A Community Engagement Strategy (C.E.S) must be developed as a direct response for addressing the twenty first century socio-economic needs and Social Care issues amongst the BME, "disadvantaged", "marginalised" and "hard to reach" communities. We need to recognise and support the important role that Ethnic Minority Community (EMC) residents have in shaping and delivering services and in helping to build a stronger, safer and more cohesive communities.
The C.E.S must be supported by a culturally sensitive and professional infrastructure that enables it to engage in shaping the delivery of high quality and sustainable services to local people and surrounding communities, especially those who are most at risk, "vulnerable, marginalized and disadvantaged".Communities need to be more involve and responsible in order to support themselves therefore empowering them to make more decisions about service delivering. Community groups and organisations are best place to propagate the use of best practice for developing new targeted initiatives, and toolkits for benchmarking their performance. The C.E.S must provide the strategic leadership to help drive forward a better co-ordination for support in areas such as, health and well being, business, enterprise development and training support.
Opportunities for both young people and adults are not good enough for the development of future industries, there are hundreds of thousands of our residents left functionally illiterate and innumerate. Services provisions have not been successful enough in engaging people to share in prosperity. There is still too much poverty and long term worklessness, leaving too many people behind and in this current climate a whole new type of deprivation is threatening our communities.
Training programmes has not equipped residents with the right skills, providers should have done better in delivering tailored packages considering the level of resources that was made available to them. This has resulted in communities from all over not wanting to seek education or so called training. We must reshape the skills and employment systems in order to better deliver the appropriate skills people require. Cities need to develop long-term sustainable strategies for economic growth to ensure prosperity for all of its residents. It is intended that the C.E.S Strategic Framework should help shape the foundation for an agreement amongst key stakeholders about what work needs to be done. This will create the environment for better partner relationships between different parts of our skills and employment development systems, and employers. Research shows that consultants are mostly from private sector, therefore their commitment is to their employers, communities' needs consultants that will listen to what they have to say, analyse it, and do what's best for them and on their behalf.
SUMMARY
Conventional wisdom shows community problems are treated as isolated issues purely within the context of criminal activities. Agencies such as the local government offices, crime and disorder partnerships and statutory agencies have recognised that their criminal justice systems alone cannot resolve the problems. It is acknowledged that the problem is a Social Economic issue extending beyond the boundaries of traditional criminal activity and crime prevention. Government and statutory agencies, and some non-statutory groups have taken a piecemeal approach to the deprivation problems. They have lacked coherence in their approaches to tackle the multifarious factors that lead to gang involvement and corruption that is endemic in the community.
Lacklustre methods have been used to administer public services to the depredation of its users. The response to date has largely been reactive, agencies from health to police to social services and schools are picking up the aftermath of failures to meet the problems head on at an early stage and in a comprehensive manner. Where there have been efforts at preventative and rehabilitative work, traditional agency and multi-agency treatment and service delivery programmes rarely take into full account the multi-determined nature of communities. The multi-determined nature of cognitive behaviours such as family variables, parenting practices, affectional bonds, peer relations, and school performance, affects the neighbourhood context. Failure to address them all severely limits the utility of any intervention to tackle the existence of local criminal networks in particular youth's gangs'.
Over time the limitations to the responses has exacerbated the problems to such an extent that communities, especially those at risk, are now so far disassociated from mainstream society that existing agencies are unable to develop and deliver meaningful solutions. Service delivery agencies currently lack the flexibility needed to meet the multiple and changing needs of young people and families through time. Existing models of inter-agency collaboration in service delivery invariably involves trying to make communities 'fit' into existing programmes. Moreover, existing models ignore youths and families therefore their needs are not properly addressed by existing services.
