Preparing for lift off!

As the Big Local rep, I do a short review of progress every three months to give some feedback to residents, the partnership and to Local Trust. I hope you find it helpful. You can always contact me by email and it is always good to hear from you: bill@practicalparticipation.co.uk.

Bill Badham, Big Local Rep, May 2015

Looking back

Partnership

This has been a very significant and successful 3 months for Boston Big Local. At the turn of the year a draft plan was out for consultation and an embryonic partnership led by residents from within the BBL area was forming. By the end of March, the partnership had consolidated and signed a partnership agreement. Resident chair and vice-chair were elected in Richard Tory and Mandy Exley. The support team of plan co-ordinator, Local Trusted Organisation, administrator and Big Local Rep were all appointed as well. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Local Trusted Organisation, Taylor-Itex, on behalf of the partnership and Local Trust which manages the Big Local programme.

Plan

A leaflet summarising the plan was created and delivered to every household. 4 community events had taken place to consult the community and interested local organisations on the draft plan. Final amendments were made. The plan was submitted. Local Trust visited and met with the partnership, which presented their vision, passions for the local community and ambitions for change. The plan was approved and formally endorsed on 8 April 2015.

Procedures

Meanwhile, the group considered and put in place further means to help make sure there was limited delay between plan approval and activities being delivered. A draft Service Level Agreement was prepared and is now being used as the basis of confirming expectations and funding levels with partners. A detailed budget and quarterly spend profile was prepared detailing how much money is needed to cover costs every 3 months. A compliments, concerns and complaints policy was drafted, tweaked and approved. The website was reviewed and added to.

Looking forward

The move from Getting Started activity and creating the plan to then implementing and delivering on the plan is an exciting one. It is not always as easy as it sounds, because these first weeks test out yet untried processes, such as contracting partners or making sure recording, reporting and payments go smoothly.

But, things are in place and the plan is big in ambition and detailed in delivery. These coming 3 months should give real encouragement to the partnership, residents and all local supporters as Boston Big Local moves to help make their vision a reality.