Get In, the childhood sports project that Big Society Network’s Social Action Fund grant was supposed to fund, was faltering in quarter one of the grant agreement, yet the Cabinet Office gave Big Society Network (BSN) a further £98,000 for the project at the end of quarter two, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show.
The project never properly launched, despite being awarded funding of £300,000 from the Social Action Fund. A total of £199,900 was paid to BSN and two months after the second payment was made, the Cabinet Office put the project and remaining grant on hold.
BSN was set up with David Cameron’s backing just after the general election, with the aim of encouraging volunteering and community action. It claimed at the time that it would be independent of government and would not seek any government funding, but its associated charity Society Network Foundation (SNF) won £199,900 from the Social Action Fund last year to launch Get In, which was modelled on Michelle Obama’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign to tackle childhood obesity in the US.
SNF won the funding ahead of more than 1,400 other applicants to the Fund even though it did not meet the published criteria and changed partners and projects after the bid deadline. It was awarded the grant on the basis of the "track record" of its senior management. It was paid £101,200 on 3 May 2012 and a further £98,700 on 1 November 2012.
The quarter-one monitoring evaluation form for Get In, obtained by civilsociety.co.uk under the Freedom of Information Act, suggests that Get In was connected to another Social Action Fund project, Energy Club, run by Sports Leaders UK.
The evaluation states that Get In “is about making it easier for people to get involved in combating childhood obesity through social action. Our focus will be on supporting projects that aim to increase children’s physical literacy.
“Building on the strengths of Big Society Network, Get In will build a website that explains why getting involved is so important and inspires action.”
Delays, postponements and lack of interest
The quarter-one evaluation form shows that a Get In advisory board meeting planned for July had to be postponed due to circumstances outside BSN’s control and was rescheduled for 6 September.
Efforts to secure a media partner had not yet borne fruit: two TV broadcasters were not interested and discussions were still ongoing with various national newspapers.
Various sports personalities were contacted but showed little interest in getting involved. The first business roundtable also had to be postponed, although BSN was finalising a working relationship with a government department to enable it to promote Get In to over 200 businesses directly, and thus secure further financial support for the project.
However, the Get In identity also had to be reviewed within the first few weeks of the grant agreement. The evaluation states: “Following initial discussions with Sports Leaders UK it became clear there was a need for Get In to refocus its core message to ensure that we did not have a negative impact on the Energy Club campaign.
“Following discussions with SLUK we have redeveloped the Get In identity so it is easier to use as a supporting and enabling brand. This work will be finalised in August. This, along with circumstances outwith our control has led to a delay in the development of the website.”
The Cabinet Office confirmed that it did receive from SNF in October 2012 the three pieces of evidence that demonstrated “satisfactory progress” of the project – management accounts, confirmation of monies spent in accordance with grant agreement, and progress against expected outcomes.
It added: “Society Network Foundation spent the money in line with the grant offer and have not been asked to repay any monies.”
Steve Moore, Big Society Network's chief executive, said he was too busy today to respond to a request for comment from civilsociety.co.uk.
£1m from BIG
Earlier this month Society Network Foundation won a further £1m from the Big Lottery Fund for a nationwide fundraising event later this year.