As non-governmental organisation, community groups are more able to adapt to the community needs more rapidly than statutory agencies that are frequently hampered by legislation and rigid rules. Crucially, community groups must not be left to suffer from the mistrust that youths and much of the community has with statutory groups and the service they provide. There already exists substantial knowledge of at risk communities which must be complimented through a process of information sharing with partner agencies. It is paramount for service providers to develop and maintain links in the community to ensure their staff become well aquatinted with community resident thus providing a contact point for concerned residents who may wish to report localities where needs are most needed to be met.
THE VISION
To ensure that services for "disadvantaged" communities are led by those who have a genuine understanding, through personal experience, of being disadvantage, with a view that so called hard to reach people are not "hard to reach" at all. However, there are many community residents for whom mainstream provision is simply inaccessible, culturally insensitive or fails to emphasize with different cultural origins.
Mission
"To improve the Quality Of Life for BME, Marginalised, Disadvantaged and Hard to Reach Communities by developing partnerships to tackle inequalities and suffering and create opportunities for sustainability and economic growth."
Aim
To create a strong and vibrant community that embraces its cultural heritage for addressing inequalities and worklessness by promoting its economic contribution, and future in the 21st century society.
Objects
To influence the development of emerging strategies and ensure the C.E.S service provisions and organisational development is responsive to the wider socio- economic and cultural changes.
To build on existing community cohesion and address the issues that affects the integration of people from BME origin into our local communities.
To shape and influence public policy agendas through community led social research and public advocacy for articulating grass roots concerns and break down ‘territoriality' and dismantle Ghettoisim.
To improve the provisions of comprehensive and holistic social care for disadvantaged groups through capacity building and partnership work.
To address mental health issues affecting disadvantaged communities and ensure equality of access for all.
To work with partners in affected communities to reduce the fear of gangs and gun violence, and create a safer environment where new commercial investment can be developed.
We must recognise the diversity of people who make up the North West's population; our services must be accessible and fit for use to everyone, regardless of age, faith, disability, gender, origin, race, sexual identity or any other factors which may cause "disadvantage". Everyone has a right to the same degree of consideration in terms of how their needs are met culturally, sensitively and appropriately. The C.E.S must produce toolkits which enables community organisations to be involve in decision making processes themselves, rather than disadvantaged people being a sector of society who have things done to them or for them by well meaning but misplaced services.
This often leads to long term damaging effects to self esteem, confidence, personal responsibility and the ability to achieve. The C.E.S must endeavour to ensure that "disadvantaged" children, young people and adults have increased opportunities for personal development. Either through direct culturally sensitive service provision by the C.E.S own programmes or through supported community capacity building and partnership work. For many community residents, the lack of education and training during their early years due to exclusion or poor attendance at school has left t
hem with few marketable skills. Moreover, it leaves them with a lack of confidence to exploit the array of mainstream education and training provision, thus leading to the life of crime for some.
We encounter many ex-offenders on probation or release under licence, who are genuinely looking to rehabilitate and turn their lives around. But lack of basic skills, low self-esteem and confidence to enter mainstream education and training provisions, limits their opportunities for rewarding and fulfilling employment. There is a need for culturally sensitive programmes, delivered by tutors from similar socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, to raise basic skills levels including literacy and numeracy and increase confidence levels within the Ethnic Minority Communities.
The programme must also be in line with the Learning Skills Council's objectives and culturally sensitive to offer enhance basic skill education, vocational training and work experience for providing pathways into employment for "disadvantage" community residents thereby reducing recidivism.
CULTURAL SENSITIVITY
The C.E.S must place an emphasis on incorporating cultural identity factors into the programme for each individual based on their ethnic background. Results show that in addition to core key skills and vocational training, appropriate self-development requires careful attention. Concentration must be paid to ensure that cultural sensitivity is proportioned in relation to academical education or training. Delivery of key skills and vocational training must be delivered by tutors, (teachers and trainers) with experience of working with young people and adults with multiple disadvantages. Tutors should also have an excellent track record of their accomplishment of working in multi-cultural environments.
