REAP works with local communities and agencies to raise awareness of sustainable development and through this promotes action which seeks to encourage volunteers and agencies to meet locally identified needs.
Overview
PROJECT SUMMARY
REAP works with local communities and agencies to raise awareness of sustainable development and through this promotes action which seeks to encourage volunteers and agencies to meet locally identified needs.
There is a large capacity building focus in the project which has led to our involvement in initiatives such as
- Setting up a new Moray- wide grass roots anti-poverty network
- Providing training and support to set up a new community credit union
- Providing raining and workshops on topics such as sustainability, the social economy, campaigning skills, etc
- Organising externally facilitated workshops on participatory appraisal, Planning for Real, social auditing, eco- debt and environmental justice
- Facilitating community consultations and community led investigations using participatory techniques
- Operating a Small Grants Scheme in Moray and Aberdeenshire
We also produce The Green Diary, a free monthly listings publication on environmental and sustainable development initiatives in the North East of Scotland.
We deliver environmental education workshops with school groups, principally around the themes of waste minimisation and active citizenship. At the other end of the age scale, we work in partnership with the Grampian 50+ Network and Crown Estates in Glenlivet on an annual week long residential volunteering programme.
KEY PARTNERS
This is a CSV run & managed project - CSV are therefore essential to the project at all stages. This is particularly relevant in the role that CSV plays in supporting the project financially given the long delays in the processing of European claims.
CSV Environment, the Community Fund, and Community Business Scotland Network in their support for Social Auditing are the main partner organisations.
CSV Scotland- set up and still manage at arms length
CSV Media - passed on the running of the Green Diary to REAP
Wide range of partnership working - has always been an operating principle
Work for REAP is self generated with a high degree of autonomy in the day to day running of the project This is a major strength of the project which has allowed the project to be responsive to local needs and opportunistic in developing areas of work
Moray Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprises (theLEC) and Local government involvement is increasingly important( both strategically and as a source of ESF match funding) - the LEC through initiatives such as the funding of a Small Grants scheme, and Moray Council by continuing to participate in the Moray Sustainability Forum.
FUNDERS
There has never been any major Capital funding - £1,000 within the community fund grant, for example.
£10,000 from Forward Scotland in year 1
Community Fund and an ERDF bid were the first, critical, grants.
REAP operate a small grant programme for MBSE the local LEC
For 2001-04 REAP have Community Fund income and ESF Objective 3 money for capacity building.
Scottish Executive Rural Challenge has been secured in 2002 and 2003. Unfortunately a recent bid to the same fund to develop social economy capacity building training has been rejected.
THEMATIC CRITERIA
Moray Facilitating Organisation; Economy; Local amenities.
Plan
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
CSV Environment started the project in 1997 in response to identified need for a facilitating organisation of this type in the area. Tara O'Leary at CSV wrote the initial ERDF and Community Fund bids. Staff were in post by October 1997.
CSV Media in Aberdeen had previously published a Green Diary which became a clear output that REAP could take over.
A local advisory group was established to support the project locally. It included local authority LA21 representatives, the Countryside Rangers and Aberdeenshire Environmental Forum , as well as having other representatives from the voluntary and environmental sectors.
The focus of REAP has changed over the years which has been reflected in the membership of the advisory group - initially the members were mainly very green- oriented reflecting the initial focus of REAP towards 'standard green issues'. The project developed around the skills base of the staff, which meant that there was more emphasis on the wider concept of sustainable development within a community development framework
This has evolved into a wider capacity building focus, with the project operating a small grants scheme, running training and workshops, while also supporting environmental initiatives and promoting sustainable development. The group has also begun to offer Social Auditing (helping organisations to measure their social and environmental performance) This is done in partnership with CBS Network, and has been delivered in cluster groups of eight organisations or projects per year over a three year period.
As a new project, working to a fairly 'new' and different remit, it took some time to actually work out what REAP was all about -It took roughly 18 months for REAP to 'bed in' and really start moving in terms of activity.
OUTPUTS
Improvements made to organisations (capacity building etc) are very long- lasting - as long as the organisations exist.
Improvements made by groups themselves following a supported social audit are equally permanent
Elgin Credit Union, established with considerable support from REAP, has the potential to last forever.
Support given in helping set up community woodland groups and initiatives such as access and path developments will have long lasting benefits. Small Grants have been used to help communities raise funds to purchase land for community use.
FUTURE STEPS
They would like to continue the project indefinitely, but hope to have funding of some sort up (most likely ESF) to 2006 (current package ends in April 2004). Some of the subsidiary parts of the project could continue independently - such as the schools work in active citizenship, which is now a curriculum item.
