Communities and Cultures Committee

CC(3) 05-07(p3): 7^th November 2007

Inquiry into the Funding of Voluntary Sector Organisations in Wales - National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI)-Wales

Purpose

This paper outlines the experiences of the National Federation of Women’s Institute (NFWI) Wales in trying to access voluntary sector funding to support its work.

Background

The NFWI is the largest bilingual women’s voluntary organisation in Wales; it aim to offer women the best opportunity to make an impact in their communities, to influence local, national and world issues affecting the social, economic and environmental life of families and communities and to learn new and traditional skills. In Wales there are 16,000 WI members, based in 500 WIs within 13 Federations (counties).

The NFWI-Wales is a very diverse organisation and this is reflected in its campaign, project and educational work. Since its formation in 1915, the NFWI has campaigned on a wide range of issues that matter to women and their communities including Domestic Violence (1975), Equal Pay (1942), Agenda 21 (1997), Oil Pollution (1927), Aids (1996), countering Human Trafficking (2004) and combating Environmental Degradation (2005).

Current Campaigns include:

Carbon Challenge - this campaign encourages WI members and the public to reduce their carbon emissions by 20%. Participants measure their carbon footprint using an online calculator and receive tailored tips to help them reduce their impact on the environment.

Trafficking of Women - NFWI-Wales has launched a postcard campaign with Amnesty International calling on the Welsh Assembly Government to help the victims of human trafficking for the sex trade in Wales. NFWI-Wales is also a member of the End Violence Against Women Working Group.

Farmgate Milk Prices - WI members are extremely concerned about the price British dairy farmers are paid for their milk. The Great Milk Debates were held in April 2007 and the subsequent report outlines the issues and solutions to ensure the British Dairy Industry has a brighter future.

Other campaigns include the Closure of Small Rural Schools, Community Hospitals and GM crops. The NFWI-Wales also sits on the Sustainable Food Forum.

Current projects include:

Gardening with Schools - WI members are supporting over a 100 schools to develop wildlife and vegetable gardens. The project is introducing children to the concept of where food comes from and is encouraging children to eat healthily by growing their own fruit and vegetables. It also encourages them to be more active.

Let’s Cook - aims to teach parents how to cook healthy balanced meals on a budget.

Eco Teams - NFWI-Wales has recently trained 15 Eco Team leaders who are each recruiting 6 members to participate in an Eco Team. The Eco Teams will meet once a month over four months and explore shopping, food, transport, waste and energy in the home and take practical steps to reduce the amount of waste and energy produced.

Women Making a Difference - aims to educate and empower women to take a more active role in public life in Wales and influence decisions which impact on their lives and their communities.

Whilst NFWI-Wales is proud of this diversity, it does pose problems for the organisation when seeking to source core funding for its work as it does not fit neatly into any one specific division within the Welsh Assembly Government but works across a range of divisions and portfolios.

NFWI-Wales’ experience of accessing funding to support the work above is varied. It has been moderately successful in obtaining funding over many years to deliver projects which not only benefit members but also the wider community. Amounts received can vary greatly, some include core funding others do not, and if it were not for the voluntary contribution of WI members then it would be impossible to deliver on some of the outcomes expected of a project. WI members give an enormous amount of time to their communities, one project alone amounted to 1,960 hours which equals 56 weeks worth of work and there are currently four projects running.

Currently NFWI-Wales receives funding from the Welsh Assembly Government of £7,500 from Health Challenge Wales to support its Gardening with Schools Project, £6,846 from Environment Wales for the Eco Teams Project (neither of which include core costs for the overheads of the organisation), and £55,000 for the stand alone Women Making a Difference project in partnership with Oxfam and Women’s Voice, from the Volunteering in Wales Fund and Active Communities. All the funding above comes to an end in March 2008.

One major concern that NFWI-Wales currently has is the loss of its core funding from the Welsh Assembly Government. For the first time since1980, NFWI-Wales did not receive any core funding from the Welsh Assembly Government to support its work in Wales for financial year 2007-2008. The organisation’s core funding of £10,000 for the financial year was withdrawn from the Strategic Equality and Diversity Unit in September 2007.

Securing core funding to support the work of NFWI-Wales is problematic and the following is a brief synopsis of the experiences and frustrations NFWI-Wales has had to go through to obtain core funding from the Welsh Assembly Government in the last five years.

In 1980 NFWI-Wales received core funding from one of the rural pots to support its work. At some point after this the organisation was moved into the Child and Family Division. Following a review of funding within this Division, NFWI-Wales was told in 2002 that it would no longer be eligible for funding from March 2003. A meeting was subsequently held with the Voluntary Sector and Inclusion Division to assist NFWI-Wales in resolving this issue and as a result funding from the Active Communities fund as an interim payment for 2003-04 was agreed and NFWI-Wales was further advised to apply to the Support for Voluntary Intermediary Services (SVIS) grant for 2004-05. An application was submitted but was refused as 'although it showed merit was not ranked highly enough’. On challenging this decision NFWI-Wales discovered that of the 33 applications made only seven organisations were funded and only one of these was a new applicant. Of the £906,000 available that year £656,096 went to WCVA with the remaining six applicants receiving grants within the range of £28,000 - £64,000. Funding of £10,000 was eventually secured for 2004-05 following some intense lobbying of Assembly Members and Ministers. NFWI-Wales was also assured at that time that the Voluntary Sector and Inclusion Division would try and resolve the problem of where to put NFWI-Wales before April 2005 and get the organisation onto a three year funding plan, but sadly this did not materialise. NFWI-Wales was then put back into the Active Communities Division until 2005 and told that it did not fit into the voluntary sector and would be more suited to the Equality Policy Unit or Older People! NFWI-Wales was then funded from the Strategic Equality and Diversity Unit for 2006-07 and told in March 2007 that this pot was currently under review and a decision could not be made until after the Assembly Elections in May. As previously mentioned, a decision was received in September following a submission of another proposal, a decision which came much to late for NFWI-Wales and one which goes against every principle that the Welsh Assembly has in its application of funding to the voluntary sector. I refer here to the Code of Practice for Funding the Voluntary Sector. The loss of core funding will have a detrimental affect on our ability to develop the work of NFWI-Wales in terms of campaigns, projects and educating women and will mean the loss of a staff member, thus reducing the capacity of the organisation to research funding opportunities and prepare funding applications to develop its future work which has a huge impact in communities.

