Guest blog: Funding alone is no longer enough.

In this guest blog we hear from Shelley Hathaway-Batt, head of Strategic Partnerships & Projects at Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group. Shelley reflects on their partnership with Almond Tree Strategic Consulting and the impacts of The Resilience Programme.

As a housing association, we work with hundreds of voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations to make a difference to our residents and communities and we’re always hearing from them how tough it is to keep the doors open.

Amid soaring demand for their services and a challenging funding environment, small charities and voluntary groups are struggling to survive. And with statutory services stretched to breaking point, many are stepping in to fill the gaps, but at what cost? 

Until recently, our main focus was providing funding to these organisations to help them deliver projects in our communities covering everything from digital skills workshops and warm spaces to community gardens and sports clubs. But funding alone is no longer enough. 

That’s why in April 2023, we launched The Resilience Programme which aims to build the capacity and long-term sustainability of grassroots organisations providing critical services in some of the most deprived communities across England.

Funded and delivered by Clarion Futures, Fusion21 Foundation and Places Foundation, this unique programme focusses on gaining a deep understanding of and strong relationship with the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations delivering incredible impact in our communities.

In a nutshell, it’s all about providing the tools and support for these groups to become sustainable and to continue to deliver impact for the long-term and our partnership with Almond Tree Consulting has been pivotal for the success of this programme. Through their expertise, experience flexibility and diverse network of consultants we are able to provide a completely bespoke, 1-1 consultancy package for each organisations, tailored to their specific needs. After the consultancy support is underway, the VCSE organisations are then able to apply for core cost grant funding up to £10,000 to embed the learning and make sustainable changes.

Our innovative approach to support first and provide funding second has been critical to the success of the programme and the improvements our VCSE partners have seen. One has even been able to take the skills and confidence gained through the programme to secure a £100,000 Lottery grant.

Reflecting on the first phase of the programme, we set ourselves an ambitious target of onboarding and supporting 100 VCSE organisations within 12 months and achieved this in five. This highlights the programme’s popularity, success of its ‘support first, funding second’ approach, and the commitment and expertise of the consortium’s delivery staff. Having secured extension funding, we have now engaged more than 140 VCSEs to maximise their impact.  This video gives a flavour of the difference this support has made.

What happens next? We are committed to learning from our work and sharing our findings across the housing sector and with key stakeholders. Our funding and support model is scalable and replicable, and our long-term goal is to prove the viability of a housing-led VCSE capacity-building and funding model that is demonstrating new ways to support communities. So watch this space!