Case studies - collaboration between large and small organisations

These are brief descriptions of the case studies. Please click on the links for full versions.

Addaction and Action for Change

This partnership was set up in 2000 between Addaction, a large national drug service provider, and Action for Change (at that time called Community Alcohol Team Projects), a smaller local alcohol service provider. Together the partnership provides a single access drug and alcohol service across Brighton and Hove.

The partnership has a simple structure. Addaction has a formal contract with the joint commissioning group on behalf of Brighton and Hove Drug and Alcohol Team (DAT) to provide various services in relation to substance misuse. The service is delivered with the knowledge and approval of the commissioners by a joint venture agreement between Addaction and Action for Change. The agreement lays out the terms of the joint venture and deals with issues such as obligation, management, arbitration, indemnity and employment of staff.

A joint management board consisting of the Action for Change CEO and the area manager of Addaction oversees the project. Addaction employs the operational project manager and both members of the partnership perform joint supervision. This level of integration right from the start is something identified by both organisations as a key success factor.

Sunshine Healthy Living Project

The Sunshine Healthy Living Project is a complex cluster of voluntary and statutory, large and small, local, regional and national organisations. All partners are independent' but have come together under the umbrella of a healthy living project' to deliver a range of services within a clearly defined geographical rural area. The project is virtual'; they do not have a shared physical space to work from, although this is currently being planned. The partnership is made up of Salisbury and District Council for Voluntary Services (CVS), Salisbury and District Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), South Wiltshire Primary Care Trust (PCT), Salisbury District Council, Home-Start South Wiltshire, South Wiltshire Mencap, The Shaw Trust, Alabare Christian Care Centres, Artcare, Wiltshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre and The Learning Curve. All the partners are large and small in relation to one another.

The CVS is the accountable body for the project. It employs two part-time project staff who manage, capacity build, monitor and support the delivery of the whole project and the partnership itself. The addition of a local authority and a Primary Care Trust (PCT) to the partnership is an interesting dynamic; the project staff report that this has been very helpful to the partnership. It works because, in the case of the council, they are there as equal service deliverers rather than in the more traditional role of funder'. Sunshine runs a diverse portfolio of services such as video arts projects on sexual health, a keep fit club for people with disabilities and a community garden. It also offers basic skills and training to improve employability, advice on disability issues, a money advice skills programme, support for families with young children, an elderly people's exercise project, an energy efficiency advice service and a specialist advice service for women.

NCH and the Warwickshire Children's Fund

This case study is not technically a partnership, but has been included in the study because of interest in the potential of subcontractual models to build capacity and facilitate small organisations' access to service delivery contracts. A subcontractual model would normally firmly place any relationship into the realm of funder and service deliverer rather than a partnership. However, in this case, Warwickshire Children's Fund and indeed their small service providers do view themselves as operating in a close partnership, and together they have developed some innovative and successful collaborative commissioning and capacity building practices. This is probably due as much to the attitude and vision of the staff managing this project as to the structure of the model.

The large organisation in this study is NCH West Midlands, who successfully tendered to run the Warwickshire Children's Fund. The small organisations interviewed were Relate Rugby North West, a small- to medium-sized charity that provides counselling services across the county, and ILEAP, a small local organisation providing access to leisure opportunities for young people with disabilities. Neither of the small organisations interviewed had had any previous experience of public service contracting. In total 20 small local VCOs and 12 statutory services have been subcontracted to provide services to the Warwickshire Children's Fund since it began operation in 2003.

Rethink and Enfield Women's Aid Ltd

This partnership is between Rethink Severe Mental Illness and Enfield Women's Aid Ltd.

Rethink works with a large number of local and regional partner agencies to deliver 400 community services, 120 local support groups, membership and National Advice Service. Rethink has 1,500 staff and over 500 volunteers working with it a week. Enfield Women's Aid Ltd (EWA) currently runs a refuge service for women experiencing domestic violence, and is also in the process of developing a new expanded service in a specially-built property in Enfield, London.

The partnership is in the early stages of development (awaiting funding confirmation), and will be a new service offered at EWA for women experiencing mental health problems and domestic violence. Currently, the refuge does not have the capacity to support women with mental health problems.

Rethink and The Mellow Campaign

This partnership is between Rethink (see above) and The Mellow Campaign (TMC).

