What We Do
SUSTAiN offers a range of services for free to voluntary & community sector organisations, these are:
Business Support
SUSTAiN has strong links with the business community based on a track record of brokering partnerships and projects which have benefitted both the voluntary organisation and the business.
Contact June Mole on 0121 711 3148 or email junem@solihull-sustain.org.uk
Child Protection & Safeguarding
We can help local groups providing services to children find their way through the maze of legislation, best practice and procedures for safeguarding children and young people in your care.
Contact Andrea Davies on 0121 711 3148 or email andread@solihull-sustain.org.uk
Funding Advice
We can help to identify opportunities for funding, develop your funding strategy and train you in bid writing to improve your chances of success.
Contact Alan Crawford on 0121 711 3148 or email alanc@solihull-sustain.org.uk
You can also visit our Funding pages for details of latest funding opportunities.
Fundraising & Grant Giving
To help meet the need for small pots of money, SUSTAiN set up Solihull Together as a fundraising project. Small grants are distributed twice a year. For more information, see the Solihull Together section of this website.
Governance, Planning, Performance & Quality
We can help whether you are setting up a new group, reviewing your policies and procedures, need help writing a business plan, set up a quality assurance systems or want to see if you can do even better.
Contact Dave Pinwell on 0121 711 3148 or email davep@solihull-sustain.org.uk or Charles Rapson on 0121 770 8222 or email charlesr@solihull-sustain.org.uk
Information, Advice & Guidance
We can provide one to one and group support on a wide range of aspects of running a voluntary organisation.
Contact June Mole on 0121 711 3148 or email junem@solihull-sustain.org.uk
We also provide resources on our website and via our regular email SUSTAiN Alerts. Visit our Resources section or sign up to our fortnightly email alerts by filling out the form at the bottom of our Home page.
Leadership & Representation
SUSTAiN plays a key role in ensuring that the voice of the voluntary sector is heard and valued. We support a number of networking forums including the Third Sector Network aimed at all organisations. See our Networks Page for more information.
To help ensure that as many voices are heard as possible but in a cohesive and constructive way, and help those who represent the sector in various forums, the Voluntary Sector Reference Group (VCSRG) was established.
Marketing & Publicity
If you need help raising the profile of your organisation and developing a marketing strategy, we can help.
Contact Charles Rapson on 0121 770 8222 or email charlesr@solihull-sustain.org.uk
Training & Development
From time to time, SUSTAiN runs training events in a wide range of subjects or we can arrange or signpost you to more specific training. Training Find out what training is currently available
Venues
A database of available meeting rooms in Solihull. This includes our own facilities at The Priory
- A ground floor, accessible meeting room that will accommodate up to 20 and costs from as little as £20 per half day.
- A small meeting room/office on the top floor that will accommodate 2 people from as little as £5
Contact Reception at The Priory on 0121 711 3148
We also recommend that venue owners list their facilities on Think Venue, an online resource designed to promote community facilities.
Volunteering
SUSTAiN can help you find volunteers and help individuals find volunteering roles. The Volunteering section of our website provides more information.
In addition to the free services, we offer a range of paid services such as Websites, Print Design, Video Production, Mobile Exhibition Bus, Door to Door Distribution plus Garden Fencing, Benches, Pergolas, Bird Boxes and much more. See links below.
Looking Ahead
Concious of the need to improve the services to front line organisations in a way that is effective, efficient and sustainable, SUSTAiN is currently in discussions with other infrastructure organisations and service providers with a view to transforming and improving the services to front line groups through greater partnership working. This partnership is currently bidding for funding to facilitate this transformation through The Office for Civil Society funds managed by the Big Lottery.
As part of this process, we are also looking at ways of simplifying the relationships and communication channels with commissioning teams within the public sector. Below is a schematic of the current complex relationships and communication channels plus our vision of a new way of working.
Relationship and Communications
SUSTAiN & The Colebridge Trust
SUSTAiN is one part of the Colebridge Trust but accounts for a significant proportion of what we do. The Colebridge Trust is a Community & Enterprise Development Trust.
The chart below gives you an overview of the different parts.
With a number of key staff working across different projects or brands, experience and learning is maximised and adds value to the work of each. For example, the changes in adult social services and social care being dealt with at Waterloo helps with the support SUSTAiN can give to voluntary organisations experiencing the same issues. Our skills, resources and experience with colebridge:communications can benefit organisations who wish to improve their marketing and publicity. And so on.
You can find more information about these by visiting the Colebridge Trust signpost website or by visiting the individual websites for
Skills for Jobs currently has no website