LSIS Regional Response Fund

One East Midlands are pleased to announce their role in the successful partnership bid to the LSIS Regional Response fund. Teaming up once again with New College Stamford, Closer Links will take forward some of the key recommendations from the LSIS funded Forward Communities project; to develop more effective collaborative working across the Further Education sector.

The  evaluation report from the Forward Communities project, Ducks in a Row, provided clear indicators of specific areas of support including: identifying opportunities for joint funding; joint CPD and work shadowing, an environment that allows for collaborative bid writing; brokerage for partnerships; cross sector networking; more effective communication channels and sharing of information.

Over the next nine months One East Midlands will work closely with New College Stamford to engage with partners and stakeholders; facilitating a programme of targeted capacity building activities across the FE sector to support cross-sector working and development in both sectors.

Activity Strand 1

  • Briefing events to explore prospective joint bidding and contracting /sub-contracting opportunities and compliance barriers that can affect this happening.
  • Compliance Health Check Clinics to exam in more detail the rigorous expectations imposed on the sector by various funding bodies especially when entering into collaborative or sub-contracting arrangements for public and commercial funding.

Activity Strand 2

  • A reciprocal cross sector CPD (continuing professional development) programme to including a menu of specialist/niche CPD training Third Sector organisations can offer to colleges.

Activity Strand 3

  •  Work shadowing opportunities in both sectors 

Activity Strand 4

  • Across sector skills sharing and project dissemination event

Timescales for the programme require interested parties to register their expression of interest (EOI) in each activity strand by December 2012 with Activity Strand 1 commencing early in 2013.

Further information about the Closer Links project, along with how you can be involved will be sent out shortly. If would like to participate in any of the activity strands then please feel free to register your interest in advance with jaynequantrill@one-em.org.uk.