Start Here

Rank Network visit to Northern Ireland: Backing local leaders, building stronger communities

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Trustee James Murdoch

Recently, Rank Foundation Trustee James Murdoch travelled to Belfast to visit five organisations that are part of our Network in Northern Ireland: The Turnaround Project, Belfast Giants, The Advantage Foundation, Sailortown Regeneration Association, and WOMEN’STEC – all of which are doing vital, locally led work to improve lives in the communities they cherish.

His visit was a chance to connect with local leaders, hear directly from those delivering and benefitting from projects on the ground, and see the Foundation’s impact in action across several programmes: Time to Shine, Start Here, Profit for Good, and Cost of Living Support.

Shared purpose and real impact

Reflecting on the visit, James shared two standout moments that had a lasting impression. “At both The Turnaround Project and WOMEN’STEC, we met participants who have received support through multiple Rank programmes,” he said. “In each case, the messages were similar. What struck me was their sense of purpose, hope, camaraderie and a determination to ‘go straight’. These organisations aren’t just offering training or jobs – they’re delivering holistic support that restores confidence, direction, and dignity.”

Strategic levers in action

To James, the visit truly brought Rank’s four strategic levers – Leadership, Enterprise, Faith and Community – vividly to life.

At WOMEN’STEC, James highlighted the journey of Helen Kerr, who progressed from a Time to Shine leader to her current role as Head of Business Development and former member of Rank’s Leaders Action Group (RLAG): “Her rise is mighty impressive and a real example of leadership in action.”

At The Advantage Foundation’s Ravine project, an employability programme supporting young people facing mental health challenges through work experience in horticulture, agriculture, and conservation, James was impressed by the enterprising spirit behind their growing social business: “They’ve already launched a nursery and farm shop, with plans to expand into a café and scaled-up production.”

Sailortown Regeneration Association stood out as a project grounded in faith and community heritage, supporting both residents of Sailortown and interested visitors. Their work is centred on restoring the historic St Joseph’s Church in the Belfast Docks as a community hub, forming part of a people-led regeneration of the area.

To James, every visit highlighted the power of community. Each of the five charities is rooted in and lifting up their communities in different ways: The Turnaround Project supports ex-offenders on their journey forward; Belfast Giants offer ice hockey lessons to children in deprived areas; Ravine serves the local community through its space and shop, while supporting young people’s mental health through jobs, skills, and training. Sailortown Regeneration is focused on restoring the church in Sailortown as a community hub for all. WOMEN’STEC provides non-traditional skills to socially disadvantaged women across Northern Ireland.

The power of local leaders and the Rank Network

James noted the presence of multiple Start Here roles and Time to Shine alumni across the organisations. “Rank is proud to back these roles, offer participants ongoing support through the Rank Network, and see their growth over time.”

Each charity faces unique challenges in helping people move forward from the past, particularly within the context of Northern Ireland’s complex history. But James saw clear signs of progress. “It’s so inspiring to see the positive change each charity brings to people’s lives and their communities. I left the meaningful visit energised and full of admiration for everyone I met.”

Blog Post: “­My time at the Rank Foundation: Supportive Leadership”

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In this blog post, Saana Taussi, Rank’s 2024 Time to Shine Leader and Events and Engagement Officer for the Start Here Programme, reflects on her past year’s journey at Rank, the impact of supportive leadership, and what she’s learned about fostering development in the sector.

I joined The Rank Foundation in January 2024 as an Events and Engagement Officer for the Start Here Programme. Alongside my role, I also took part in Rank’s Time to Shine (T2S) leadership programme. As my time at Rank is coming to an end, I’m reflecting on the impact this role has had on me, and what I’ve learned about leadership in the sector.

I have always been passionate about social justice, and I believe in the power of communities as catalysts for positive change. Before my role at Rank, I was driven to work in a charity, but I was becoming disheartened in my struggle to land my first paid position in the sector.

