Blogs

Posts about asset-based community development (Ted Ryan) and tech for social good (Pauline Roche)

Pauline Roche

Digital governance

A version of this article was first published in bvsc Update Dec 2015-Jan 2016 as the second in a series of three articles on the role of digital technology and data in the transformation of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) in Birmingham and beyond; article links updated for accuracy Nov 2018

Strategic processes In this article we will concentrate on the strategic processes which are needed to help us in the VCSE sector to begin the transformation which will benefit our beneficiaries and our organisations. Establishing, developing and overseeing strategy is the remit of the board of a charity. Boards need to be supported in identifying the strategy to […]

Do you need to be zooming?

It’s Spring 2020 and people’s lives in all parts of the world are being affected by the Covid 19 Pandemic. The short and medium term effects, including changes in how we use technology, are likely to go on for some months. The long term effects will go on for years. Video conferencing using Zoom In […]

Regional CVSs and Covid-19

Councils for Voluntary Service “A Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) is a type of charity in England. CVSs are “the place at which local voluntary and community organisations speak to each other”. They offer a wide variety of services and support for local organisations, for example training, or advice on funding” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_Voluntary_Service Each CVS in the various […]

Digital WM News: Brum digital meetup

We held our first ever Digital WM News online meetup, a Brum digital meetup, on 15th April 2020, organised by Pauline Roche from RnR Organisation. The meetup was for Digital WM News subscribers and others in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands, to allow social changemakers to check in with each other and share information […]

Funders and data for good: regional funders network at the first national Data4Good conference

Funders are a key audience for the Data for good community. Anecdotal evidence indicates that the presence of members of WM Funders Network (WMFN) at the first national Data4Good conference held on Nov 14th 2018 was part of the draw for other delegates.

Background RnR Organisation was delighted to see the involvement of WM Funders Network (WMFN) in the 1st national data4good conference in 2018. We saw it as a potential opportunity for others attending the conference to influence WMFN members in how they may use data in their own organisations. During the event, some funder representative attendees […]

Charities need communications: reading list

A series of articles curated from CharityComms Knowledge Hub Friends at the top: getting to know your trustees  by Kay Parris, 8th November 2016 Help them understand the role and value of comms For Trustees Week 2016, we’ve produced Understanding communications: a brief guide for charity trustees. Why not ask your CEO to circulate it to […]

Smart Cities: smarter VCSE

A version of this article was first published in infrastructure organisation bvsc 'Update' Oct-Nov 2015 as the first in a series of three articles on the role of digital technology and data in the transformation of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) in Birmingham and beyond. The article was updated slightly in November 2017 and again in January 2019

Tech and data for good Technology and the understanding and usage of data can help us in the VCSE sectors. Digital tools and approaches can help us work better, sometimes freeing us up to spend more of our valuable time helping our beneficiaries, sometimes allowing us to make better decisions and work smarter. The concepts […]

Mapping charities in the West Midlands

James Bowles, a PhD student at the Third Sector Research Centre at University of Birmingham had a go at mapping all registered charities in the West Midlands

The map shows all 13,653 charities that were registered with the Charity Commission in September 2016, and had registered with a postcode that falls within the West Midlands. The layers tab on the right allows for filtering by category of activity (proportional by income), the search function on the left searches by charity name. The layers […]

What are your charity’s digital identity needs?

Reposted from a blogpost originally published by Yoti on 6th September 2018 https://www.yoti.com/blog/uk-charitys-digital-identity-needs/

How could digital identification help UK charities to more effectively collect information about people using their services? Do charities need to prove who people are, ensure that they are legally eligible for services or to record and recall information about them? If they do, what worries them about the process? Could Yoti Keys help people […]

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Ted Ryan

Component Three: Supply Chain Development, Remodelling the service wave impact of public realm funding

Or the perplexing complexity of transformational relationships

Introduction As identified in Component Two, public realm ‘transformational’ activity, within the Linear Process, focuses on a commissioning and tendering process and the development of a supply chain of services. This third component explores the complex and often perplexing issues generated by public realm service ‘transformation’, and how such transformational activity impacts on other sectors […]

Component Two: The Ecosystem (Current and Possible)

Introduction Having identified issues and terminology in the first component (Component One) the next two components aim to both deconstruct structures that are related to those issues, as well as exploring structures that ‘traverse’ public realm structures, which may be funded by public realm finances but are often seen as an addition to public realm […]

Component One: Components in Transformation

Introduction These series of essays seek to explore the concept of transformation within public realm provision, deconstructing the process into components, identifying issues, terminology and methods that have formed current practice and process and arguing in a public realm provision transformational process. The term ‘component’ is used to identify the complexity of public realm process, […]

Exploring public realm transformation

...explore the systems within public realm process of decision making and its influences on other sectors...

Introduction Visualisations within this post are to be published soon by RnR Organisation in a series of essays that explore public realm transformation The visualisations explore the systems within public realm process of decision making and its influences on other sectors, primarily the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS). Within this post the visualisations are in […]

Asset-based transformation: an introduction

Having published our Three Field Asset based Community Development paper we now want to start thinking about an operational model that will enable the implementation of an asset based health approach.

Fig 1 is our first design of such a model. We will, in the coming months, develop this design and model. This will be done through discussion with commissioners and community activists to enable a robust, fundable and sustainable model to be designed that recognises the importance of all participants within the process. Fig 1 […]

Henry Ford, Top Gear and Robert Kennedy, and my thinking on innovation and transformation in the voluntary sector

Issues of transformation within the voluntary sector

A strange trinity of influence and, while the first two have something in common, they have little to do with the Voluntary Sector. Sometimes, while accumulating information from a variety of sources, something happens. This was one such time for me – a quotation, a television programme and a speech. Suddenly the answers to a […]

When is a market not a market?

Transformation of our (VCS Organisations) finance, performance, product performance and behaviour within our ecosystem, or market.

A confusing title for an equally confusing time. We are told we have to behave more ‘market like’, be innovative and develop new products. But, can publicly funded services, a publicly funded, openly tendered and procured service exist within a true ‘market economy’ (private sector) market? As a producer, in a ‘market economy’, I would […]

Kerslake is wrong

The reframing of Local Authorities and its impact on Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) ecosystem

This is the first in a series of blogposts concerning the reframing of Local Authorities and the impact it will have on Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) ecosystem. Subsequent posts will address the history of local governance and our potential ‘romantic view’ of Councils capability to deliver local services as well as exploring the future […]

First thoughts as to where VCS are in relation to LEPs

What is the VCS offer?

Background Local Enterprise Partmerships (LEPs) were established to develop a local growth agenda, locally driven by businesses that had a buy-in to a distinct geography, supported by Local Authorities and other influential institutions, FE Colleges and Universities. LEPs developed strategic plans, recognised skills deficiency and suggested ameliorative processes to enhance their growth programme. This was […]

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