The Together Fund aims to help support community organisations to:
Click on the jigsaw pieces for some of the stories from this work
96% said the funding helped them to offer more opportunities for people to be active.
85% said the funding provided them with recognition for the work they do for the community.
88% reported that the funding had increased their confidence to deliver physical activity.
89% advised that it increased their confidence to be more active.
90% said the project had helped them manage their physical health.
92% felt the project had helped them to build new friendships.
86% thought the project helped them manage the mental health.
Active Derbyshire and Active Notts to help…
Groups and partnerships to work together collaboratively; building symbiotic teams with a shared purpose; a reason for being there (What’s in it for me?) and complementary connections, knowledge, skills and attitudes
Groups with forming long term strategy and funding – supporting groups to make offerings/support sustainable; finding and accessing funds
Groups navigate their way through the red tape – the processes that need to be followed, the governance, policies, procedures and accreditation
Groups/partnerships to understand the needs of their communities and how to draw them in – ‘enabling within’ rather than ‘doing to’, building physical activity into existing spaces/groups, applying a ‘one step at a time’ approach
Create a ‘learning’ culture of MEL, setting expectations up front; conducting site/group visits and conversations; encouraging ongoing monitoring/recording and learning; completing end of project surveys and reports; ensuring that third parties are on board with what we’re trying to do
Participants who took part in projects delivered through the Together Fund were asked a variety of survey questions at the end of their activities. As of 25th October 2023, we received 592 responses from participants. The data from these survey questions is showing us that:
86% reported that the project had helped them manage their mental health.
90% reported that the project had helped them manage their physical health.
91% reported that the project had helped them to make new relationships.
79% reported that the project had helped them feel more connected to their local community.
78% reported that the project had enabled them to try new activities.
84% reported that the project enabled them to do more activity than they would have done without the project.
96% reported that they had enjoyed participating in the activity.
86% reported that the project had increased their confidence to be more active.
67% reported that there overall experience of participating in the project was excellent. No one scored the project below 5, where 1 is extremely poor and 10 is excellent.
29% reported that the funding had helped their organisation survive the pandemic / cost of living crisis.
86% reported that the funding had helped them to develop new relationships/partnerships with other organisations.
88% reported that the funding had increased their confidence to deliver sport and physical activity.
70% reported that the funding had helped upskill people in their organisation.
84% reported that the funding provided their organisation recognition for the work they do for the community.
79% reported that the funding had helped create a local community with more confidence to be active.
98% reported that the funding had helped their organisation to offer more opportunities for people to be active.
90% reported that the funding helped individuals connect / reconnect with their local community.
83% reported that the funding had helped people from different backgrounds mix and get on well together.
90% reported that the funding helped the local community manage their physical health.
81% reported that the funding helped your local community manage their mental health.
One size doesn’t fit all – listen, ask, involve, tailor
Lived experience, drive, organic growth, supported
Stronger together
Tailored to the community
Easy to do, clear communication of purpose and process, culture of learning
A ‘Talking Space’ is an hour-long meeting on TEAMs, held between 12.30 -1.30 on the first Tuesday of the month and attended by about 50 -100 people. They aim to give people a better understanding of different groups; how people help their members to get a bit more active; what works well and why; and what doesn’t work so well and why in making this happen. There are usually 3 speakers from different groups who each talk for about 10 minutes about their particular group or project.
Together Funded projects have featured in Talking Spaces on Accessible Information; Specific Health Conditions; Young People; and Walking
Working on the learnings from the Tackling Inequalities and Together Funds as well as the previous Club Matters Local work, we are developing a Toolkit that Leads can use alongside the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise groups with whom they are working to help empower people in their communities to be active in a way that works for them.
