How do we make funding opportunities more fair and transparent?

This month, as we explore the four functions of infrastructure further, we’re focusing on partnerships and collaboration. NAVCA members build important working relationships and partnerships, meaning there can be improved collaborative working, shared knowledge and resources, and better outcomes for communities. We know this is an important topic for NAVCA members, which is why we’re hosting a workshop at our conference on 16th May that showcases an amazing example of partnership working by NAVCA member Nova Wakefield District.

The Third Sector Framework is a fair, open and transparent way of allocating funding to locally-rooted voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in Wakefield District. The Framework was launched in January 2021 and is a partnership between Nova Wakefield District, Wakefield Council, Wakefield District Health and Care Partnership and Young Lives Consortium. One of the aims of the Framework is to achieve balanced distribution of funding across the district. It also brings together the voluntary sector and statutory services, which we know is especially important at the moment.

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Helen Betts, from Nova Wakefield District, says, ‘’Collaboration between partners is essential as we’re all working towards the same goal of a more resilient and well-resourced VCSE sector that meets the need and aims of the statutory organisations involved in the Framework. The Framework also aims to encourage collaboration between our member organisations, e.g. through partnership bids for funding.’’

The conference workshop, 'How do we make funding opportunities more fair and transparent?', will cover what the Third Sector Framework is and the four key principles underpinning the project (Capacity Building, Coproduction, Coordination and Confidence) and share some examples of these in practice. Nova Wakefield District will talk about some of the challenges they’ve encountered, what they’ve learned and some of factors behind their successes. This workshop is for anyone involved in cross sector working, people involved in commissioning, grant-giving or more generally in funding within the VCSE sector.

The Third Sector Framework is a great example of collaborative working to achieve better outcomes for the voluntary sector and local communities, and the NAVCA conference workshop will help you learn more about it. We can’t wait to see you there!

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Find out more about our annual conference here.

Find out more about the Third Sector Framework and Nova Wakefield District here.