Presentation from Redbridge CVS on building partnerships, delivered at the East London ESF Roadshow on 13 May 2015.

1. Partnerships
Martyne Callender
Employment & Skills Manager
RedbridgeCVS

2. EAST TENDERS
 RedbridgeCVS Employment & Skills (EaST) works in
partnership with voluntary sector employment and skills
providers. Originally “East Tenders”, a partnership of
voluntary sector providers set up in 2008, supported by
Capacity Builders funding until 2011.
 East Tenders was set up to lead on tenders for funding to
enable third sector providers to be involved in the
delivery of large scale employment and skills contracts
through partnership working.

3. FUNDERS & PROJECTS
LEAD PARTNER
BIG LOTTERY
 BASIS
DWP
 FUTURE JOBS FUND, FLEXIBLE SUPPORT FUND
LONDON COUNCILS
 STEPPING STONES, JOBSHOP COMMUNITY OUTREACH, GET WORKING,
WOMEN WORKS, GET REDBRIDGE WORKING
SUBCONTRACTOR
SFA
 ADULT SKILLS, SKILLS SUPPORT FOR THE UNEMPLOYED

4. ENTERING A PARTNERSHIP: SOME THINGS TO
CONSIDER
 WHAT IS YOUR BOTTOM LINE? CAN YOU AFFORD TO ENTER THE
PARTNERSHIP?
 IS THE PROPOSED PROJECT WORKABLE?
 IS THE PERFORMANCE PROFILE ACHIEVABLE? (DO YOU HAVE INPUT ON
THIS)?
 HOW CLEAR ARE YOU ON TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE PARTNERSHIP?
 WHAT DO OTHERS SAY ABOUT WORKING WITH THIS ORGANISATION?
 WHO ARE THE OTHER PARTNERS AND HOW WILL THE PARTNERSHIP WORK?
 WHAT IS YOUR OFFER? DO YOU ADD VALUE?

5. RISKS/WHAT IF
 What if project requirements change?
 What if staffing changes?
 What if your organisation underperforms?
 What if other partners underperform or withdraw
from the partnership?
 What if payments for your delivery on the project are
delayed?
ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN FOR THE WORST CASE SCENARIO!

6. AAAAAAARGH!
WHY OH WHY DID I ENTER INTO THIS PARTNERSHIP?
OH DEAR WE’RE IN TROUBLE ETC ETC.

7. YOUR BOSS’S
FACE
A LOOK YOU
NEVER
WANT TO
SEE!

8. PARTNERSHIP WORKING
WHAT WORKS WELL
 JOINT PLANNING
 CLARITY ON RIGHTS
AND RESPONSIBILITES
 FEEDBACK
 REGULAR REVIEW
 SUPPORT
 FLEXIBILITY
WHAT DOESN’T
 LACK OF PLANNING
 DICTATORSHIPS
 LACK OF
COMMUNICATION
 LACK OF
TRANSPARENCY
 DUPLICATION
 COMPETITION

9. REQUIREMENTS FOR
REDBRIDGECVS
TARGET GROUPS
 BAME WOMEN, LONE PARENTS
GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE
 HAVERING, BARKING & DAGENHAM, WALTHAM FOREST, NEWHAM,
TOWER HAMLETS
 TRACK RECORD AND CAPACITY
 USP/ADDED VALUE E.G. CO-LOCATION, SPECIALISMS
 ESTABLISHED PROCESSES (ADMIN, QUALITY, GOVERNANCE ETC)
 SHARED VISION AND VALUES
 CLEAR DELIVERY MODEL
 HONEST, FLEXIBLE AND EASY TO WORK WITH

10. WHAT REDBRIDGECVS OFFERS IN
RETURN
TRANSPARENT AND SUPPORTIVE CONTRACT MANAGEMENT WHICH
INCLUDES:
 JOINT PLANNING
 STAFF TRAINING
 PARTNERSHIP MEETINGS
 A NAMED POINT OF CONTACT
 REGULAR MONITORING VISITS
 A SAMPLE PROJECT PAPERWORK FILE
 PARTNER HANDBOOK

11. NEXT STEPS
 INVITE TO BE EMAILED TO TODAY’S ATTENDEES AND YOU CAN EXPRESS AN
INTEREST IN WORKING WITH US IF YOU WANT TO
 REDBRIDGECVS TEAM TO RESEARCH ORGS THAT RESPOND AND WE WILL
REQUEST FURTHER INFORMATION FROM SUITABLE ORGANISATIONS
NO EOI
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!
 YOU CAN SEND A COPY OF AN EOI YOU HAVE DONE ALREADY OR CUT AND PASTE
RELEVANT INFORMATION INTO AN EMAIL TO US

12. THANKS FOR LISTENING
MARTYNE CALLENDER
020 8514 9925
martyne@redbridgecvs.net