All posts by Tony Chapman

Prize winning accolade for Fred Robinson

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fredrobinsonFor the past three years, Fred Robinson has chaired the North East Policy and Representation Partnership. This important initiative has helped many voluntary sector organisations in the region to get their message across and get much more involved in shaping public policy. The Partnership has been hosted by VONNE (Voluntary Organisations Network North East) and was funded by the BIG Lottery.

The Policy and Representation Partnership has been awarded the 2013 ‘Impact Award’, a prestigious national award from Compact Voice in association with the Government’s Cabinet Office. The awards ceremony took place in London in November, with the Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd MP. See

Read the news story: http://www.compactvoice.org.uk/news/compactawards2013announced

Civil society and social enterprise in Japan and the UK

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In November 2012, Tomohito Nakajima from Sanno University, Tokyo and Dr Hiroyuki Shimizu from Chiba University visited St Chad’s to discuss the contribution that social enterprise can make to the regeneration of areas which have suffered from economic decline and industrial restructuring. Professor Tony Chapman has been working with his Japanese colleagues in Tokyo and Yamagata for the last eight years comparing the experiences of social enterprise in very different policy and fiscal environments. A recent publication, The Routledge Companion to Urban Regeneration includes a chapter which is drawn from this long-term study.

Link to the publisher: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415539043/

On the money? How do charities think about finance?

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Professors Tony Chapman and Fred Robinson recently completed the second phase of the Northern Rock Foundation Third Sector Trends Study. One element of the study which has caught the imagination of the sector and its supporters is their recent working paper, On the Money. This paper explains how new finance can do charities harm if they don’t think carefully about why they are taking on new contracts or grants. The paper argues that good organisational governance does not just mean chasing money, but thinking carefully about what the charity wants to achieve for its beneficiaries and to ensure that staff and volunteers are properly resourced, capable and motivated to do new things.

Read the report: http://www.nr-foundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/on-the-money-final.pdf

See the news story: http://m.thirdsector.co.uk/article/1193679/money-become-end-itself-charities-says-new-paper

Target of 1,000 survey questionnaires is reached in Yorkshire

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In June 2013, Involve Yorkshire & Humber launched its Third Sector Trends Study on line. The study, which is being undertaken by Professor Tony Chapman, aimed to reach 1000 charities and groups across the county and this target was reached in early October. The study replicates many of the questions used by Northern Rock Foundation Third Sector Trends study. In coordination with Big Society Capital, a new set of questions was introduced to assess the extent to which charities’ assets affect the way they plan for the future.

Early analysis shows that charity assets (or property or investments) do shape the way charities consider and act upon new opportunities. A strong foundation of assets is certainly beneficial from the point of view of those organisations, such as Big Society Capital, who want to encourage charities to take loans or get involved in social finance initiatives. The problem is that very few charities have any tangible assets and fewer still are currently interested in borrowing money. The research will be published in January 2014.

Do angry young men lack optimism?

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Tdaymlohe headline may have been an eye catcher, but BBC Education picked up on an opinion poll that shows that young men who are from neither the most advantaged nor disadvantaged families were amongst the most fatalistic about their futures in a climate of recession and high levels of youth unemployment. The research was undertaken for O2 based on questions devised by Professor Tony Chapman. Subsequent detailed analysis of these data will be published in the final report of the O2 Think Big evaluation in December 2013.
See the news story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20947604

Is self reflection the key to success for charities?

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For the last five years, Professors Tony Chapman and Fred Robinson have been developing methods to examine what makes charities successful. In 2010 a report was published which attempted to categorise organisational practices. Twenty categories were devised, divided equally between four main headings: foresight, enterprise, capability and impact. 50 organisations in the Northern Rock Foundation Third Sector Trends Study were scored against each of the categories.

Read the 2010 report: http://www.charityfinancials.com/caritas-magazine/what-makes-a-third-sector-organisation-tick-648.html

Read a summary of the 2010 report: http://www.nr-foundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/The-Reality-Check-Final.pdf

A second study two years later explored how these 50 organisations had fared in difficult economic circumstances. On the basis of the analysis, Chapman and Robinson identified 10 ‘critical success factors’ and produced a framework for self reflection for charities to try out. The problem is, it is not known whether complying with critical success factors will protect charities from competition in the social market or political and economic turbulence. That is the subject of the final phase of the work in 2014-15.

See the self appraisal framework: http://www.nr-foundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/NRFTST-organisational-self-appraisal-framework.pdf

Read the 2013 report: http://www.nr-foundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Walking-a-Tightrope.pdf

Building young people’s resilience in hard times?

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The second annual report on the evaluation of the O2/Telefónica Think Big programme has been published. The report, which forms part of a much larger study in five other European countries, shows that small scale youth-led projects help to build young people’s resilience at a time where prospects of employment are low. The programme provides young people, particularly from less affluent backgrounds, with positive experiences which help to bolster their confidence in hard times.