I had been working in hospitality roles after graduating from university when the Events and Engagement role came up. Reading the job description, the role was exactly what I was looking for, and a statement that stood out to me in the posting was along the lines of: “for someone who feels like they are not using their full potential in their current work”. It summed up how I had been feeling.

As I started my role, I learned that Rank’s ethos of investing in community sector leaders and building networks that improve life is not just an inspiring idea, but it’s reflected in every stage of their work. Having the opportunity to actively take part in that work has been a transformative professional experience for me. My work at Start Here has focused on increasing engagement and offering new learning to the programme’s network of community and sports organisations in Northern Ireland. During my time, I have supported the delivery of events that help programme members build their skillset and create impact in their roles. This has involved getting together with the members to learn and connect, whether at training events, peer-learning sessions, conferences or residentials. I have also worked with organisations and individuals in the programme to share their development stories through case studies.

With 100 organisations taking part in Start Here, I had a lot to wrap my head around at the beginning of my post. The first T2S conference in Leeds was two weeks into my new role and getting together with my fellow leaders who were going through the same stages set the tone of our development journey from early on. T2S connected me with so many likeminded charity professionals and encouraged me to build my confidence in the work that I do. The skills gained during my time in the programme will undoubtedly support me into future endeavours.

In many ways, the development I was going through as a T2S leader mirrored the journeys of our Start Here Programme members in their development. This helped me relate to the incredible group of people taking part in Start Here, and to bring this understanding into my work. Both T2S and Start Here are special in bringing together so many people working in different ways to improve life in their communities and championing their capability as changemakers. Seeing, hearing, and experiencing the impact of these Rank programmes from both the side of participant and deliverer has been the most unique and rewarding part of my time at Rank.

As I’ve prepared for the end of my role at Rank, I recently read over my original job application for the Events and Engagement Officer role. In summing up my motivation for the job, I have written: “Working for the Start Here Programme would give me a unique opportunity to support those in the voluntary and sports organisations who are positively impacting their communities.” Although I couldn’t have known it at the time, my immersive experience of taking part in a leadership programme while encouraging leadership in others has shown me that leadership really is about supporting those around us to succeed. I’m happy to know that I will still be a part of Rank’s supportive Network of charity leaders going forward, and I look forward to the opportunities I will have as a member of this community.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to fulfil my potential in my work at Rank. I have been especially lucky to do this by working with so many people who are a driving force for good: the facilitators who have collaborated with me in the past year to share impactful learning, our Start Here programme members, my fellow Time to Shine leaders, the Rank team and my wonderful line manager. Thank you to everyone who was a part of my time at The Rank Foundation.

The Rank Foundation is awarding over £9 million to organisations in Northern Ireland

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The Start Here programme was launched this year to create new jobs in the Sports, Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprise (VCSE) sectors in Northern Ireland. The programme will support not-for-profit organisations over the next three years by funding the salaries of new entry-level job roles. Each post will receive the Real Living Wage and there is additional funding for training and upskilling existing employees, to continue to develop their career and assist the charity sector to fully recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Demand for funding was extremely high with outstanding quality applications, demonstrating the need to invest in new roles and training across the community, voluntary and sports sectors.  The Start Here programme will support 100 organisations with funding in excess of £9 million.

Kai Wooder, Director of Programmes at The Rank Foundation confirmed her delight at working across the N.I. social sector, “the Start Here Programme provides a great opportunity to bring about needs-driven changes in the sector.  The Rank Foundation is delighted to be working at both a strategic and grassroots level over the next three years, investing in new roles in voluntary, community and sports organisations”.