The irony is that NFWI-Wales has seen an increase in its liaison with the Welsh Assembly Government who is keen to consult with such a large membership body. NFWI-Wales has the capacity to reach out to women across Wales, however, this has a resource implication for the organisation and we feel it is only fair that NFWI-Wales is properly supported to undertake this work and to help the Welsh Assembly Government deliver on some its policies and assist with carrying out some of the actions within the various documents which aim to include civil society and improve the lives of people in Wales.

In addition, other concerns include funding for women’s organisations, effective communication and complying with 'constraints or conditions placed on funding’. In 2004, the last time NFWI-Wales lost its core grant the organisation raised its concerns about funding for women’s organisations generally. The Minister for Social Justice and Regeneration at that time said that NFWI-Wales was right to raise the issue and agreed that women faired badly in terms of funding and would be addressing this issue following a review of voluntary sector funding. In the plenary session of 19 May 2004 in answer to a question given by Helen Mary Jones AM seeking assurance that all Assembly funding streams to the voluntary sector will be monitored for their impact on gender and other equality issues, the Minister replied "I am delighted to give you that assurance and I am grateful that you raised these matters. There are issues about organisations that we need to look at and I will take this into account when I draft new guidelines on distribution”. WCVA also agreed to raise the issue of gender during the review after also admitting that funding for women’s organisations was difficult. However, gender was overlooked again and three years down the line NFWI-Wales has lost all its core funding and the situation appears to be getting worse for women’s organisations generally. Whilst NFWI-Wales is pleased to note that the Communities and Culture Committee will be 'examining gender budgeting issues with regard to such funding’ as part of this review there are still concerns that funding for women’s organisations is not easily available or accessible.

NFWI-Wales has also had problems in trying to establish any meaningful communication with the Divisions within the Assembly. As previously mentioned as an organisation that deals with a diverse range of issues NFWI-Wales does not fit neatly into any one Division and as a result the organisation is constantly overlooked and passed around. If a relationship is established with a Division, experience tells us that this is short lived as personnel are moved around, without notice to the organisations that they have been dealing with, and consequently communication breaks down and files and paperwork are lost leading to the loss of knowledge, rapport and ultimately funding. There are exceptions; the relationship with the team dealing with the Health Challenge Wales Voluntary Sector Grant Scheme has been excellent. Good lines of communication have been established from day one which has led to a greater understanding of what needs to be achieved with the funding granted.

Also, the ease or difficulty in complying with constraints and conditions placed on the funding received, varies. There does not seem to be a consistent system for reporting a project’s outcomes, some are easier than others and ironically NFWI-Wales’ experience has been that the reporting conditions for those managing grant schemes on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government and who exist to support the voluntary sector are far more bureaucratic. The bureaucracy for the amount of money awarded is questionable as the funding given is never sufficient to deliver the project and support the bureaucratic reporting which takes up an enormous amount of time and effort sometimes to the detriment of the general development work of a project. In addition amounts asked for are cut to ensure that more organisations can have a share of the money. However, the expectation is often still the same on a reduced budget and there is often no flexibility within the system for negotiation. NFWI-Wales appreciates that there has to be a system of monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the work is delivered and completed but would like to see a more consistent approach to this across the sector and financed properly by the funding body.

In terms of timing, NFWI-Wales does not have the luxury of having an agreed duration of funding, going from year to year has proved unsatisfactory and leads to uncertainty and insecurity amongst staff and a decrease in the ability of organisations to source other funding to develop new projects and campaigns as staff capacity is reduced. Also, informing organisations 6 months into the financial year that their core funding has been withdrawn is not acceptable; Divisions should adhere to the Code of Practice for funding the Voluntary Sector. NFWI-Wales wants to remain active in Wales and contribute to the future development of a better Wales for all. However, year after year it finds itself in the impossible position of having vital funding withdrawn without access to further funding opportunities or coherent advice on how to overcome the problem.

Issues for Consideration

Give consideration to how all Wales organisations who work across a diversity of issues and Welsh Assembly Government divisions should be funded.
Recognise that a most effective form of communication for all Wales organisations is directly with the Welsh Assembly Government and not through a third party organisation. NFWI-Wales does not find the current system of raising issues through the Voluntary Sector Partnership Council to be effective.
As previously mentioned, NFWI-Wales is pleased to note that consideration will be given to gender budgeting. Addressing this issue will ensure that women and men will be more able to equally access education and childcare, more equally represented in policy and decision making bodies, social exclusion will be actively addressed and decisions made will be more representative.
Adequately fund core within project costs and ensure that the monitoring and evaluation element within project funding is adequately resourced. A more consistent approach to monitoring and evaluation is required and the bureaucracy needs to be removed.
Recognise the resource implication for organisations of consulting with their members on Welsh Assembly Government policies and adequately fund this element of an organisations work.
Ensure that all divisions are aware of and familiar with the Code of Practice for Funding Voluntary Sector organisations and adhere to it, as withdrawing funding without sufficient warning causes enormous problems for voluntary sector organisations and creates uncertainty amongst its staff.