Programmes should not duplicate mainstream education or training provisions, neither should it be devise solely for promoting academic achievements. Rather, it is part of a greater project fitting young people with skills for life, work, leisure, and home. The C.E.S must introduce and reinforce the values, traditions and recognition that citizenship demands whilst giving the young people opportunities to acquire new skills and knowledge.
What we can achieve
Raise attainment and increase numbers of "disadvantaged" young people engaging in education and training.
Reduce school age children being excluded by providing alternative education for those who are excluded.
Increase the numbers of adults from marginalized and excluded groups within the communities, participating in life long learning.
New training and vocation programmes for increasing employment opportunities.
Partnerships, with the private and public sectors, to ensure provisions are complimentary to existing strategies when and where appropriate.
How we can achieve these goals
Provide a safe space with facilities that are run in partnership with stakeholders, where intergenerational peer learning and parental development is a primary goal. But first we need to;
Create an effective communication system that provides accurate and up to date information for community residents, community groups and stakeholders.
Develop partnerships to ensure a sustainable long-term financial strategy.
Work with partners to develop and implement rigorous monitoring procedures and robust evaluation mechanisms to ensure best value and output leads to effective outcomes.
Increase the level of support and extend the range of organisations that are delivering services, by improving the C.E.S quality and range of service delivery.
EFFECTIVE OUTREACH
Staff must be prepared to work non-traditional hours in order to deliver an effective outreach service this must also necessitate having staff on duty during evenings and weekends and on call 24 hours a day if required. Staff, need to work directly with residents who are vulnerable in order to influences, and support them and their families. Proactive and timely outreach must be conducted in the streets, schools and homes of residents to be most effective. Support is needed for families to gain the required access to much-needed social care services, education, job training and employment opportunities for preparing them whilst they become accustomed to new options.
It is imperative that we address the needs of the wider community by supporting agencies in to their work including information sharing to ensure policy coherence. We must raise awareness amongst agencies and practitioners of the problems associated with worklessness including the impact on families and on agencies. We need to support the engender and facilitation of formal and informal partnerships between agencies and line level grass roots practitioners. Engender and facilitate partnerships between statutory organisations and grass roots groups and support and encourage new grass roots and community led initiatives. With the right resources we can encourage and support groups already working together in the community to solve the problems associated with current trends and to address the multiple causal factors leading to solutions.
SMART OUTCOMES: Four key outcomes
Strong, vibrant, healthy and confident communities
Increased aspirations, attainment and achievement
Reduce unemployment to tackle worklessness
Reduce the risk of crime and re-offending
GOVERNANCE
The C.E.S must adopt the governance of a local authority as its business model, the principle, intention and aim must be to establish how to better serve the needs of the community through its Articles and Memorandum. The C.E.S must undertake a review of the communities' interest and ensure that a quality service is been provided wherever it is necessary. The C.E.S must be developed and implemented by an interim board of stakeholders and must in due course, establish its executive committees and sub-groups where selection for posts will be open to members and representatives of the community to work in specific area of needs.
In order to articulate grass root concerns, representative must be involve at decision making levels with support from community led social research and public advocacy strategies which can be use to influence public policies and their agendas. The C.E.S will adopt the governance of Corporate Policies and Procedures, these practices are based on positive ideology that actively challenges all forms of discrimination against "disadvantaged" groups. The purpose for adopting these Policies is to identify and eliminate any unfair discrimination against all "disadvantaged" groups we work with in order;
To ensure the skills of the workforce are utilised
To demonstrate commitment of Equal Opportunities
To ensure services are flexible and responsive to the diversity of the local population