The Turnaround Project

“Staff and volunteers at The Turnaround Project are so excited about being a recipient of the Start Here grants programme. To be able to offer an entry level route into the voluntary sector will go some way to be able to recognise the untapped talent there is amongst the young people living in our communities. The three-year entry-level post funded by Start Here will allow the person we recruit to develop their leadership and technical skills through the associated programme of development and support, whilst our organisation will benefit from developing its own financial and social data management capabilities. We feel very privileged to be able to play a role in a programme that has the foresight to recruit and develop the future leaders of the voluntary sector in NI”

WOMEN’STEC

“WOMEN’STEC are delighted to be awarded funding from the Start Here programme. This comes at a time when we are dealing with increasing demand for our services and so to be able to offer a project officer role to someone at the beginning of their career journey who is seeking to develop their skills, knowledge, and experience in the third sector, whilst increasing our capacity to deliver, is a great opportunity for everyone involved. It is also fantastic to be able to offer a three- year post rather than a one-year post. This gives the person time to grow and develop personally and professionally with the support of our team and the programme, whilst also giving us security of a role that is important for our delivery over the next three years. We are grateful to The Rank Foundation for this opportunity and to be involved with the programme.”

Bytes

“Bytes are absolutely delighted that we have been selected to be partner with The Rank Foundation to deliver Start Here. This programme will enable an individual to spend the next three years working to improve digital inclusion within Bytes and across our members and colleagues in the VCSE sector. At Bytes we will support this individual to develop their networks and leadership across the sector ensuring they experience the challenges and satisfaction of working in this fantastic sector. This investment from The Rank Foundation will ensure Bytes continues to be a source of innovation as we support organisations that work with young people to improve their digital ecosystems.”

Congratulations to all the organisations The Rank Foundation is very excited for the journey ahead over the next three years.

Start Here Programme

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Photography credit: Pacemaker

On the 31st January 2022, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey launched a £10m Employment & Skills Initiative, which will see grants awarded to organisations to cover salary costs for three years in sectors hard hit by the Covid pandemic namely the arts, heritage, creative industries, sports and voluntary and community sectors. The £10m funding can be used to attract new entrants and upskill existing staff in an effort to retain talent.

The Minister is pictured at CS Lewis Square, Belfast with some of the partners who will be delivering and supporting delivery of the scheme (L-R): Karly Greene, Director of Strategic Development & Partnerships, Arts Council; Professor Paul Moore, Director Future Screens NI, supporting the Arts Sector; Minister Deirdre Hargey; Geraldine Cooper, Lead Facilitator, The Rank Foundation, supporting both the Sports and the Voluntary & Community sectors; Dr Paul Mullan, Director NI The Heritage Fund, supporting the Heritage Sector and Antoinette McKeown, CEO, Sport NI.

Start Here is a grants programme offering not-for-profit organisations in Northern Ireland the opportunity to apply for funding for a new 3-year entry level position. This grants programme is specifically targeted at the Sport and Voluntary & Community sectors.

The Department for Communities is providing funding to the Arts, Creative Industries, Heritage, Sports and Voluntary and Community sectors to address employment and skills deficits which have arisen, as a result of, or been exacerbated by, the COVID19 pandemic. Through key roles impacted upon by the pandemic, the aim is to enhance an individual’s job prospects and skill sets and in doing so, strengthen the organisations and sectors to aid recovery and sustainability. This is in recognition of the wider benefits these sectors bring to Northern Ireland citizens. The Department for Communities has appointed the Rank Foundation to deliver this programme to organisations specifically within the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector and the sports sector, in the form of the Start Here programme

Voluntary & Community sectors

We invite you to apply for the Start Here programme if your organisation fits the following criteria:
• Are you a not-for-profit VCSE organisation that is based within Northern Ireland?
• Can you support the employability and skills of an individual who wishes to enter into, or progress within, the VCSE sector?
• Has the type of role this individual would fulfil been affected by the pandemic?
• Will your support for this role strengthen the VCSE sector?

Applications are now closed.

Sports sector

We invite you to apply for the Start Here programme if your organisation fits the following criteria:
• Are you a not-for-profit Sports governing body that is based within Northern Ireland?
• Can you support the employability and skills of an individual who wishes to enter into, or progress within, the sports sector?
• Has the type of role this individual would fulfil been affected by the pandemic?
• Will your support for this role support Sport in Northern Ireland?
• Is your organisation recognised by Sports NI? Check here.

Applications are now closed.