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OCS strategic partners form consortia to bid for £9m funding pot

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 28 Feb 2011

A number of Office for Civil Society strategic partners have confirmed that they are bidding in consortia for the £9m transition fund the OCS has set up as part of its plan to phase out the strategic partner programme in 2014.

Eight strategic partners told Civil Society that they have applied for funding in partnership. The consortia are a mixture of strategic partners and new players.

Strategic partners Charities Evaluation Services and Voice4Change England are applying together, as are Community Matters and Acre.

Existing partner CEMVO is applying with the Equalities National Council and Social Firms UK is bidding with social enterprise charity UnLtd and fellow strategic partners School for Social Entreprenuers, CAN and the Plunkett Foundation.

Other strategic partners, however, refused to give further details on partnership bidding.

Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, said in his personal blog that Acevo was re-applying in partnership, but would not give further details.

Navca, NCVO, the Social Enterprise Coalition, the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation, Community Development Exchange, the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, Volunteering England, Women’s Resource Centre, CSV, Urban Forum, Co-operatives UK, the Foyer Federation, Church Urban Fund and the British Youth Council all said they had applied for funding but would not confirm whether it was in partnership.

The Third Sector European Network and the Citizenship Foundation refused to comment.

YouthNet said it was not eligible for funding and youth charity v has agreed a separate arrangement with the Office for Civil Society.

The National Youth Agency said it felt it was not appropriate to apply as it had already got transition funding from the Department of Education.

Youth Action Network, which received 15 per cent of its £1m income from the OCS, announced its impending closure in January.

Philanthropy UK, BTCV, LGTB Consortium, Social Enterprise London, Charity Trustee Network, Timebank, the Community Foundation Network and Locality (the new organisation formed by bassac and the Development Trusts Association) and the Institute of Fundraising did not respond to enquiries in time. 

Successful applicants will be announced on 22 March 2011.

The government plans to reduce the numbers of strategic partners from 40 to a maximum of 15 and make sure that no organisation receives more than 25 per cent of its funding from the Office for Civil Society (OCS), with maximum grants amounting to £500,000 per year. It will end the programme in 2014.

Minister for civil society Nick Hurd has said that organisations most likely to attract the maximum grant were those in the process of merging or establishing formal partnerships with other organisations.

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