ESF Capacity Building Project
The European Social Fund: LCVS Technical Assistance Project
- Are you a Liverpool-based non-profit organisation?
- Do you deliver education and training (accredited or otherwise), or employment-related services to people in your community?
- Are you interested in securing new funds for your organisation through contracting with public sector bodies?
If you answer ‘yes’ to all of these, then LCVS could help you get closer to relevant European funds to support your work.
LCVS is working collaboratively with Merseyside Network for Europe to deliver ESF Technical Assistance for voluntary sector groups in Liverpool. We will give free tailored capacity-building support to groups who are looking to secure contracts, submit consortia bids or be sub-contracted by partners to deliver services in the community.
Contracts are likely to be with governmental bodies or ‘Co-Financing Organisations’ who are distributing European Social Fund (ESF) monies, for example the Skills Funding Agency (formerly the Learning & Skills Council) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
If your organisation has not held such a contract before but wishes to explore your potential to engage in contracting, then we can help you assess your readiness and identify the gaps and areas for improvement.
We can offer you individual business planning support, covering such things as governance, strategic planning, management, monitoring and evaluation, finance and quality. This will help you fill those gaps and be better placed to pursue new opportunities including contractual delivery through Merseyside’s European Programme, running until 2013.
This support will be supplemented by a series of free workshops throughout 2010, covering relevant themes such as:
- Managing Projects
- Managing your Finances and Budgeting
- Quality Assurance and Self Assessment
- Business Continuity Planning
- Collaborative Working and Partnership
More information on these workshops and booking opportunities will follow shortly.
Remember, local public spending is under pressure from the economic downturn, securing grants is becoming less reliable and more competitive, and contracting is becoming more commonplace as “traditional” sources of finance face further squeezes.
Do you want to feel more confident in ‘ticking all the boxes’ in a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and demonstrating your organisation is ready to contract? Then please contact Janet Conway or Kate Milner, Capacity Building Officers for the project, on 0151 227 5177.
Alternatively, express your interest by e-mailing advice@lcvs.org.uk, including “ESF TA” in the subject line.