DD2068 Team London SkillUp - approval for receipt of funds

Team London Skill-Up programme was previously agreed in MD1526 and then DD1440 and DD1466 covered previous receipt of funds.

Team London is committed to supporting small charities in London’s third sector, and without the services of the 22,500 small charities currently functioning in our city, millions of Londoners would lose vital support and services. Our Skill-Up programme provides training and support in the topic areas most needed by London’s small charities. The programme started in June 2015.

We are very proud to be partnering with the business partners listed below and will provide the following training:

CIPD HR training

Twitter Social Media training

Citi Finance

Natixis Preparing and securing Business Partnerships

Portland Communications

Elixirr Strategy and Business Planning

Microsoft Using Technology

A general decline in funding and resources, but a growing need for those services, has resulted in many small charity staff having to multi-task across a number of functions, with little time or funds to take on the extra training so badly needed. The impact of this combination is that charities can find that they are less efficient than they would want to be, they cannot grow as quickly as they might like to, and their staff can find themselves frustrated, trying to learn by doing.

Team London wanted to address this issue, and based on research from the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) and focus groups with small charity staff, we were able to identify the key gaps in the training offer for this audience, and some key issues for the staff themselves around quality of training, costs and the time available to implement learning. The Skill-UP programme was developed to address all these factors.

The Skill-UP programme offers free high quality skill-sharing, delivered by business volunteers who are experts in their industry areas. The unique selling point is that the programme includes both a practical toolkit with templates, tips and examples to take away, plus the most important element for this audience, post-training support, in the form of long term mentoring or post-training sessions to help implement the learning into the organisation. The outcomes, measured by pre and post course and mentoring attendance, are increased knowledge and confidence in the topic areas covered, and the ability of the charitable organisation to manage that aspect of their work more effectively. For business delivery partners there is a development opportunity for staff both in the development of the materials and training module and the provision of mentoring afterwards, which provides opportunities to more junior staff to work with a sector they may not be familiar with and to carry out tasks that they would otherwise not be exposed to. .The Skill-UP programme now provides expert training in all of those areas that were identified as having the greatest need.

Business support for SkillUp comes in the form of a small (£5k p.a.) cash contribution and substantial value-in-kind (“VIK”). This VIK consists of the time spent by staff on developing the training module, which includes spending time with sector focus groups, and in refining the materials post delivery of the module once feedback has been received. In addition the business often hosts the module, providing rooms and catering, as well as the staff time involved in delivery. Subsequently the business gives VIK through the time spent by staff in mentoring the charities and ensuring that implementation of learning can take place.

Partners receive marketing and promotional opportunities, for example at our International Volunteering conference on 5th December, SkillUP was prominently featured, in the form of a Blueprint for the programme which is available in both hard and soft copies and was distributed by attendees, participation from SKillUP business partners on conference panels to promote their contribution to the programme. It also features in our Impact report, which is used as a marketing and promotional asset for the team, and highlights the contribution of business partners.

Small charities in London support diverse communities with many different requirements. By enabling these charities to access high quality training and support we will be having a positive impact on equalities. All training is accessible to those with access requirements and additional support needs and we are always careful to ensure that reasonable adjustments can be made.

The Skill-Up programme has worked with over 200 charities so far, and over the next 1-2 years will work with another 100. We have nearly 100 business mentors taking part in post course follow up.
The programme enables charities to be supported, build capacity and forge relationships with corporate partners. This strengthening of the sector and forming cross partner relationships is very much a priority for the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement, Matthew Ryder QC.

5.1 The total equates to £80,000 value-in-kind and £20,000 cash contribution allocated as per the table below. In return for the value-in-kind, project partners will receive marketing and publicity services; and staff development opportunities from the GLA for which the monetary value is equivalent of the deliverables that it is receiving, thus resulting in VAT charges on both sides. Consequently, the GLA and all the project partners/sponsors should supply VAT only invoices to ensure VAT is correctly accounted and paid for.

5.2 The total cash contributions and VIK detailed below:

6.1 The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the director fall within the GLA’s statutory power to promote and/or to do anything which is facilitative of or conducive or incidental to the promotion of social development in Greater London.

6.2 Officers have indicated how they have complied with the Authority’s statutory duties to:
(a) pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
(b) consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and
(c) consult with appropriate bodies.

6.3 In taking the decisions requested of him, the director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

6.4 Prior to the commencement of the project, it is recommend that the officers ensure that appropriate documentation be put in place to record the terms, upon which the funding and value-in-kind is being provided by Elixirr and Microsoft.