A Time For Celebration But Also A Time For A Reality Check!

On behalf of Castle Cavendish, may I first start by thanking Her Majesty, The Queen, for 70 years of service as our reigning monarch. I hope everybody has been able to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee in a way that brings communities together experiencing joy and fun, embracing our amazing diversity, our fantastic talents and our great strengths in a way that I am sure she would have wanted.

In my last blog, I wrote about the launch of Castle Cavendish Works as Nottingham’s Ethical Business Centre. With presentations from academia, the public sector, business and the voluntary sector. The launch, in April, went really well and we are pleased with how the concept has gained traction with our business tenants and our followers on social media.

However, Castle Cavendish’s role is not just about managing business centres. We’re also about re-investing the proceeds into improving the quality of life of our local communities. Over the years, we have worked with the Nottingham City Council.?We’ve combined our funds with their Area Based Grant to support local voluntary groups in delivering activities in areas including the Meadows, Lenton, Wollaton, Radford, Hyson Green, Berridge, Basford and Sherwood. Amazingly, we invested over ￡500k into our community partners in 2021/22 to deliver some really important community-based services and activities.

We've invested over ￡500k into our community partners in 2021/22

Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that this level of investment is unlikely this year. The City Council, with all its financial challenges, has had a difficult job on its hands to retain as much funding as possible for the voluntary sector and the Area Based Grant. But even with some pretty impressive lobbying by our local Councillors, the budget has had to be cut. Overall, there has been a 23% reduction this year, meaning that the Area Based Grant will reduce down to ￡344k across our patch.

This comes at a time when many of our voluntary groups are just getting back on their feet following the pandemic. Like society as whole, they’ve also been hit by the ‘Cost-of-Living’ crisis with rising costs and increasing energy bills. As you can imagine, for many voluntary groups, there are some very challenging times ahead.

So, what can be done?

Well, one of the things we are good at is ensuring that all of the Area Based Grant is used as effectively and efficiently as possible, making it stretch as far as we can. Focusing on the key priorities set out by the City Council, we will concentrate on funding voluntary groups that maximise their potential, and not hesitate to re-direct funds from those that are under-performing.

For some time, we have also been working with a number of our local voluntary groups to increase their capacity and strengthen their capability to seek and secure additional grant from other funding providers. One such group has been Nottingham Health & education Support (NHES) whom we have supported with their funding applications to BBC Children in Need, which has enabled them to develop their supplementary education and sports project for disadvantaged children and young people. The project was selected for a BBC East Midlands Today feature in 2021. We have also upskilled their volunteers in monitoring and evaluation techniques and writing case studies that will also stand them in good stead for the future.

Nottingham will also benefit from the governments Levelling-Up Agenda, through the new Shared Prosperity Fund. Over the next 3 years, the city has been earmarked ￡8.6m to invest in local business, increasing jobs and skills, as well as communities and place. The City Council has been tasked with pulling together an Investment Plan over the summer, and Castle Cavendish has already lobbied for funds to go towards supporting local partnerships of voluntary sector groups, especially in bringing new life to run-down buildings.

This is backed up by an influential report recommending that "25% of the future UK Shared Prosperity Fund should be passed directly to community-led partnerships." The report "Building our social infrastructure: Why levelling up means creating a more socially connected Britain", published by the Cares Family and Power to Change, believes that such delegated funding should be used to support the development of social infrastructure at the neighbourhood level. Though less tangible as an outcome than investment in physical infrastructure, there is recognition in the Government's approach to Levelling-Up that boosting community engagement and involvement is key to increasing 'pride in place'. Hopefully, the City Council will take this approach into account and some of our key voluntary groups will benefit from this Fund.

As property owners and facilities managers, we also understand the issues that many VCS groups face regarding their buildings and the associated costs. We will endeavour to work with them as much as possible to provide advice and support in reducing their cost base and assist them in dealing with difficult landlords. Potentially, we are also looking at expanding our property portfolio over the next year to include other community-based facilities, so our future role may be more about hosting voluntary groups, as well as finding funding for them.

Lastly, we would also like to congratulate Nottingham Forest on gaining promotion to the Premiership. There has been a number of staff over the years that have supported them through thick and thin, and this shows what can happen if you have patience, perseverance and passion. Hopefully, as well as making our staff happy, this will also be a major boost to the City’s economy and bring benefits for all our communities.?

Dave Brennan, CEO, Castle Cavendish