Natalie

Rank yn penodi Joel Davis yn Ymddiriedolwr

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Mae Joel Davis wedi'i benodi i fwrdd Ymddiriedolwyr The Rank Foundation. Bydd Joel, sylfaenydd Tutors United, yn dod â chyfoeth o wybodaeth a phrofiad addysgol i'r bwrdd. Joel oedd Enillydd Gwobr Arweinwyr y Dyfodol 2013, Person Ifanc y Flwyddyn 2014 John Lewis ac Enillydd Gwobr Prif Weithredwr y Trydydd Sector sy’n Codi 2019 yng Ngwobrau’r Trydydd Sector.

Ar hyn o bryd mae Joel yn Brif Swyddog Gweithredol yn Tutors United, elusen addysgol sy’n hyfforddi myfyrwyr prifysgol ac yn darparu tiwtorialau grŵp sy’n hybu hyder ac sy’n codi cyrhaeddiad i ddisgyblion ysgol gynradd, wrth iddynt geisio goresgyn rhwystrau economaidd-gymdeithasol a all rwystro cynnydd.

Joel fydd yr enwebiad RankNet cyntaf i wasanaethu fel Ymddiriedolwr ar fwrdd The Rank Foundation.

Meddai Joey Newton, Cadeirydd The Rank Foundation: “Rwyf wrth fy modd yn croesawu Joel i Fwrdd yr Ymddiriedolwyr. Bydd yn dod ag egni ieuenctid ac, yn gyffrous, safbwynt RankNet a fydd yn cael ei groesawu gan bob un ohonom.”

The Rank Foundation to benefit from DCMS funding scheme

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The Rank Foundation is to benefit from the government’s DCMS £85 million Covid charity match-funding scheme.

The Rank Foundation is one of nineteen funders, foundations and philanthropists who are partnering with the Government’s Community Match Challenge scheme. The fund is part of the £750 million package of support announced by the Chancellor to support the sector.  The Rank Foundation has been awarded £5 million.

The Rank Foundation will create a new programme, the Time to Shine Covid-19 Resilience Programme, and will distribute a total of £10 million to small and medium-sized charities and social enterprises, primarily to those within their network, RankNet.

The new grants programme will support 200 charities and social enterprises with urgent and immediate financial needs.  Those organisations that are facing unprecedented demand for services or those that are facing a significant reduction income as a result of the pandemic, will benefit from the programme.  In addition, 200 charities and social enterprises will take part in the Time to Shine Leadership Programme, creating new, meaningful jobs when the social sector needs them most.

Time to Shine is a UK wide leadership programme that is run by the Rank Foundation, supported in partnership with the National Lottery Community Fund and working with the social sector, where a strong emphasis is placed on personal and professional development. It is designed to address the following:

  • A specific organisational development need, working with a charity or social enterprise.
  • To enable a Time to Shine Leader with the right skills mix, talent, and work ethic, who is currently under-employed to experience a 12-month full-time paid position within a supportive social sector work environment.
  • To provide an opportunity for talented people to consider the social sector as a career of first choice.

Caroline Broadhurst, Deputy CEO of the Rank Foundation stated, ‘we are delighted to be part of this collaborative approach to build resilience within the social sector, in the face of the pandemic.  The dual offer of immediate, short-term and urgent grant funding, combined with an investment in the social sector leaders of tomorrow, through the Time to Shine Programme, will help create the best conditions for charities and social enterprises to not only survive but thrive beyond 2020.’

For further information please contact communitymatchchallenge@rankfoundation.com

Handling Covid19 – Clean Break

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This week, we are shining the spotlight on Clean Break, a charity based in London. Clean Break uses theatre to keep the subject of women in prison on the cultural radar, helping to reveal the damage caused by the failures of the criminal justice system.


Clean Break is a women’s theatre company, founded in 1979 by two women prisoners who believed in the power of theatre to transform lives. Their vision is of a society where women can realise their full potential, free from criminalisation. Through theatre workshops and projects in prisons and the community which build confidence, resilience and wellbeing, Clean Break transforms the lives of women who have experienced the criminal justice system or have been identified as at risk of entering it. The team ordinarily work with 70 women each week as part of their weekly Members Programme. They have 10 full time and 11 part time staff and are usually supported by around 40 volunteers.

“We pursue our vision by producing ground-breaking theatre which puts women’s voices at its heart and creates lasting change by challenging injustice in and beyond the criminal justice system”

Photo Credit: Clean Break

The Members Programme is delivered from trauma-informed, women-only studios in Kentish Town. The Programme runs in ten-week sessions, and each week Clean Break will host workshops in Introduction to Drama, Advanced Theatre, Writers Circle, and Health & Wellbeing, as well as running a Young Artists Development Programme. The sessions are designed to help members cope with the long-term issues that can underpin women’s involvement in the criminal justice system, such as mental ill health, domestic abuse or violence, poverty, or alcohol or drug misuse.

