Widening Training Opportunities

A growing partnership of training organisations in Leeds is working to make provision more accessible to groups who need it. The CVS' existing training directory has been expanded to include a range of courses and providers, helping groups in the voluntary, community and faith sectors to identify opportunities for capacity building quickly and easily. The directory signposts the local authority's bursary scheme for small groups (those with an annual income of under £20,000). Qualifying groups can use the bursary for any of the courses listed in the directory.

Who's involved?

The collaboration involves Voluntary Action Leeds (the CVS), the Leeds Infrastructure Consortium (LIC), a consortium established in 2004 with ChangeUp investment, the Business Link's Social Enterprise Unit, and a number of training providers who are not part of LIC. Eight organisations currently list provision in the directory: West Yorkshire Community Accountancy Service (WYCAS), Holistic Partnership, VA-L Training, Leeds Play Network, Healthy Living Network Leeds, Feel Good Factor, Fit4funding and Leeds Safeguarding Children's Board. Others are likely to join in future.

How did it start?

Eighteen months ago the situation was very different. Local authority money for training bursaries used by small VCFS groups was granted to a single organisation, Resourcing the Community, who worked in a specific area of Leeds. Inevitably this limited both the training offered and the candidates who could benefit.

In April 2008, that organisation was forced to close after European funding came to an end. The local authority channelled monies to the CVS, to provide a bursary fund for small groups.

Rather than making the bursaries available only for their own in-house training provision the CVS, in consultation with LIC, decided to widen the net. First of all, they identified training offered by member organisations of LIC. They then looked beyond the consortium, so that all relevant training in the city could be captured. Gradually, the directory took shape and, in September 2008, the first bursary scheme began.

How does the collaboration operate?

Part of the grant funds additional staff time within the CVS, the body responsible for administering the bursary scheme. Their remit includes identifying and bringing in any training organisations that are still out of the loop, to ensure the directory is as comprehensive as possible.

The directory is very much the product of partnership, however: it is developed in consultation with LIC and is being rebranded as a LIC directory.

What are the benefits?

The collaborative approach means that groups need only consult a single source of information about training. Opportunities are reaching a wider audience and small groups are better able to get the help they need to grow their organisations.

"We're already seeing some benefits", says John Wilson, Training Manager at Holistic Partnership. "People from some small groups, who wouldn't have known about or had access to this training in the past, are attending courses and taking the benefits back into their organisations."

John points out that most of the provision was already taking place. Yet the directory is being used to help providers plan. It allows gaps to be identified and filled but, just as importantly, it encourages training providers to talk to each other when setting up courses, to avoid the same courses being run simultaneously.

The directory provides a boost to local provision: by showcasing what is available within Leeds, it reduces the likelihood of the CVS buying in services from outside the city. Moreover, the Leeds Infrastructure Consortium now has a much broader picture of training in Leeds and has reliable data on the numbers of people who are benefiting.

The Children's Services section of local authority has also seen the benefits of collaboration. The directory has helped that their Common Assessment Framework team to roll out training to a range of groups, enabling them to reach a much wider audience.

... and the challenges?

"People can be possessive", explains John, "but in this case the directory's 'neutral' branding, as the Leeds Infrastructure Consortium's product, means it isn't tied to a single organisation". Indeed, the benefits of increased openness appear so far to be outweighing the risks.

Top tips for collaboration

· See the bigger picture. If you or your partners are too possessive, the collaboration may fail.

· Think short and long term. "It's useful to have a short-term benefit, as it gets people round the table", says John, "but collaboration is about being in for the long haul."

· Hang on in there. "It takes a while to develop a successful collaboration", says John, "and you won't necessarily get it right first time. But it's worth persevering!"

Looking to the future...

The system's early wrinkles – issues of presentation and format, for example – are now being ironed out. Leeds City Council's funding for the bursary scheme currently runs until March 2010, having been extended for an additional twelve months, and John Wilson and his partners hope that the benefits of the new shared directory make a strong case for its continuation. As John explains: "A more coherent delivery, more learners, less duplication... that can only be a good thing!"