Project: Infrastructure Social Investment Support

Grant: £58,850

Through this project, the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) will embed learning from the Connect Fund, establishing NAVCA as a trusted source of information, advice and support on social investment for local infrastructure organisations (LIOs). Founded in 1991, NAVCA is the only membership body for local voluntary sector support and development organisations in England, serving nearly 200 member organisations, which are embedded in communities and working with over 145,000 local charity and voluntary groups.

The Connect Fund has limited resources to reach a full geographical spread of LIOs in England. This project will add value to the work of the Connect Fund, by expanding the reach of resources developed by other grantholders and providing support and training to NAVCA’s membership. NAVCA will use its member-only online platform and its website to promote and share existing resources, providing a long-term home for local social investment knowledge and support. As part of this project, NAVCA is also working in partnership with the Good Finance team from Big Society Capital (BSC) and has been contracted to coordinate the delivery of a programme of Let’s Talk Good Finance (LTGF) workshops, which member organisations will deliver, with reimbursement for their time.

NAVCA staff will receive development training to ensure they have the skills and knowledge internally to incorporate social investment across all aspects of their work and enable them to better support LIOs on this topic. NAVCA will utilise expertise from those working on Connect Fund projects as well as external consultants, as necessary, to deliver regional information events, as well as creating a community of practice for local Social Investment advice and support. Its existing online-platform and website will become a repository for resources and knowledge on social investment for local infrastructure to use in supporting organisations in their local area. The increased availability of support will enable local voluntary organisations to make more informed decisions on how to adapt and grow in challenging financial times.