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

An executive committee must be made up of elected members with good knowledge, experience and insight of sustainable community development, and the ability to operate at strategic levels with support from other members. Members need to be able to develop as future leaders with the aim of engendering distributive leadership models across the organisations. Members must work to ensure that the C.E.S offers the best service it can to all its beneficiaries, both current and potential. As the C.E.S develops, post-holders must be committed to embracing new working patterns and conditions, where appropriate, including a flexible approach to working hours and must be professionals in their field.

The responsibilities of the executive committee
Targets and milestones are agreed and subsequently met.
Finances are in order and all funds are appropriately monitored, effectively administrated and efficiently distributed.
Members of the C.E.S partnership are treated fairly within the policies and guidelines set out in the Strategy Equal Opportunities Policy.

Programme outputs are appropriately and effectively benefiting the targeted communities, and remains lawful within the rules and regulations lay down by the local authorities.
MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

Executive members must posses the necessary skills and abilities in the relevant fields to be able to develop the infrastructure required to drive forward the vision of the C.E.S They must be influenced or have influence, experience and expertise in the following areas;

Health and social care
Politics
Business and Enterprise Development
Employment & Training
Environment
Arts and Culture
Education
Criminal Justice System
Housing
Fundraising and Capacity building
Faith
Community Cohesion and Diversity
VOLUNTEERING
Volunteering opportunities are ways to develop and make use of new skills in a real and fast paced work environment, for making tangible contributions to the community. Volunteers can also utilise their professional skills and expertise to mentor others who want to learn new skills. The C.E.S can offer young people and adults the chance to make a real difference to their community by developing new and unique volunteer programmes for mentees to participate in.

All beneficiaries benefiting from this project will work effectively to engage with key delivery agencies, service providers, and participants from other projects. We believe this partnership could be a real boost to volunteering among marginalized and hard to reach residents, who according to Volunteering England are amongst the groups least likely to volunteer in their community.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership is open to residents, groups and organisations working in partnership with an interest of improving the quality of life for its diverse communities. The C.E.S must be a vehicle for expressing the needs, abilities, concerns and aspirations of "marginalised and disadvantaged communities". The diversity of the programmes, groups and individuals who are associated and work with the project, must reflect the demographic make up of the communities the C.E.S serve.

No two communities are the same, it is this diversity that must be reflected in the variety, breadth and depth of the C.E.S development plans. The C.E.S must build its capacity through the development of transferable skills, boosting self esteem and improving opportunities to secure new members. The C.E.S must provide support which creatively explores alternative methods to;

Improve self-esteem, skills development and promoting positive images of it's communities

Support individuals and families to unlock their potential and explore and enhance their creativity

Identify new and existing potential and developing empowerment strategies

Raise awareness of cultural diverse issues to influence cohesion

The C.E.S must assist in promoting positive images of its communities, furthermore encouraging them to explore additional activities outside their usual environment. The C.E.S must develop interaction between groups and individuals irrespective of faith, gender, ability, disability, religion, race, colour, creed or age. Researchers must identify emerging needs and explore novel ways of meeting them; the research must also identify models of best practice and ensure they avoid duplication of efforts.

 There must be commitment to develop and lead the vision for the future of the C.E.S through productive partnerships. The C.E.S must work with voluntary organisation, community groups, public and private sectors partners to develop an understanding of the needs of the community and methods of meeting those needs. Partners must work to agree priorities for service delivery, while ensuring long term sustainability in order to continue to build on existing partnerships and develop new initiatives for joint investment between partners.

The role of the partnership

The partnership must promote and support a culture of participation and involvement among "hard to reach" communities for understanding mainstream decision making structures such as Local Authorities by empowering them. Local residents must become more effectively engage with organisations providing services in their communities and be capable of identifying their own support requirements in terms of the appropriate service meeting their needs.

Key objectives of partners;

To strategic plan and manage all activities within the partnership, including any sub-contracting arrangements.

Link and co-ordinate project activities with delivery agents, partners, and advice on implementation.

Provide overall management to ensure all objectives, outcomes and implementation arrangements are met.

Ensure funding and contract specifications for the project are appropriately set and managed.

Actions
Develop the partnership's direction and strategy.
Monitor partnership's progress throughout project delivery.
Facilitate liaison between partners, residents, and beneficiary organisations to achieve the required outcomes.
Organise mechanisms to publicise projects.
Ensure that projects meet the necessary delivery requirements.