The Coronavirus pandemic has meant that Clean Break has been forced to make some big changes to their programme delivery. They swiftly moved their sessions online and began to offer member support remotely. This was a challenge as many of their service users already struggle with isolation; and the crisis also presents challenges in coping with long-term issues. The sessions now include: 3 online creative workshops per week, members support in the form of check-ins, Zoom 1:1’s, and care packages, as well as new creative projects which foster connectivity and community. The plan is to maintain this service until the team are able to offer a reduced, in-person version of their Member Programme that they can run alongside their virtual workshops.

The biggest organisational challenge has been financial. Clean Break’s largest unrestricted income is hiring out their building (ordinarily generating £125K per year) which came to an abrupt halt in February. Other financial challenges have included the loss of donations as funders have diverted money to emergency delivery; a reduction in capacity as Clean Break have furloughed 76% of their staff; and loss of further trading income as they do not expect to be able to run training courses or earn box office income from theatre productions for a good while yet.

“Emergency funding support from both existing and new funders has been essential to navigate this crisis and stabilise our organisation; funders such as the Rank Foundation have been absolutely vital in protecting our resilience, securing our future, and making sure that we will be able to return to a full Members Programme as soon as possible.”

For more information about Clean Break, please visit www.cleanbreak.org.uk

You can also follow on Twitter @CleanBrk, Instagram @CleanBrk, Facebook, or find them on LinkedIn.

If you’d like to contact someone at Clean Break for more information about their work, or supporting them, please contact Head of Development and Communications Sally Muckley at sally.muckley@cleanbreak.org.uk

Rank Memorial Award Winners 2020

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It is with great pleasure that we announce the winners of the Rank Memorial Award 2020. This year, the Memorial Award criteria had a particular focus on resilience, in addition to the general criteria of “exploring a specific area of personal interest, relating to our work that will serve to inspire, educate or promote the interests, values or ethos of the Foundation.”

Despite the lows of lockdown and the current Covid19 crisis, the Memorial Award received more applications than ever before which in turn made it particularly difficult to select a winner. Therefore, we are delighted to announce that the selection committee has awarded three Memorial Awards at £6,500 each to Joe Russo, Hannah Ciotkowski and Geraldine Cooper.

Joe Russo

Joe, founder of Major Grant recipient organisation Enthusiasm Trust, will be heading to Los Angeles and Glasgow to explore two organisations whose work, philosophies and aims particularly resonate with Joe’s own experiences of supporting disadvantaged young people at risk of exploitation and gang association. In LA, Joe will be spending time with Homeboy Industries, an organisation that aims to provide hope, training and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated men and women, allowing them to redirect their lives and become contributing members of the community. In Glasgow, Joe will be spending time with the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, who specialise in tackling the problem of knife crime and is a national centre of expertise on violence.

Hannah Ciotkowski

Hannah, current Time to Shine Leader at Kissing it Better, will be heading to Northern and Central Australia where a growing number of older people suffer from chronic loneliness. Hannah’s current role at KIB looks at offering young people meaningful volunteering experience inside hospitals and care homes. Since the Covid19 pandemic, KIB has had to adapt their services, and set up a ‘volunteering from home’ programme, with Hannah running this for Duke of Edinburgh participants to support elderly people virtually. Hannah’s main aim in Australia would be to learn from isolated, elderly communities in the Northern Territory and other more remote areas of Australia, many of whom have had to cope with serious isolation issues all their lives. She will also be including a visit to Professor Brian Dolan who works in Australia on the ‘End PJ Paralysis’ campaign – an initiative that encourages older patients to wear their own clothes in hospital, as well as visiting ‘The Last 1000 Days’ project that charts the importance of giving older people the best chance of making the most of their last 3 years of life. In addition to this, Hannah will work with young Australians who are already volunteering from home, looking at the way they are successfully supporting the most vulnerable in their society.

Geraldine Cooper

Geraldine, 2019 Time to Shine Leader at Newington Day Centre, will be traveling to San Francisco, Belgium and Liverpool to find out how other countries experience and cope with dementia within their population. Geraldine will visit the Alzheimer’s Association in San Francisco for a fortnight to volunteer with them in the lead up to ‘The Longest Day’ fundraising event, where thousands of participants from across the world come together to fight the darkness of Alzheimer’s through an activity of their choice. She will then move on to The Flanders Centre of Expertise on Dementia in Belgium for 5 days, to see in person how their model works, speak to residents, staff and other members of the community to see how they feel this new holistic model of care for people living with dementia works for them. Then finally, Geraldine will then travel to The Centre for Collaborative Innovation in Dementia Living Lab at Liverpool John Moore University. She will spend 4 days visiting the lab and discover how they work with people with dementia to co-create tools, apps and resources which will improve their day to day experience of living with dementia. 

We would like to congratulate Joe, Hannah and Geraldine on their successful applications and we will be hearing from them during and after their travels.

