BISON

BISON: Bradford Infrastructure Support Organisations Network

The Bradford Infrastructure Support Organisations Network (BISON) partnership was established in November 2006 and since April 2007 has been delivering services through a 1-year funded commission from the BMDC Community Funding Unit (CFU).

This partnership is a first for the District and is evidence of continued commitment of the Infrastructure Support Organisations (ISO) in the District to provide joined up, high quality, responsive support service to voluntary and community organisations. The partners detailed below bring together generalist, locally based support organisations and specialist support organisations. Working together has enabled partners to share resources, develop referral systems and raise awareness of the support that is available for VCS in the District.

The BISON partners are (in alphabetical order):

Action for Black Community Development (ABCD)

David Odunukwe 01274 775535 abcd@actionforblackcommunitydevelopment.co.uk

Bingley Voluntary Action (BVA) www.bingleyva.org.uk

Mick Binns 01274 781222 mick@bingleyva.org.uk

Bradford Community and Voluntary Service (BCVS) www.bradfordcvs.org.uk

Helen Black 01274 722772 helen@bradfordcvs.org.uk

Bradford Resource Centre (BRC) www.brc-net.org.uk

Mike Quiggin 01274 779003 mike@brc-net.org.uk

Consortia of Ethnic Minority Organisations (COEMO) www.coemo.co.uk

Mohammed Salam 01274 488872 salam@coemo.co.uk

Equity Partnership www.equitypartnership.org.uk

Rachel Nauwelaerts 01274 727759 rachel@equitypartnership.org.uk

Ilkley Council for Voluntary Service (ICVS) www.cvs.ilkley.org

Mary Hamilton 01943 603348 info@cvs.ilkley.org

Keighley Voluntary Services (KVS) www.keighleyvs.org

Carol Wood 01535 665258 carol.wood@keighleyvs.org

West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service (WYCAS) www.wycas.org.uk

Penny Carter - 0113 270 6291 penny.carter@wycas.org.uk

The partnership is led by BCVS, who are responsible for co-ordinating the initiative and providing monitoring reports to the CFU.

Briefing Bradford Readers may have noted that since April Briefing Bradford is now 'with added BISON'! This means that partners are providing more regular input to the publication and all BISON partners' (eligible) member organisations have the opportunity to receive FREE copies of Briefing Bradford - which until now had only been open to members of the five CVSs.

BISON Development Workers Network

The partnership has seen the creation of the BISON Development Workers network, bringing together Development workers from across the District to meet and discuss issues a range of development issues. This network is helping Development Workers keep up to date with information and resources to enable them to support voluntary and community organisations through the District.

General support

Partners provide organisational development support to voluntary and community organisations, this may be in their office or outreach with the group. The support provided may be on a wide range of issues including constitutions, charity registration, policies and procedures, development and business plans.

Strategic Work

KVS, COEMO and BCVS are working together with other ISO's in the District to ensure that the voice of the sector is heard at the decision-making tables in the District. This includes membership of the Bradford Vision Board, the Building Communities Partnership and the Strategic Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP).

Specialist Support

This part of the Commission BCVS, KVS and BVA provide specialist support and advice to groups and organisations, this might include management committee support, advice around legal structures or advice around employment issues.

Marketing and Research

BRC has been commissioned to provide support to groups on undertaking research and to support groups marketing their services.

Support on financial management

WYCAS provide accountancy support to groups including training on accounting systems, the preparation of accounts and the introduction of financial systems.

The future

The partnership is working well and has enabled all partners to enhance the support they provide to organisations in the District, currently the partnership is commissioned until March 31st 2008 but discussions will be held in the autumn to explore ways to take the partnership forward.

For more information contact: Helen Black, BCVS 01274 722772, helen@bradfordcvs.org.uk

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