All partners must have a strong track record in delivering successful funded projects with community involvement, and have also received advice and support on Project Management and Good Practice. This would have helped them shaped the management structure for previous projects. Service Level Agreements must be in place to govern the delivery of all projects and accountability for the effective delivery of projects must lie with the organisation who is the lead partner.

Lesson must be learned from organisations that have had substantial experience of successfully managing and delivering large complex partnership projects which was required to produce immaculate record keeping. The same demand could be adopted to influence toolkits for future partnerships. We can therefore state with certainty that all organisations involve must have the confidence of being Accountable and Lead Bodies for future Partnership work.

LONG TERM STRATEGY: Sustainability Plan

Partners must put in place a long-term strategy to sustain this project; a Sustainability Plan is an important part of project management and plays an integral part of every project that is successfull. There must be an exit strategy to secure funding to further develop this project because the need for support and capacity building is long-term, and the benefits for this project must be demonstrated to funders. A key aspect of the Sustainability Plan is to ensure organisations interact with a wider range of residents to demonstrate how their services can bring people from different backgrounds together.

Beneficiaries must be contacted, every month for monthly planning meetings to develop toolkits to ensure the continous growth and stability of the C.E.S subgroups.The partnership must continue to encourage all local residents and organisations to contribute to mainstream policy development, on the basis of their experience in meeting the needs, and to participate in consultations, planning and decision making activities through social gathering.

The partnership must continue to provide forums for residents and organisations to share their experiences for tackling issues and to build alliances around shared interests. There must be support for local residents to set up and maintain projects which develop intergenerational links and skills transfer between community groups and the decision makers in key agencies. This should enrich training and development support to community groups in order to create learning packages on the knowledge and understanding of community affairs.

It is important that the knowledge gained by community groups is shared with key service providers in a meaningful way, and that community groups have the skills and methods to do this. This will allow local residents to make a real contribution towards active citizenship by enabling them to become more effective in key areas of their choice in accordance to their skills. All participating community groups will receive a toolkit for support which will include information for accessing continuous support and the further development of;

Personnel profile to identify interests, key skills, support needs and opportunities for personal development.

Skill assessment, confidence building, tailored learning and training activities in groups or on a one-to-one basis.

Opportunities to take up accredited training.

Support mechanism for volunteers, including assistance with childcare, lunch and travel costs to volunteer placements and meetings.

Regular events and drop-ins for members to meet and discuss issues around capacity building, social gathering and making sure that project are led and supported by local people.

THE ECONOMY
As the urban population expands there are increasing opportunities for developing new initiatives. With the appropriate experience, qualifications and references there will be opportunities to develop new careers in a number of areas related to urban development and regeneration.

It is recognises that to be sustainable any new proposal should seek endorsement from their local Authority and the participation and support of funders, development agencies and their partners, thus we must be undertaking work to ensure this engagement. This work is essential in order to develop a partnership with joint investment between funders and partners; Work is currently ongoing on Community Cohesion and Cultural diversity issues with Local authorities and agencies.
RECOMMENDATIONS

We must ensure that young people and adults do not suffer from under occupation of their time, which in itself can lead to behavioural issues including anti-social behaviour and crime. Programmes must be set up for tackling worklessness by enhancing employability through vocational training and personal development, leading to employment, and, or self-employment for "disadvantage" young people and adults. These programmes would cut across the core curriculum to include;

Maths and English: letters, money management, costing and budgeting
ICT: communication, booking tickets, emailing, and internet search
Personal and social development: working as a team, co-operating, punctuality

Programmes must facilitate the personal development of "marginalised" and excluded groups and the empowerment of economically deprived communities by exploring social enterprise as an option. Working with communities across Greater Manchester we can help people develop their full potential. By readdressing their policies service providers can build stronger, safer, healthier and more cohesive communities, and ascertain improvements in their existing provisions.

 EDUCATION: Education and training programme designed to raise aspirations and attainment by developing tailor made personal education and training plans.

EMPLOYMENT: Tackling worklessness by vocational re-educating.

