Agenda item

Report of the Strategic Director, Communities and Environment.

The Committee received a report and presentation on the impact of the Gateshead Fund during 2016/17. 

The Gateshead Fund was agreed by Cabinet in 2011 and was created to fund the voluntary and community sector to build capacity within communities.  The key components of the Gateshead Fund comprises of the Local Community Fund (LCF) and the Gateshead Capacity Building Fund (CBF). The criteria for 2016/17 remained the same as previous years, however additional objectives were included which were; developing and mobilising volunteers, supporting building relationships with communities and supporting residents to build their communities and improve what is already there. The overall fund budget for 2016/17 was £490,267.

The Community Foundation for Tyne and Wear and Northumberland is working to develop the CBF on behalf of the Council and Nils Stronach, Senior Programme Advisor for Community Foundation, gave a presentation on the work of the Foundation during 2016/17.  It was noted that the partnership between the council and the Foundation was established in August 2016 and undertakes research into developing the Fund and also undertakes the administration of the CBF. 

The CBF provides grants up to £10,000 to voluntary, community and social enterprise sector organisations to build capacity and strengthen local communities. The Individual Sporting Grants can provide up to £400, in addition the Talented Athlete Scheme can grant up to £1,000 to reward and recognise sporting talent of Gateshead residents.  The Gateshead Volunteers’ Month can provide grants of up to £300 to support volunteering development during the month of June.

It was reported that in 2016/17 there were 61 awards, with fund distribution of £180,938 benefiting all wards in Gateshead. This equates to approximately £1.77 per capita per ward.

A number of case studies were shared with Committee of organisations which received Capacity Building funding n 2016/17. Victims First Northumbria is an independent victim referral service which was awarded £10,000 to support women in Gateshead who have been victims of rape, sexual assaults and other sex offences. Felling Male Voice Choir was awarded £4,500 to support a programme of visits which will be used to generate interest in joining the choir, it was noted the progress has been steady but work is ongoing to look at different ways of delivery. Ryton Triathlon Club was awarded £8,000 to support the creation and delivery of a new Junior Club to facilitate the transition from the children’s section to the adult section. The Young Women’s Outreach Project was awarded £4,786 to engage two workers who will run a weekly session for the LGBT Plus Group, it was noted that this work was previously delivered through the Sexual Health Team before funding was cut, it has been used to reduce stigma and so far there has been high engagement.

In terms of plans for 2017-2018 there has been a number of changes to how the Gateshead Fund will be delivered. A new assessment and reporting framework will be established to help rate the impacts of the grant. There will be increased leverage for additional funding and impact reports to donors which will provide a general overview of the area. For 2017/18 there will be three rounds, the first of which opened on 5 June and will close on 30 June.

A presentation was also given on the Local Community Fund (LCF) which is another component of the Gateshead Fund. The LCF has a budget allocation of £66,000, which equals £3,000 per ward. The LCF is used to help Councillors to support local issues and promote community engagement, development and cohesion. The LCF can support a wide variety of local priorities, groups and organisations, it can help the delivery of Vision 2030 and the Council Plan and also can lever in external opportunities.

In 2016/17 £55,500 of the allocated budget was spent, this was spent on 88 projects in Gateshead. The key characteristics of how the LCF was used were; health and wellbeing, community facilities and activities, environmental improvements and arts, heritage and culture.  A number of case studies were provided; Blaydon District Scouts received £750 (£250 from each of the wards of Chopwell and Rowlands Gill, Blaydon and Winlaton and High Spen), this allowed Cub Scouts from across the west of Gateshead to attend the Blaydon District’s ‘Cubs 100’. This was an event to celebrate 100 years of Cub Scouts and was an all night birthday party held at the Winlaton Centre. The LCF contribution acted as a subsidy for the event costs and enabled cubs to attend for a very small price. In the Felling ward Friends of Felling Park and Town Centre received £200 to cover the cost of litter pickers, bags and gloves. The group has since recruited more volunteers and has made a vast improvement to the park. The LCF grant also inspired the group to do more work and apply for further funding.  £760 of LCF enabled Birtley Community Partnership to deliver an arts project, supported with match funding from the Arts Council, which allowed Birtley Villas residents to meet weekly and record their personal memories through visual art. The project allowed residents to socialise with their neighbours while learning something new and also enhanced their wellbeing.  LCF also provided £760 to support ‘Lighting up Whickham’ group, this was used to prepare the site and supply and maintain for one year the lighting of the Christmas tree at Church Green. It was reported that Bensham and Saltwell Alive was awarded £1950 from the LCF, this was used to support asylum seekers with various household goods, the fund is also open to other members of the community who need extra support due to unforeseen circumstances. Ryton Cricket Club received £500 towards Ryton Fair Day, this allowed the community to generate excellent income from the fair day which was distributed to local organisations.

It was queried whether wards can carry forward any underspend to the following year. It was acknowledged that traditionally wards do carry forward any underspend at the end of the year although they are encouraged to spend it. However if Councillors are aware of bigger projects discussions can be held around use of the wider Gateshead Fund.

Concerns were raised that some organisations had faced problems in receiving grants in time for volunteers month due to administration delays by the Community Foundation. It was acknowledged that there had been issues in terms of notification of the final round of grants, with four organisations being affected by not having enough time to deliver events. Committee was reassured that the Community Foundation had learnt from this and plans are in place to run the application process earlier next year.

It was questioned whether there are any mechanisms to inform the public of successful outcomes which have been as a result of the Gateshead Fund. It was confirmed that previously this was done through an Annual Summary and newsletters, however due to reduced capacity within the team this no longer happens. It was agreed that this would be discussed further with the Council’s communications team to look at the possibility of including positive case studies on line. It was also suggested that this could be promoted through a rolling blog for all organisations to see, which would show the support Gateshead is giving. It was agreed that officers would look into this possibility and in the meantime feedback summaries would be provided to all wards.

RESOLVED    -           (i)         That the comments and suggestions of the Committee

be noted.

                                    (ii)        That the Committee was satisfied with the overall

impact of the Gateshead Fund.