Ex-Time to Shine Derry charity secures £500K in funding

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Derry-based charity, Liberty Consortium @ the Playtrail has secured 4 year funding by The National Lottery Community Fund for Northern Ireland to take their social enterprise opportunities for young people with disabilities too the next stage. They will be opening their very own charity shop within the heart of the community as well as developing their ‘Tea in the Park’ initiative.

The Playtrail employee, Jennie Marshall, was a 2019 Time to Shine Leader initially employed to aide the set up of ‘Tea in the Park‘, a mobile cafe and coffee shop made from a converted horse box.  Tea in the Park provides meaningful work placement opportunities for young people with disabilities to their build confidence, help develop new skills and increase their independence. Within the new Project ‘Ready, Steady Go’, Jennie has secured a 4 year role which will see her continuing with Tea in the Park, whilst also moving to the new Charity shop in order to support young people and assist in growing the social enterprise and placing Liberty Consortium on the high street.

Jennie and her Tea in the Park colleague

When we asked Jennie about how the Time to Shine programme affected her journey, she said “Time to Shine has played a major role in helping shape the career that I always wanted to do. Being a Time to Shine Leader in 2019 has not only provided me with a number of different opportunities but has also pushed me to do things I never thought I could or would do i.e. public speaking or setting up a social enterprise. It has enabled me to grow as a person, learn new things and improve on a number of different skills. What stands out to me the most about being a Time to Shine leader is the support & encouragement I received from not only The Rank Foundation themselves and The Playtrail but also all the other organisations involved.“

Jennie’s manager, Gavin Melly, credits the initial Rank Foundation investment in the Tea in the Park programme back in 2019 with the success of their recent application to The National Lottery Community Fund. Gavin said “We are extremely excited for our new venture, being able to grow on our social enterprise,providing much more meaningful work opportunities for young people with disabilities whilst placing inclusion at the heart of the community.“

Amazingly, The Playtrail has been able to secure funding in order for Jennie to undertake a postgraduate Course in Ulster University in Community Youth Work. Jennie has completed her first year and has 8 months left on her new course. Jennie and Gavin are delighted as Jennie has been able to undertake this course, providing her with the professional qualification and all fees being paid for.

A final comment from Gavin, “we would like to thank the Foundation for supporting us back in 2018/2019 within the Time to Shine programme, it really has provided us with the foundations to grow our social enterprise opportunities, and create an amazing learning experience for Jennie and our wider team.”

We would like to wish The Playtrail success in the expansion of their programmes and we would encourage the network to get in touch with them for more information.

Website: www.libertyconsortium.org.uk
Twitter: @ThePlaytrail

Handling Covid19 – Social Enterprise Academy

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This week we are shining the spotlight on Social Enterprise Academy, a Scotland-based charity who provides transformational learning and development programmes for people and organisations working for social change.

Launched in Scotland in 2004, Social Enterprise Academy have helped over 18,000 learners to develop themselves and their organisations to create sustainable businesses and have greater social impact. Their programmes support organisations at all stages of development and focus on; leadership, entrepreneurship, social impact measurement, and personal development.

Since 2016, Social Enterprise Academy have been replicating internationally and now have 60 staff members in 14 countries around the world supporting social enterprise development in their communities.

We asked the team what an average day looked like: “There really is no typical week. Our programmes are incredibly diverse. They respond to client needs, so they happen where, when and how will suit the learners best. In Scotland alone, we could have a programme to support a development trust on a tiny island, or a social enterprise with hundreds of employees to restructure. We might be working with young people who are not in work, supervisors or projects leads, CEOs or trustees.  But whatever the programme, it’s the same high quality facilitators, always social enterprise practitioners, who share their own experiences and enable all learners to do likewise, creating space to have experiences, reflect, think and plan. That much does not change.”

The introduction of lockdown back in March meant that Social Enterprise Academy had to re-align their work. The pandemic means Social Enterprise Academy are now navigating what they have coined as a “VUCA” world – one which is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. The team has been focusing on upskilling their international network of teams and facilitators to deliver the learning programmes online. Not only are they learning new technologies and tools, they are having to relearn some of the basics of facilitation – how to connect with learners, how to manage group conversations, how to read body language, how to create safety in the room.

We asked the team how their service users had responded to the changes in service delivery.

“We’ve had really positive feedback to our learning moving online. Some of our regular clients have specifically said the experience was as good and inspirational as ‘in the room’ learning. We’ve taken great care to use the right platform, the right activities, right materials, format and so on.”

One of the biggest challenges facing Social Enterprise Academy is that the anticipated longer term social distancing measures that are likely to be in place for some time to come, mean that face to face delivery is no longer possible. Also, understandably, many of their partners within the Third Sector are now unable to pay for their learning and development as a result of the pandemic, so the team have had to find a way to deliver fully funded programmes.

If you would like to hear more about Social Enterprise Academy, you can visit their website or drop them a message at scotland@socialenterprise.academy. Equally you can follow them on Twitter (@SocEntAcademy) and Facebook.