WOMEN: A women's empowerment project aimed at capacity building and the empowerment of women and women's groups. YOUNG PEOPLE: Programme to address the multifarious behavioural issues in young people that lead's to increase anti-social behaviour, exclusion and criminality.

Education and training: Background

Education and training programmes must be designed to raise aspirations and attainment by developing tailor made personal education and training plans, delivered by specialised tutors, teachers and trainers. Wherever possible incorporating key skills into vocational training to make them more ‘relevant' and interesting to the participants. Class sizes must be small (no less than five and no more than ten per class) and one to one tutoring from teachers, trainers and education support staff as required.

All programmes must have built in flexibility to ensure a quick and effective response to society's ever changing needs for developing aspirations. This programme must be designed to equip the participants with skills for life required in the modern economy. Each participant must follow a Personal Education Plan (PEP) consisting of varying combinations of academic core skills (maths and English), ICT, vocational courses, work experience and life skills. Academic and vocational courses must be accredited and validated by appropriate accreditation awarding bodies.

Education and training programmes must be performance driven; we must work to defined targets and goals in line with government targets which must enable Programme Managers to identify obstacles to individual student progress. We have to react rapidly to initiate changes to teaching, tutoring and training delivery, weither through revised PEPs or timetables where necessary. Changes in personal end goals, targets and termly goals must be set for each participant.

Research shows that disadvantaged and problematic societies, with support are certainly capable of academic achievement; some are more interested in vocational training. Some are eager to acquire skills that they know will get them into reasonably well paid employment in a ‘trade' that is in constant demand such as the construction industry, fitness and leisure, administration and business.

It is anticipated that the majority of people accepted into the programmes will have lower than average attainment in Key Stage 3, 4 in particular with relation to maths and English. The programme will support those who at minimum have a current ability equal to mid stages of Key Stage 3. There must be provisions made available for 20% of the total intake of young people whose ability is less than average in either maths or English. The partnership will be expected to deal with different categories of disadvantaged and problematic adult and young people.

Target Groups

• Young people with history of non-attendance, and or poor attendance in mainstream schools and who may have predominantly been educated in alternative or non-mainstream provision.
• Young people with an history of low attendance and attainment in school.
• Young people who may have enrolled and subsequently dropped out of further education provision.
  Formerly looked after young people in supported housing (e.g. Foyer accommodation, hostels, City Centres Project) with specific needs in terms of low attainment in; maths, English and associated skills.
• Young people who are capable of joining mainstream further (and possibly higher) educational provision once gaps in key core skills, social skills and behavioural issues have been addressed.

Project Aim

Raise attainment and increase the number of disadvantaged young people engaging in education and training and reduce the number of school age children being excluded by providing alternative education for those who are excluded.

Project objectives

• Provide a range of accredited programmes for those who wish to attain NVQ level 1 but wish to gain more skills including on other accredited courses.
• Keep residents engage with the learning and vocational skills process.
• Enable residents to gain additional accreditation for activities.
• Support community groups, and adults creating opportunity for them to socialise in a safe and positive environment.
• Enable residents to engage in training to enhance their social skills.

The C.E.S must work with a multi-agency approach in order to maximise training provision for young people in the community. A multiplicity of courses exists but they must be in line with the long term aim of the partnership and it's under lying philosophy. We must ensure that appropriate accreditation and qualifications are achieved through attending courses and classes delivered in community centres by culturally sensitive tutors, teachers and trainers.

The C.E.S partnership must also provide non-compulsory extensions to programmes within the concept of education to work provision and in the context of the overall care package. Offering a range of fun activities in the evenings and at weekends, programmes must be devised to satisfy different criteria. Most extra curricular activities must be offered between the hours of 6pm to 10pm Monday to Friday and 4pm to 10pm Saturdays. Extra curricular programmes must offer a range of interesting trips and visits and positive activities including;

Creative and performing arts

• Studio recording and engineering
  Vocal coaching
  Dance
  Drama
  Film making
  Radio broadcast training
  Creative writing
• Sport based activities
  Martial arts
  Boxing
  Aerobics
  Weight training
  Sports coaching
  Tennis
  Football
  Rugby
  Cricket

