By Marianna Hay and Emily Webb, Co-directors at Take Note At Take Note, we’ve spent the last two years developing a new framework for cross-sector collaboration with arts-for-social-change at its heart. In the wake of COVID-19, it’s clear that working together is more essential than ever. As we face ever-mounting shared challenges, we need to meet these together with renewed collective strength and support. Projects supported to date by Take Note have combined food poverty with hip-hop, NHS services with mindful photography, foraging with contemporary dance. Through working with these innovative and impactful partnership groups we’ve seen how cross-fertilisation of… Read more “Collaboration: invest time and energy at the start, and the rest will follow”

By Oliver Standing, Director, Collective Voice Increasingly I’ve been thinking about the question ‘What constitutes a flourishing system?’ in addition to the more traditional, although sometimes no more straightforward. ‘How can I deliver the mission of my organisation?’. I suppose there are a few reasons for that. Firstly, I have tried to deliberately develop an inquisitive mindset which strives for deeper understandings of people, process and purpose. Secondly, as I have gained more experience as a leader (and a human being), I have appreciated more and more the interrelated nature of the components of any system whether a family unit… Read more “From building successful organisations to nurturing flourishing systems”

Covid-19 has shone a light on existing inequalities across society, from structural racism to unequal distribution of resources across the country. These inequalities also play out in collaborations in the social sector. Smaller charities, those outside London, and those working with and for people of colour often do not share equal power or resources. On 10th June, NPC convened a group of people with experience of creating more equitable collaborations. We wanted to hear their experiences of what works to foster more equitable collaboration, how funders can support, and what is needed to spread these approaches throughout the sector. Acknowledging… Read more “Creating more equitable collaborations as we rebuild from Covid-19”

Join us on 12th May from 1.30pm – 3pm for our online event: Rethinking collaboration as we rebuild from Covid-19 Covid-19 has shown how organisations can come together to address some of our most pressing social needs. Collaboration has happened at speed in response to the urgency of the crisis. Charities, funders, government bodies and businesses have worked together across traditional divisions and in new ways, often putting aside egos and rivalries. At the same time, others have struggled to develop or maintain the relationships necessary for collaboration. Working together takes time, effort, and funding, all of which have been… Read more “Join our rethink collaboration workshop on 12th May”

We kicked off our Rethink, Rebuild initiative with an open event inviting speakers Ravi Gurumurthy, Chief Executive, Nesta, Joe Ferns, Director, Baobab Foundation , Edel Harris, Chief Executive, Mencap and Arvinda Gohil, CEO, Central YMCA, to share some of their thoughts about how the sector can take on the lessons learnt through the crisis, build on the innovations and address the highlighted inequalities to build back stronger:   Want to hear more about what Edel and our other guest speakers had to say? Watch the full Rethink, Rebuild event recording. We’d love to know how you feel about collaboration? Do… Read more “Edel Harris, Chief Executive, Mencap on supporting each other”

We kicked off our Rethink, Rebuild initiative with an open event inviting speakers Ravi Gurumurthy, Chief Executive, Nesta, Joe Ferns, Director, Baobab Foundation , Edel Harris, Chief Executive, Mencap and Arvinda Gohil, CEO, Central YMCA, to share some of their thoughts about how the sector can take on the lessons learnt through the crisis, build on the innovations and address the highlighted inequalities to build back stronger: Want to hear more about what Arvinda and our other guest speakers had to say? Watch the full Rethink, Rebuild event recording. We’d love to know how you feel about collaboration? Do you… Read more “Arvinda Gohil, CEO, Central YMCA on the importance of collaboration”

It is often said that change moves at the speed of trust. When people trust each other, they can share information, take risks and act together in pursuit of a shared agenda.   Yet this assumption of trust as a precondition for collaboration can limit our possibilities for influencing change. Gravitating to people and groups we already trust can reinforce unconscious bias. The scale of the Covid-19 crisis means that collaboration out of our comfort zones, across traditional boundaries, is essential for the system-level response we need. This means working with unlikely allies and learning to work with people with whom… Read more “Unlikely allies: Collaborating beyond the comfort zone”

Philanthropists or charitable funders are uniquely well-placed to support innovation and drive systems change as we rebuild from the Covid-19 crisis. Their independence lets them fund areas that are less popular or seen as risky. They can take the long view and fund areas where change takes time or impact is harder to measure. They can share power and resources with groups that have been historically marginalised.   In reality, most philanthropic funding is often fragmented, and channelled to areas that reflect the personal passions of the philanthropist rather than where the greatest need is. This is illustrated by the misalignment… Read more “How cause-related networks can help create systems change”

Collaboration can sometimes perpetuate inequality, exclusion, and unhealthy power dynamics. When this happens, organisations can end up perpetuating the unjust systems they are trying to address through the way that they work.   Collaboration should be equitable, and that includes how we work with other organisations. At NPC Ignites in October 2020, Natalie Creary of Black Thrive revealed how grassroots black and ethnic minority groups are sometimes exploited by charity partners that “want to have a bit of melanin” in their funding bids. If the collaborative funding bid is successful, these groups may find they have little decision-making power in the… Read more “Taking out the tokenism: Ensuring equity in collaboration”