Friday, 8 December 2006

Now sit back and wait

Anne was already at the office when I arrived about 7:30. We collaborated on the final stages of collating the application, and by about 11:00 it was all done. Anyone who has submitted large fundraising applications will understand how complex they can be. And this was a complex project involving three major partners and a wide range of activities to be delivered at sites throughout Watford. If approved for funding, the project will bring more than £300,000 into the borough and underpin much of the Watford Learning Partnership’s strategy for the next five years. My chair of Trustees, Pam, arrived at 12:00 to sign the finished application.

Vanessa, Anne and I have each invested hours and hours in preparing the application, all the while knowing that it only has about a 10% chance of success. We were all satisfied with the final application, and all took a professional pride in doing a good job a meeting the deadline. Vanessa and Anne have done a truly wonderful job. Now all we can do is wait patiently for a funding decision sometime in the next six months. Or longer.

Sunflower Project

At 1:00, Anthony Wills arrived, the facilitator for the 2:00 meeting on the future of the Sunflower Project. Anthony Wills is a leading expert on Domestic Violence and his role today was paid for by the Police who had also briefed him on the meeting. The poor communication around this meeting seems to continue and does not auger well: a brief conversation with Anthony revealed that he anticipated a small meeting of about a dozen people and I had to explain that we were expecting nearer forty. We talked through the expected composition of the audience and key issues and I left him to adjust his plans accordingly.

The Sunflower Centres (one in Watford and one in Hemel Hempstead) were created to provide bases for a combined response to Domestic Violence and Hate Crimes in the West of Hertfordshire. The Police have provided the buildings, secured most of the funding, and have been highly supportive (especially the local Commander Jerry Alford). Additional funding has been provided by Herts County, Watford and Dacorum councils. No funding has been forthcoming from Three Rivers District Council or from the local PCTs, and now Dacorum District Council has apparently indicated that it will withdraw support early in 2007. Dacorum’s decision has precipitated a crisis for the Sunflower Project.

Problems have been exacerbated by historically poor communications with the voluntary sector. Today’s meeting offered a chance to clear the air, face up to the funding realities, and establish a genuine partnership to find a way forward.

The Sunflower Project meeting

Having personally pushed hard for this meeting, I was delighted by the turnout. The Police’s continued support for the Sunflower Project does them great credit and they were well represented at the meeting. On the statutory side, there was also good representation from Watford Borough, Dacorum District and Herts County Councils, and the Probation Service. Sadly, there was no presence from Three Rivers District Council or from the PCT.

But all the effort was made worthwhile by the excellent turnout from the voluntary including (amongst many others) Watford Domestic Violence Forum, Watford Women’s Centre, Watford and Three Rivers Relate, Dacorum Domestic Violence Forum, Herts Community Development Agency, Dacorum Voluntary Action, Watford and Three Rivers HomeStart, Victim Support, Watford Turnaround, and West Herts Against Crime.

Anthony Wills did a good job of managing the meeting, encouraging and maintaining the dialogue. Jerry Alford explained that the Police could not indefinitely pay for two Centres without the support of key statutory partners, and without the engagement of the voluntary sector. Voluntary sector representatives explained the problems they had encountered in the past when trying to engage with the Sunflower Centres.

Key contributors to the debate included Sylvia (Watford Women’s Centre), John and Sarifa (Turnaround), Adele (Relate) and Val (Dacorum Domestic Violence Forum). From all sides, there was openness and goodwill, and a common commitment to making the Sunflower Centres work.

Issues left unresolved included: future funding, the management structure for the Sunflower Project and how the Sunflower Centre will balance work tackling Domestic Violence and work tackling Hate Crime. But Anthony Wills did secure agreement on a clear plan of action involving further discussions among all the key organisations, and so a good basis has been established for future work. Whether this will be enough to save both Sunflower Centres remains to be seen.

Certainly the mood was very positive and the voluntary sector people I talked with were very happy with the way things had gone. Several were also paid compliments to the conference room that Sue and Vanessa had worked had to improve.

Home at last: after the flood

When I arrived home, Jackie was nearing the end of her tether, having taken the day off work to resolve our flood problems and having spent a highly frustrating day doing so, while seeing carpets ripped up from two rooms and while having to endure constant noise from two industrial strength de-humidifiers.

We patched together the living room as best we could, retrieved ancient rugs from the attic and opened a bottle of wine.