ICT Development

• Learning to us computers
  PC based games
  Multi media including graphic design
  Webpage Design
  PC music production
  Digital film editing

Adventure weekend

In addition to the above activities, it is intended that we offer ‘adventure weekends'  to include areas of outdoor pursuits, climbing, abseiling, orienteering, and kayaking and rafting as survival skills and a team-building programme. All activities must be properly staffed and supervised by qualified activity leaders from recognised outdoor pursuit's centres. All activities will be risk assessed and venue visited prior to any activity-taking place. Each tutorial year must culminate in a two week cultural exchange camping expedition abroad, prior to the visit, all participants must be expected to undertake skills learning relevant to such a trip.

 MONITORING AND EVALUATION

• The evaluation report produced for the C.E.S must also include case studies of all participants supported. This must be used to demonstrate success which in turn must assist in future funding applications. All projects will be measured and tracked via the following;
  Every beneficiary has an Action Plan that identifies what support they need and who must provide it.
• Key milestones and timescales agreed in the Project Delivery Plan are being met.
• Each partner submits a monthly report of their activities relating to the Project Delivery Plan e.g. workshops organised, local people contacted, Reviews completed etc.
• Project managers must submit monthly progress reports on milestones, targets and expenditure as well as raising any issues concerning the delivery of the project.
• Produce a mid-term review that must capture the views of all beneficiaries and stakeholders to assess whether the project is addressing their needs and/or if any changes are required.

An exit interview must be carried out with every beneficiary at the end of their involvement in any project to identify the 'value added' contribution the project has made to their civic participation. At the end of the year an evaluation must be carried out by the beneficiary themselves on how successful partnership work has achieved its aims. Project managers will be responsible for the measurement and monitoring of the outcomes to be achieved and produce annual reports to show evidence.

FUNDING
Challenges in the area of funding include; Grant dependence, low support for start-ups and innovation, negative impacts of short-term project funding. Income diversification, including income generation through trading, could provide organisations with more autonomy. However, the sector lacks expertise in this area.

FINANCE
When funding is sought in partnership, financial policies, procedure and a computerised financial management system must be put in place to manage any funds. Designated finance officers must keep records of all incomes and expenditures as approved by the organisation who is responsible for the overall account of the project. A payment scheme must be set up to ensure compliance with funding regulations and to ensure payments are made against agreed outcomes and milestones. The Partnership must ensure the effective delivery of all projects through a Project Delivery Plan and put in place robust monitoring and evaluation procedures to capture achievements and outcomes, this must involve;

Putting a management framework in place following procedures and project management policies.

Recruitment and retension of respected and valued practioners to work to the highest standards of project leadership.

Access to operational support such as HR, Policy and Finance staff.

Organisation of monthly meetings between partners where the progress of this project must be discussed and performance monitored.

Ensuring funding and contract specifications for the project are appropriately set and managed.

Financial information:
Stakeholders already funded to deliver projects can match fund the costs for delivery of the project. Such expenditure will be considered as match funding although additional funding may need to be acquired to meet the overall cost of the project and can contribute to any new expenditure such as;

