The Governance Project
The first Governance Project was a consortium of third sector organisations (including Interchange, City Parochial Foundation, ALG, LVSC and 5 CVSs) that wanted to look at how best to support governance in community groups and small voluntary organisations. The project worked intensively with 20 organisations ranging from refugee, disability, arts, community and tenant groups. The final report 'A Lighter Touch' was published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
The Governance Project then received further funding from the Home Office to run three development worker action research groups and to produce two videos. The project ran in partnership with the University of Bath, the Media Trust. The steering committee included LVSC, BTEG, and Community Development Foundation.
“When the Going Gets Tough”, is aimed at management committee members to inspire them and give them reassurance when difficulties arise. It tells the story of three organisations with committees facing difficulties, and how they went about getting the help needed to overcome their problems.
The second video focuses on the action research groups. It targets development workers and aims to raise awareness of each other's work and to stimulate debate about their own development. Both videos are available in the VAC library.
The results of the project informed the planning of the 'Governance Hub', a national coordinating body for governance work in the sector.
Currently this research into governance and small organisations is being made available on a website developed as a project of Arvac (The Association for Research in the Voluntary and Community Sector). The website is www.governancepages.org.uk
Contact: Kevin Nunan
T: 020 7284 6557
E: Kevin Nunan
Page last updated: July 1, 2008