Read the report: http://www.dur.ac.uk/StChads/prg/Building%20young%20people’s%20resilience%20in%20hard%20times%20an%20evaluation%20of%20O2%20Think%20Big.pdf

Universities supporting disadvantaged communities

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This project, supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, was about unlocking the potential of universities to support hard-pressed communities in difficult times. It aimed to encourage and challenge the universities to use their considerable resources to engage more fully and deeply with disadvantaged communities and respond to the issues facing them. Such engagement can undoubtedly benefit universities as well as communities.
A comprehensive questionnaire survey of all universities in the UK has been undertaken (85% return), followed by in-depth case studies of 30 universities. The research sought out good practice and identified barriers and opportunities. The project was led by Professor Fred Robinson, supported by Ian Zass-Ogilvie and Professor Ray Hudson, the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor.

The report is available on the JRF website.

Charities suffering hard times in Cumbria’s poorest rural areas

Research News

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Professor Tony Chapman presented the latest findings from the Northern Rock Foundation Third Sector Trends study at Cumbria CVS’s Annual General Meeting and Compact Conference at the Forum, Barrow in Furness on 5th November 2015.   The research, funded by Northern Rock Foundation and Cumbria Community Foundation demonstrates that the third sector in the county is in good shape, in spite of a long period of austerity. There are over 4,500 organisations and groups in Cumbria employing over 9,000 staff.  But there are many more volunteers, estimated at 52,000 in 2008 but rising to 53,700 in 2014. Volunteers  provide almost 4 million hours of voluntary support in the county – valued at £25m if the work were to be paid at the national minimum wage.

While the research shows that there is a good deal of financial stability in the sector, especially amongst smaller organisations – medium sized charities are feeling the pinch.  In fact, 29% of charities in the poorest areas of Cumbria have seen their income fall significantly in the last year compared with just 7% in the richest areas.  So it is not surprising that 13% of charities have had to draw heavily on their reserves to meet essential costs.

The sector remains positive about the future. Perhaps ‘too’ positive, Professor Chapman argued in his speech. He argued that fewer charities are likely to see the number of employees and volunteers increase as much as is expected – which may well produce a feeling of disappointment.  But neither is the sky falling in – many charities can expect to do well. The worry is that charities and groups in the poorest areas are less well placed to win grants from big national foundations than their counterparts in the richer areas. So foundations need to think of new ways to rectify the situation by being more sympathetic to charities which bid for funds which might not look so exciting on the surface but nevertheless produce real social value.

The report, including a data summary, is available here: Third Sector Trends in Cumbria (November 2015).

Who cares for the carers?

Research News

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Who cares for the carers? Tackling the challenges facing carers in Northern England in an environment of deepening austerity: A seminar organised by the Institute for Local Governance. Middlesbrough Football Club, Riverside Stadium, Friday 27th November 2015, 9.30 – 1.00

The challenges facing carers almost always come second place, economically, politically and emotionally to those in need of care. This seminar aims closely to examine how society can better respond to the needs of individual carers and to those organisations that provide care services in a period of increasing need and deepening economic austerity in Northern England.

The half day seminar will focus on the situation of a range of individual carers who give support to those in need, including neighbours and friends; young carers; older people providing care to spouses; people providing informal dementia care, amongst others. It must be recognised that such carers often achieve what they do with help from the many charities and community organisations which deliver support to carers.

Often such groups and organisations are funded by non-governmental sources, such as community foundations or big national foundations which have stepped in to give financial support where government does not. Other private sector or Third Sector organisations deliver professional care services on behalf of local authorities or health organisations – but how well do these arrangements work for paid carers where the marginal costs of caring are continuously being eroded?

The spatial context within which caring takes place is an important consideration. Consequently, the seminar will also explore the built environment within which care is given by focusing on the idea of designing “lifetime neighbourhoods” to ensure that people’s lives are not disrupted spatially when they become in need of care or gain responsibility to care for others. The seminar asks whether the co-production of caring amongst individuals, charities and public sector organisations could be more achievable in such environments – especially in the context of dementia care.

Speakers include:

Julia Bracknall: Chief Executive, Carers Together (on the delivery of social care services by third sector organisations)

Natalie Gordon, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (on the Dementia Without Walls programme)

Colin Haylock, Visiting Professor, Newcastle University (on lifetime neighbourhoods)

Lawrence McAnelly, Chief Executive, The Junction Foundation, Redcar (on young carers)

Dennis Reed: Director, Silver Voices (on advocacy for older people who provide care)

Erik Scollay, Assistant Director, Middlesbrough Council (on the challenges of co-production)

This is the sixth seminar in the current season which has covered a variety of topics including: Asset transfer (held in Durham); young people and skills (held in Redcar), demographic ageing (held in Newcastle), rural deprivation (held in Northumberland), Japanese inward investment (held in Durham), and public sector/third sector relationships (held in Darlington).

The seminar is free to attend, but places are limited and they tend to book up quickly, so please register your attendance via: Janet Atkinson, Institute for Local Governance, Durham University janet.atkinson@durham.ac.uk.

The Institute for Local Governance is a North East Research and Knowledge Exchange Partnership established in 2009 comprising the North East region’s Universities, Local Authorities, Police and Fire and Rescue Services. Further information about the content of the event can be obtained by contacting:- tony.chapman@durham.ac.uk or john.mawson@durham.ac.uk.

The PowerPoint slides from speakers who presented at the seminar can be accessed below: Colin Haylock; Dennis Reed Erik Scollay; Julia Bracknall; Lawrence McAnelly