The Basis Project is ending‌ Where can your RCO get the support it needs?
Introduction
The Basis Project (a project delivered by Refugee Action and Refugee Council) was funded by the Big Lottery for five years to provide specialist and tailored support to refugee community organisations (RCOs) across England. During this time many lessons were learned about:
How to survive as a refugee community organisation How to ďŹ nd other options for funding How to ďŹ nd other sources of support How to work well with organisations offering support The Basis Project has produced a Post Basis briefing for refugee community organisations which summarises these lessons in detail. You can download this document from the Refugee Council at: www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/basislegacy or from Refugee Action at: www.refugee-action.org.uk/ourwork/communitydevelopment.aspx To give you an idea of the kind of information that is included in this detailed briefing, please read on to see how useful the tips and advice could be for your organisation
Left: Leila Smile and Negat Hussein from Refugee Women of Bristol Cover: Dan Cissokho, Manager of Peterborough African Community Association, interviews Shpetim Alimeta [left], Organisational Development Offi cer for the East of England for their community radio station.
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How to survive as a refugee community organisation The Post Basis briefing for refugee community organisations is not an instruction manual but a list of tips from Basis Project Organisational Development Officers (ODOs) who have extensive knowledge of RCOs having worked with them for many years. Each RCO is distinct, and the community who created it is also unique, therefore not all of these tips will work for you! Decide what your organisation offers that is unique or particularly valuable If your services are similar to those of another organisation, talk to them about: Offering services together or Specialising in particular parts of the service or What happens if you stop offering your service and refer to them instead?
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Find allies and build alliances: partnerships with clear goals that avoid duplication are a much more attractive option to funders Use Basis methods* to strengthen and renew your organisation, for example: Be clear about your goals, especially if the external environment changes Set aside time with your management committee to explore if your goals are still what your community needs, possible and realistic and relevant to the external environment in which you work Make a list of the skills that you need in order to achieve these goals Ask your members what skills they can offer so that you can identify the gaps
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Keep up to date with policy changes. How will these affect your area and community? For example ask the local university, development trust or Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) to provide your management committee with a short monthly update. Left: Beatriz Fernandez [centre], Basis Organisational Development Officer for the South East, with the Dover Detainee Visitor Group. Beatriz supported them with fundraising and business planning. *The Basis methods are tips and advice on how to strengthen and renew your RCO from ODOs who have worked with RCOs on the Project. Read the detailed briefing to find out more at: www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/basislegacy
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How to find other options for funding Funding options are extremely limited at present. RCOs have tended to rely on grants and commissions from local authorities and other statutory bodies and grants from charitable funders. All of these options are now being reduced. As a result RCOs need to diversify their funding streams. You might consider some of the following options (please download the detailed briefing for more tips): Membership is the biggest resource an RCO has. It is increasingly important to demonstrate to funders what support an RCO has from its members. An effective way of doing this is to charge a small membership fee. Social enterprise continues to be a possibility for RCOs. The Basis Project worked on this and there is useful information about refugee social enterprises on the Basis website: www.thebasisproject.org.uk/ resources/resource-papers
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www.jrf.org.uk/publications/moreresponsive-public-services-guidecommissioning-migrant-and-refugeecommunity-organ Some statutory authorities may be offering commissions for new work. Keep up to date with local developments and make sure you are on all the right mailing lists. Sometimes, the access you have to communities that other people find ‘hard to reach’ is what opens doors to funding. Beware of being a small part of somebody else’s tender. Some RCOs have had difficult experiences of being ‘used’ by larger organisations to ‘prove’ that they cover minority or ‘hard to reach’ groups, only then to be offered contracts that do not cover costs. It is essential to be clear at the start about: The terms and conditions of the offer The decision-making mechanisms How to resolve any problems
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Getting contracts or commissions to provide services is a difficult area for new organisations, and needs a careful approach. RCOs can find useful guidance in More responsive public services: commissioning migrant and refugee organisations published by Joseph Rowntree Foundation at: 5
How to find other sources of support Basis Project support was tailored to individual RCOs, although it also offered training, seminars, web resources, peer learning and other events. Part of the Basis service involved finding other local organisations that could offer support. Now RCOs will have to go and find the support they need – it won’t come to you.
Get in touch with all the relevant organisations, ask to be put on their mailing lists and ask what support they offer to organisations like yours. For example: LawWorks www.lawworks.org.uk offers free legal help for community organisations Community accountancy projects may offer free help to set up your accounts or cheap training to help you run your finances www.communityaccounting.org www.cash-online.org.uk Continyou www.continyou.org.uk supports all supplementary schools AdviceUK www.adviceuk.org.uk is a membership organisation representing independent advice centres in the UK
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Decide what kind of support you need Make a list of all the areas in which your RCO works (community development? Health? Education? Asylum support? Immigration? Advice? Women’s development? Enterprise? Employment? Training?) and then make a list of the national and local organisations that might offer support in these areas Your ODO or refugee organisation should be able to help with this, and the Basis website has details of many of the national organisations www.thebasisproject.org.uk/directory
Right: David Hirst, Basis Project Organisational Development Offi cer for the West Midlands [centre] with Justin Nsiko Bankwa [right] and Kika Aime Bubala from the Discovery of the Talents. David worked with them to develop their allotment project in Birmingham. Opposite: Elizabeth Ajith [left] with Roda Malang from Sudan Women’s Association, London
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Working with organisations offering support Once you have identified the organisations that might support you, it is important to approach your work with them as a project. They may have less time, less specialist knowledge, less intercultural awareness and less patience than Basis Organisational Development Officers (ODOs)! Charities Evaluation Services (CES) published a guide to local infrastructure organisations (such as a CVS, but could be any support organisation) working with RCOs obtainable at www.ces-vol.org.uk/ index.cfm?format=279. If you need support from an organisation, tell them about this guide and suggest that they read it.
If you are offered advice that you feel you cannot follow, you need to identify why this is. Some examples might be: Is the advice culturally or socially inappropriate for you or your community? Offer to explain the significance to them if they do not understand Does your organisation lack the resources to do what is suggested? Do you think that the advice is wrong because the adviser does not understand what you are doing? Ask them to discuss how you will implement their suggestion
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Decide what support you need and write it down clearly Put together a pack of information about your organisation so that you can offer it to any support organisations that you want to approach Approach the organisation first to ask to be included on any mailing lists. Then ask how you can access any more specific support. If the organisation you have approached cannot help, ask them to help you find one who can Be professional. Once you have made an appointment, turn up and at the required time. You may not get a second chance! 7
Resources and contact information The Basis Project ends in summer 2012 You can continue to access the resources on the Basis website until March 2013 at: www.basisproject.org.uk After March 2013 please visit: www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/basislegacy or www.refugee-action.org.uk/ourwork/communitydevelopment.aspx to access useful resources for RCOs including the Post Basis briefing for refugee community organisations For any other information please contact: development@refugeecouncil.org.uk or info@refugee-action.org.uk Contact person/organisation for your region:
‘We wish you lots of luck with the future development of your organisations’ From everyone at the Basis Project
Refugee Council is a registered charity Charity number 1014576 – Company number 2727514 Refugee Action is a registered charity Charity number 283660 – Company number 1593454