KEY STRATEGIC ORGANISATIONS (KSOs)
REN is core funded (I.E. the funding that support the heart or infrastructure of an organisation) through a funding stream called Key Strategic Organisation (KSO) funding. Once an organisation is funded in this way it takes on the KSO name, with KSOs working in different voluntary and community sectors locally. REN is funded to be the Key Strategic Organisation for the Environment and Civic Pride.
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The aim of the KSOs is to strengthen voluntary and community organisations so that they can deliver effective, efficient and sustainable services designed to reduce disadvantage and offer opportunities for full participation in the life of our community. |
KSOs are defined as organisations that can achieve the following:
- Command support of other voluntary and community organisations in their area of work
- Act as the lead voluntary and community organisation in their area of work
- Provide support to other organisations in the same field and represent their views to others
- Work in partnership with public bodies (local authorities) and provide services designed to complement or enhance statutory sector provision
- Attract external funding in support of their work
- Articulate the needs of and provide services to diverse communities in a variety of locations
- Achieve continuous improvement in the management and delivery of their services
- Offer best value and provide effectiveness and economy of its services
How does REN achieve these requirements?
- Directing potential volunteers to local groups
- Sharing ideas for best practice between groups
- Providing advice on capacity building and governance issues
- Providing information about fundraising
- Providing resources to local groups
- Facilitating training for local groups
- Representing local groups at strategic levels
- Working in partnership with local strategic and statutory bodies
KSOs in Richmond
REN is one of six KSOs in the borough, each representing and working in a different voluntary and community sector. There is one further "designate" organisations, which will gain full KSO status in due course:
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Sector |
Key Strategic Organisation |
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Advice and Advocacy |
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Environment & Civic Pride |
Richmond Environment Network (consortium of Richmond BTCV, Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames and the Thames Landscape Strategy) |
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Older People |
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Physical Disability |
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Young People |
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*Carers |
Richmond Carers Centre and Richmond Crossroads consortium |
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Learning Disabilities |
CORLD Creating Opportunities in Richmond for people with Learning Disabilities (consortium of Richmond Homes for Life Trust and Richmond Mencap) |
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*"Designate" KSOs |
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The KSOs meet regularly to develop a collective approach to supporting the voluntary and community sector by sharing ideas and information, providing connections between groups with similar interests and groups from different sectors for common goals, and increasing publicity for our work. With support from Richmond Council for Voluntary Service (RCVS), we have the following aims:
- Lobbying for improved services and environments for our clients and customers within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
- Improved access to information on governance and fundraising
- A stronger voice within the council for the voluntary and community sector
- Representation of the voluntary and community sector at strategic levels to statutory bodies
- Facilitated working between different sectors
Background: how did the KSO concept develop?
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for an explanation of the technical terms used here.
The KSOs were set up by Richmond Council for Voluntary Service and the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (LBRuT) in response to a local need for specialist organisations to take the lead in supporting their area of work and attracting additional external funding to offset the competing demands for finite local funding steams.
To ensure that voluntary and community groups have access to the resources that they need to work effectively, achieve their goals, and build on their success, it is clear that they need support. KSOs support and represent their sectors, particularly to local statutory bodies (such as the council or primary care trust), working in partnership to complement and enhance statutory sector provision (services provided by the council or PCT).
This infrastructure support will become particularly important as more services that have been traditionally operated by the public sector will be put out to tender for commercial or non-profit organisations to operate, otherwise know as commissioning. Currently in our borough we can see this with the successful tendering to run day-care centres and in future we will see this starting with the re-organisation of the PCT and the way that it will commission work.
It is hoped that the KSO concept pioneered here in the borough will be rolled out nationally, with a greater emphasis on the voluntary and community sector taking more responsibility and control for providing services.
This also relates to a central government drive to strengthen the role of voluntary organisations in the community and their representation to the broader voluntary and community sector and statutory bodies. There is recognition across all parties of the need to build sustainable communities (cleaner, safer, greener and healthier) and urban regeneration (civil renewal) through and in partnership with existing voluntary and community organisations and this is enforced by policies from the Home Office (Civil Renewal Unit and Active Communities Directorate & Unit) and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
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Richmond Environment Network REN works slightly differently from the other KSOs in a few ways, partly because it was formed as a partnership, or consortium. This means that we have been able to clearly separate the KSO service delivery from the partners' normal work, giving the KSO function its own name (Richmond Environment Network) and employing staff dedicated solely to the project. Another way that we operate differently is that we provide services to the general public, rather than just to specific service users. We do this through our environmental information one-stop shop (this Web site), and recruitment of volunteers, thus building capacity of the sector and its groups and enabling the grous to achieve their aims. |
Explanation of jargon used
Voluntary and community sector
The voluntary and community sector is not tightly defined. It refers to more than just general charities or the voluntary sector, including organisations reflecting the characteristics of social enterprise, but is narrower in scope than "non-profit", the "third sector" or "social economy". The term "civil society" is now also being used by policy-makers to describe this sector.
Active citizenship
Citizens become actively involved to improve people's quality of life or their environments. The expression was used as far back as 1983 by Douglas Hurd.
Bonding
Relates to common identity (i.e. ties among people with similar backgrounds, interests or a shared common purpose). See also "horizontal participation".†
Bridging
Relates to diversity (i.e. creating ties among people who are different from each other). Dialogue between people with different interests and views in the public sphere. See also "horizontal participation".†
Capacity building
"Empowering activity that strengthens the ability of voluntary and community organisations to build their structures, systems, people and skills so that they are better able to
- define and achieve their objectives
- engage in consultation and planning
- manage projects
- take part in partnerships, social enterprise and service delivery."‡
‡Building Community Strengths, Steve Skinner, 1997
Civil Renewal
Citizens making a positive difference to their own communities, and being able to influence the polices and services that affect their lives. It is defined by the Home Office as "the renewal of civil society through the development of strong, active and empowered communities, in which people are able to do things for themselves, define the problems they face, and tackle them in partnership with public bodies. Civil renewal involves three essential elements: active citizenship, strengthened communities and partnership on meeting public needs Its practical process is community engagement".†
Civic Society
Organisations operating in the space between government and the market. This term looks set to replace the "community and voluntary sector" phrase that we have become used to hearing.
Frontline organisations
Organisations or groups that deliver services directly to the public.
Horizontal participation
Participation in community activity from organisations or people at a similar level (civil participation).†
Infrastructure
The physical facilities, structures, systems, relationships, people, knowledge and skills that exist to support and develop, co-ordinate, represent and promote frontline organisations, thus enabling them to deliver their missions more effectively.
Infrastructure organisations, often called second-tier, intermediary or umbrella organisations, provide support to frontline organisations. They can be generic (supporting all frontline organisations within a particular geographic area) or specialist (supporting a particular subsector of the voluntary and community sector or offering a particular area of expertise).
Linking
Relates to power (i.e. ties with those in authority), access to power institutions and decision-making processes. See also "vertical participation".†
Statutory sector service provision
Services provided by local authorities or government to the public.
Social Capital
Networks between people, groups and organisations that provide social support and co-operation. These networks make it easier for people and groups to make a difference in their communities.
Vertical participation
Participation in governance from a horizontal level to higher strategic bodies (e.g. local authority boards, executive groups, or partnerships).
†Definitions are adapted from Civil Renewal and Active Citizenship: A Guide to the Debate, published by NCVO.