a. Project cost- All expenditures relating to the running and delivery of the project activities e.g. (Salaries, training, refreshments, of workers delivering the project)
b. Admin/Core cost- All expenditures relating to overheads required to run the project e.g. (Light, rent, telephone, heat)
c. Capital cost- All expenditures relating to fixed assets purchased that will remain with the project e.g. ( Computers, software, phone system, furniture)
DEVELOPMENT MODEL: Cluster Development, a way forward for the BME Sector
What is a Cluster
A Cluster can be defined as a group of industries and organisations that are linked together in a buying and selling relationships, or who share the same infrastructure, customers or skills base and whose linkages enhance competitive advantage e.g.; Local Productive Systems - Local Clusters for Local People, some Clusters are world famous;
Global:
Hollywood and Bollywood Film Clusters
Leather & Fashion Cluster in Italy
Information Technology in Silicon Valley
Locally:
Peel Holdings (The Trafford Centre)
The existence of such clusters demonstrates that an individual organisation's success is determined in part by the environment in which it operates.
The BME Sector and Cluster Development
The end goal of the Cluster Development is to enhance productivity and performance, by creating a few modifications to the original model. A definition for a BME Sector Cluster is a group of BME voluntary or community organisations and enterprises that share the same infrastructure, clients or skills base and whose linkages enhance their ability to develop and contribute to the quality of life of all they serve.
Barriers to BME Sector Development
Strategic Capacity
Human Resources
Supporting Organisations and Services
Funding
Strategic Capacity
BME organisations lack the ability to plan and take action to further their future development due to endemic short-termism, lack of management and leadership skills, low investment by the Local Authority and cultural barriers.
Human Resources
The challenges in the recruitment and retention of paid staff and volunteers, skills gaps and training needs in specific key areas such as, strategic, managerial and communications related skills.
Supporting Organisations & Services
The range and quality of the BME infrastructure varies widely because of the different types of support agencies needed are few and not well linked. Provision of support services are often poorly matched to needs gaps in support of new or smaller BME voluntary and community groups.
Barriers to Cluster Working
Competition for funding and over territory/roles
Lack of mandate and resources for joint working
Lack of understanding of the BME sector by supporting agencies
A short-term go-it-alone culture
Benefits to Cluster Working
Marketing and lobbying
Capacity-building and skills sharing
Fundraising and income generation
Improving resource use, including purchasing and volunteer recruitment
Service delivery
Taking forward the BME Cluster Development
Leadership and Forward Thinking
Access to Expertise
Human Resources
New Approaches to Resources
Improving Partnership Working
Micro-cluster Pilots
Action to Support Participation
Leadership
Establish BME branded initiative to encourage development of leadership skills and forward thinking.
Establish initiatives to give access to latest thinking on BME Voluntary Sector development
Develop local BME champions
Access
Encourage resource pooling to purchase expertise
Human Resources
Market sector as a career
Develop voluntary sector career paths
Explore local/regional recruitment agency/admin bank
Explore local/regional approach to support on Personnel matters
Creation of a "Trustee Bank"
Pilot new approaches to volunteering
New
Encourage collaborative approaches to funding
Explore potential for BME sector Credit Union/Organisational Partner/Organisational Micro-credit
Develop an income generation toolkit
Explore potential for bulk purchasing of goods and services
Improving
Market sector to partners
Use ICT to generate horizontal links
Micro-clusters
Geographical
Activity based
Interest and issue based
Virtual (ICT - for research etc)
Action

Establish support to coordinate and market cluster initiative and pilot micro-clusters
Use secondments/consultants to form a bank of expertise for clusters and micro-clusters
Establish capacity-building support for ICT in the sector
Raise understanding of cluster development
Identify and meet resource requirements through new/realigned resources
Develop evaluative processes to track development

Intergenerational Centre

The C.E.S supports the development of intergenerational centers for providing a range of shared services and facilities under one roof for older people, youths and children and families. The centers will be a service hub offering cultural integrated multi-generational services for bringing together all generations helping to break down barriers between service providers and communities for;

• Improving educational attainment
  Reducing crime and fear of crime
  Helping to tackle youth violence
  Improving family health and wellbeing
  Provide a better sense of community spirit
  Supporting community cohesion
  Providing information and advice

In addition, it should offer free, subsidies or affordable places where users must get access to advice and support through dedicated employment advisers, providing a one-stop-shop to information and support to help them get back into sustainable employment and vocational training.

The C.E.S must aim to promote Intergenerational mentoring coupled with educational and health and social benefits for both young people and adult participants. The C.E.S must recruit and train older mentors to support at risk young people and provide early intervention programmes for those who are experiencing particular difficulties, underachieving and at risk of falling behind within the educational system.