Partnership is the name of the game when it comes to winning bids and CVA has worked proactively to try and support local groups to come together as consortia or put in partnership bids. Our partnership programmes bring external finance into Croydon’s VCS and support collaborative working across the sector.
GameChanger
This Sport England funded initiative brings together 13 local sports organisations to raise the profile of sport in the borough and make a variety of sports activities more accessible to young people aged between 14-25 years old from fitness classes to basketball, cricket to tennis, boxing to martial arts. This year we continued to deliver a fantastic range of free classes, held a youth conference and training workshops with Crystal Palace Football Club Foundation (including an FA Level 1 course with 15 successful participants and a level 1 cricket course), significantly improved the GameChanger website and accessed £99,000 from various partners for year 1.
Joining Streatham and Croydon Ladies Rugby has been one of the most significant things I have done this year so far. There have been so many benefits of playing a sport beyond merely those regarding health. Since joining, l have noticed a considerable change in my confidence levels, my ability to communicate and general overall attitude. Rugby for me is a form of escapism, it’s something I look forward to each week, it is a method I can use to release built up stress and generally enjoy myself without worry.
Croydon Advice Providers Together (CAPT)
In collaboration with Croydon Advice Providers Together, we have successfully supported, through intensive one to one sessions, 7 voluntary sector advice providers to gain the Advice Quality Standard. We are delighted that all 7 providers went through the desk top audit, with some of them already going through the site audit. We have also delivered a Volunteer Management course with 5 individuals completing a Level 3 Institute of Leadership Management training as well as 2 Information, Advice and Guidance Level 2 courses.
Croydon Family Power
Our Big Lottery funded Croydon Family Power programme, a CVA lead partnership of local and national voluntary sector groups working with Croydon families, was coming to an end in March 2015 but was granted a one year extension of funding for its two most successful projects: Family Navigators and ABCD, which were adapted and strengthened at the end of the financial year 2014 / 15. The new community builder model has proved to be very successful and in a space of 10 weeks 25 families with multiple and complex needs have been referred to and supported by the team of Family Navigators.
It has been a very busy year, with a learning and celebration event in March 2015 focusing on early intervention and an ABCD ‘Pushing Back’ community led event addressing Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence.
Overall, the partnership for the Croydon Family Power project has developed an impressive portfolio of work with families and communities in the borough, under strong leadership from CVA... The project has also built a valuable evidence base to inform future service development for "just coping" families in Croydon... The project experience indicates a need for more sustained collaboration between services at the cusp of statutory intervention, and the potential role that VCOs have to play in plugging this service gap.
ECORYS, Independent Evaluation Report
Impact Aloud
We have continued to work with Superhighways and their 6 borough City Bridge Trust funded Impact Aloud project, supporting local organisations use digital tools for better monitoring, evaluating and communicating impact. This has included support with databases as well as a range of training sessions including Creating infographics, Excel for monitoring and evaluation, Mailchimp and Digital Storytelling.
