Shropshire Infrastructure Partnership

The Shropshire Infrastructure Partnership (SIP) is a partnership of voluntary and community sector infrastructure organisations operating in Shropshire. It currently comprises:

Shropshire Infrastructure Partnership aims to facilitate effective joint working amongst voluntary and community infrastructure organisations in Shropshire in order to:

Provide consistent, high quality infrastructure services to voluntary and community organisations across the county
Raise the profile and strengthen the voice of the voluntary and community sector locally and regionally
Ensure coherence of infrastructure activity making best use of the resources available.

To date (with funding from BASIS and Capacity Builders) SIP has achieved:

the provision of a countywide volunteer outreach service for Shropshire
the provision of a funding advice service to voluntary and community groups and social enterprises in Shropshire
the provision of training (including half and full day and breakfast briefings) and networking opportunities
the provision of a partnership website, providing on-line resources information and advice, promoting partner's infrastructure training and events and achievements of the sector in Shropshire
the establishment of a regular e-newsletter
the coordination and delivery of a county-wide funding fair in addition to further locality-based workshops and briefings
Strategic engagement in the Big Society and Localism agenda and the coordination of local opportunities to understand what this means for Shropshire and the VCS
Regional engagement with funding bodies and other Infrastructure Support Organisations to strengthen our knowledge and embed best practice
the up-skilling of partner organisations' officers to continue to effectively support the sector in responding to the Big Society agenda and reshaping of public services.

This includes:

Eight officers trained as Outcomes Champions by the Charities Evaluation Service
Fourteen officers trained in Social Impact Measurement
Eight officers trained by ACEVO to understand models for collaborative bidding for public sector contracts
Sixteen officers trained by NCVO in legal structures for VCOs and enterprises
Other officers developed to support community asset transfer and the setting up of cooperatives.

With increased opportunities for delivery of (public) services by the voluntary and community sector, the Localism Bill and expected White Paper on Public Service Reform the role of the partnership should be developed to include:

Building further the capacity of the sector to tender and deliver increased public service delivery, particularly those organisations that are not currently market-ready.
Supporting the sector to demonstrate the social impact of its work and a social return on investment.
Supporting the sector in the implementation of appropriate quality standards
Supporting the boards of voluntary organisations to ensure they are sufficiently skilled, prepared and strategically engaged to respond to the changing environment for the sector.
Encouraging and facilitating partnership working across the sector and with the private and public sectors.
Encouraging and supporting social enterprise and increased income generation within the sector.
Encouraging and facilitating employee related volunteering.
Working with Shropshire Council and other statutory organisations to develop appropriate commissioning frameworks for the sector.
Researching and developing consortia working structures that support the sector in bidding for public service contracts.

The full Partnership meets on a quarterly basis and more often based on need. Further operational meetings and working groups are coordinated based around the delivery of joint programmes of work (e.g. Capacitybuilders Volunteer Management Programme)

You can find out more about the Shropshire Infrastructure Partnership on its website: www.ShropshireVCS.org.uk or from the Partnership Services and Information Officer on 01743 342169 or email: info@ShropshireVCS.org.uk




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