forum's Voice and Influence Co-ordinator Isabel Livingstone recently attended NAVCA's Whose Voice is it Anyway? Conference in Birmingham to learn about new ideas around voluntary sector influencing decision making and pass them on to groups in the South West.

Highlights included an inspirational presentation from Sandhya Sharma and Archana Chokra from Oxfam's Routes to Solidarity project, which is increasing the involvement of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) women in decision making. We are very pleased to announce that they will be speaking at our networking event in Taunton on 18th March to share experience of helping marginalised groups influence decision makers.

The conference also included Carnegie Trust's research on power and influence, forum theatre to explore issues for community groups, and creative use of technology.

Read more about the presentations and issues discussed on the day with links to useful organisations and resources on power, voice and influence. (57KB PDF)

About our Voice and Influence work

South West Forum is running a new project to help increase the influence voluntary and community organisations have over local and regional public bodies in the South West of England. In particular the project aims to ensure that small and equality-focussed organisations are involved in voluntary sector forums and networks so that they can have access to decision makers alongside bigger charities.

The project is managed by a full-time co-ordinator at South West Forum and an advisory group is being set up. The project also has input from South West Strategic Infrastructure Partnership. It is funded by the Big Lottery Fund under the BASIS2 programme until summer 2012.

What will the project do?

• Run networking events for people running voluntary sector forums and assemblies and equality groups wanting to get their voice heard.
• Research 'voice' and representation structures across the region, and particularly the current involvement of marginalised groups in them.
• Develop an online network and resource to aid information sharing and peer support.
• Run a consultancy service so that voluntary organisations can be paid by the programme to offer peer support.
• Support small projects finding creative ways to involve marginalised groups.

We are currently meeting with people running voluntary sector 'voice' projects around the South West region to discuss what support they need and to research the current involvement of marginalised groups. We are also setting up an advisory group and planning a networking event to be held later in the year.

Why do voluntary and community organisations need a voice?

Voluntary and community organisations play a vital role in working with and empowering people at the margins of society who have fallen through the 'safety net' of public services. These organisations have important knowledge about the barriers people face, and access to the people that the public sector finds it hardest to work with. But public bodies often do not listen to voluntary and community organisations, so they miss out on much needed expertise and opportunities for working together to tackle the most difficult social problems.

The project aims to strengthen and support the forums and networks that increase the voice of voluntary organisations. It will also help make sure that these networks and forums are as inclusive as possible, so that marginalised groups have a voice too.

Further information:

Please contact Isabel Livingstone, Voice and Influence Co-ordinator, on 01752 588994 or Isabel@southwestforum.org.uk.