TMC was established in 2000 to reduce the over-representation of young African and Caribbean men in mental health services and to develop alternative responses to mental distress among this target group. Its main aims are: (a) empower service users; (b) improve mental health services; (c) influence the policy agenda; and (d) involve the wider community. TMC is a department within the East London Mental Health Team which covers the boroughs of Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets. It does most of its work via partnerships with local or national VCOs and statutory agencies.

The partnership project, which is currently without a name, will be a new initiative for TMC and Rethink. It will be an early intervention service for care leavers under the auspices of a new mentoring-style project aiming to engage local black and minority ethnic people and communities in mentoring young African and Caribbean people leaving Care.

Lowestoft into Work Partnership

The Lowestoft into Work Partnership was developed during 2000 - 2001 by the Shaw Trust. Originally, the partnership consisted of the Shaw Trust and four small local organisations, including YMCA Training, Family Welfare Association, DIAL and the Lowestoft Enterprise Trust Ltd. The partnership has since grown and now totals 26 organisations.

The overarching mission of this community-based regeneration partnership is to support people who are disabled or disadvantaged into work, and each partner agency carries out a contributing role to meet this mission. The Shaw Trust has a turnover of £45 million and is the accountable body for the entire partnership, which consists of voluntary organisations including small community-based ones with turnovers of a few thousand pounds, as well as statutory partners and local social enterprise agencies.

The scheme is funded largely through Single Regeneration Budget (SRB6) and European Regional Development Funding. In the space of three and a half years, it attracted almost £5 million to run a whole range of projects delivered by and through the partnership, together with over £1 million provided by various partners as match funding. Core projects include a young people's service, new business start-ups, social enterprises, a supported employment programme, a volunteer programme, capacity building initiatives, and two secondary partnerships leading to ICT Lowestoft which resulted in 10 community-based ICT centres, four mobile units, and a ship restoration project.

The scheme is ongoing and there have been a number of successes en route which highlight the strength of large small partnership working: firstly, the sheer amount of funding that the partnership has attracted, and secondly, the partnership's ability to work collaboratively and move quickly leaving the statutory sector standing'.

Barnardo's South West and the Black Communities Education Support Group

This partnership is between Barnardo's South West and the Black Communities Education Support Group (BCESG), which is based in Bristol. BCESG is a small black-led community organisation with one part-time coordinator doing focused work on advocacy for black governors in schools and support for parents. The partnership agreement states that together the partners run the Black Communities Education Advocacy and Advice Service and that via this partnership they seek to build a broader service provision through the Shakti Imani Inclusion project'. This is described as the expression of the spirit of partnership' by both partners. Shakti Imani has nine members of staff and works to provide social, educational and support services to black children, young people and their families across Bristol. Barnardo's is the primary funder and the accountable body for Shakti Imani, with additional funding from the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, SRB6 and the local education authority.

The partnership is governed by a Project Management Group (PMG) chaired on a six-monthly rotational basis by Barnardo's and BCESG. The PMG has equal representation from the two partner agencies, as well as representatives who cover Asian and African perspectives and other co-optees as required. The PMG holds the strategic power for Shakti Imani with responsibility for issues such as service direction, business planning, effectiveness and performance monitoring, partnership policy issues and recruitment. Barnardo's South West is responsible for other functions such as employment, premises, personnel, operational decision-making and financial management. The functions are all to be carried out in the spirit of partnership', which illustrates the process' by which these partners are expected to work together.

Barnardo's South West and Off the Record

This partnership was initiated in 2001/2 by the director of Off the Record (OTR), a small voluntary organisation, working in the Bath and North East Somerset area with a remit to focus on the needs of vulnerable young people and the assistant director of Barnardo's South West. Barnardo's mission is to develop services for children, young people and families in greatest need.

The two organisations work together to run a specialist advocacy service for young people - Shout Out. The partnership is a one-to-one model, where OTR is the lead partner within the service level agreement made with the commissioning local authority (Bristol and North East Somerset Council). Both agencies are jointly accountable for the delivery of the service. OTR commissions Barnardo's to provide a specialist supervisory service for the OTR staff of Shout Out.

The partnership has a written agreement and is governed by a steering group, chaired by OTR with equal representation from the two partner agencies, the Council and other co-opted interested parties, young people etc. The day-to-day operational and management decisions are the responsibility of OTR as the lead partner.