Capacity Building will continue - social auditing, , training, workshops etc. The small Grants scheme will continue in an expanded form with support from the local LEC
The Sustainability Forum - REAP are looking at the opportunity of floating it off separately.
Educational work with schools will only continue if funding can be found for this as this work would not be eligible for ESF funding.
Social Economy work has been put on hold in the short term, but a reworked bid will be submitted to the Executives Rural Challenge Fund for 2004/5. This is an area of work where there is a high level of unmet demand at present and will be a key area in the future development of REAP.
The Green Diary will also continue in its present state.
Progress
The establishment of a advisory group separate from CSV was another significant step - REAP is a CSV project and ultimately accountable to CSV but the local advisory group is a critical method of ensuring REAP is not acting with no regard to local needs.
In 1998 additional European funding was accessed to allow a training officer to be appointed. AT the same time an external evaluation was done of REAP which expressed concern with the geographical focus of activities - the groups was funded to cover both Moray & Aberdeenshire.
Additional funding was then accessed to assist groups with capacity building and sustainability, which was used to set up a one- year small grants scheme with a fund of £15,000, which was used to give out 34 grants.
Next year (2003/4) the local LEC has agreed to REAP's management of a £20,000 fund for a similar small grants scheme.
Review
ACHIEVEMENTS
- The group is still in existence
- From a start with 1 years funding only, to have stayed in existence for this long (5 ? years) is an achievement in itself
- A community woodland group which was set up with REAP help has now really taken off & established footpath networks
- Social auditing has become a major plank of activity as well as a success, offering a way for organisations to evaluate themselves - REAP were featured in a recent social auditing supplement as a result of their work in this area.
- The small grants scheme has been a great success - it's still going, it has punched above its weight, and it offers a way for new groups to access relatively small amounts of funding. It also allows REAP to approach groups they are working with and suggest applying, which gives them another way to promote themselves
- The method of participatory appraisal which REAP introduced by bringing in a specialist trainer ( Andy Inglis of Scottish Participatory Initiatives) has been widely cascaded and is being used by a wide range of organisations and agencies
- The fact that the community see REAP as a local resource, not an agency, is a significant achievement
- The number of ways they can help groups - assisting them to consult local communities, sometimes helping them set up in the very early stages, helping them (sometimes through social auditing) to take stock of achievements.
- Linking people and groups through networks, such as the Moray Sustainability Forum (which was run by the local authority, but REAP now facilitate), and by participating in other forums such as the Aberdeenshire Environmental Forum & the Grampian Support Forum for Credit Unions.
- Setting up a local anti- poverty group in Moray which is run by people who are actually experiencing poverty or who are involved in community responses to poverty
- The development of a new post in 2001 dedicated to working directly with schools within an active citizenship framework, the main focus being on waste minimisation and developing pupil councils.
Beneficiaries over the years have included:
- All the groups worked with.
- Stakeholders (who have given very good feedback on the social auditing)
- Local agencies (such as the LEC) because of the role REAP plays in getting groups involved in all processes
MEASURING ACHIEVEMENTS
Regular reports are given to the advisory group
Records are kept of all groups worked with & the impact REAP has had on them
Social auditing - REAP conduct annual social audits on themselves & make the results available. Social auditing is far more useful to REAP than external evaluations as it focuses on the issues which are important to them.
PROCESS (local involvement)
The key local people are the local advisory group - 6 members originally -now up to 9.
The project is now driven by its staff 5 f-t and one p-t.
9 people (advisory group) are representatives from groups they have worked with
13 new groups are now at early stages of being worked with
In the first three years of the project most match funding came through in-kind support generated through volunteer hours - roughly 1500 a year
Groups have been encouraged to work with REAP as they proactively go out and visit groups and communities to promote themselves.
The small grants scheme is also an excellent 'hook' to encourage groups to et in touch
The range of expertise & interests of staff within REAP mean that a variety of groups will receive specialist advice, for example: the local anti- poverty groups which was set up was established by one member of staff but trained by another.
An increased confidence from local groups about what REAP can provide, and the fact that the project is seen as being a 'fixture'
REAP encourage and help groups to survey and consult their local communities
Social auditing encourages all participant groups to enhance their local knowledge.
The Advisory Group also play a key role in ensuring local management of the organisation.
LESSONS
Work in partnership with others - REAP have been successful in bringing in people to deliver training which has allowed them to build their own capacity while delivering project activity
Bringing training opportunities in to the local area is especially critical with rural project in order to make it accessible and affordable.
Pay a lot of attention to choosing staff & to staff development and training
Pay staff well with a decent wage - don't assume that because you are a 'good' organisation people will be willing to work for less.
Trust needs to be in place once you have appointed staff, to allow them to act alone
Use social auditing as your method of evaluation - it is much more than just an evaluation, but will allow you to measure the added value your work generates
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