Never a quiet time in business development

Richard speaking at this year's Welfare to Work UK Convention in Manchester

Well, what a few weeks it has been.

Life at CDG is never uneventful but it has been particularly busy over the last three weeks.

We have had the launch of our Work Programme prime contract as well as the MAXIMUS–CDG alliance contracts, our AGM, the Welfare to Work UK Convention in Manchester and numerous speaking engagements across London.

The Work Programme has started well, with more referrals than expected across all the areas we are working in. Having said that, it is still too soon to say if this is an early peak or a trend, and only time will tell.

Our Customer Support Centre is now working through the referrals, completing initial assessments and booking jobseekers into appointments across our supply chain. It is a real credit to all the dedicated staff in CDG and across our partners that such a large and revolutionary welfare to work programme has moved from conception to reality in such a short time.

Our AGM was an opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months of hard work and success, as well as setting out the exciting challenges for the future. Our Annual Review is now available, which really shows how much has been achieved and the changes being made due to the change of government and the introduction of Work Programme.

The CESI Welfare to Work UK Convention in Manchester was another good opportunity to see what was going on in welfare to work, meet up with colleagues from across the sector and reflect on all the changes we have seen in the last 12 months.

We had a new stand this year which we also used as a backdrop for some filming while we were in Manchester. For anyone at the convention who wondered what we were doing, we were filming clips for our e-learning platform, e-kwip.me, on good and bad networking practices. It really showed the budding actors we have in the team. 

Speaking opportunities are coming thick and fast at the minute. I suppose being only one of only two charities that are Work Programme prime providers was likely to gain some interest.

Speaking opportunities at the Welfare to Work UK Convention were shared between the team, covering the Expert Volunteer Initiative, challenges for the third sector and creating Work Programme legacies as well as sharing experience from Australia and our alliance with MAXIMUS.

Back in London, last week, seemed to be dominated by speaking engagements. I had the pleasure of addressing an event run by Action Planning showcasing the journey of CDG over the last three years and our strategy that led to the award of the Work Programme contract.

On Thursday I joined Adam Sharples (DWP), Sean Williams (G4S) and Ian Salisbury (InTraining) on a panel at Civil Service Live to discuss the Work Programme, how it is different from previous provisions and what we aim to achieve.

I ended the week speaking at an Association of Learning Providers and Association of Colleges event looking at skills provisions for the unemployed. It was interesting to hear how things are progressing in this area but it is still in the very early stages, with possibly more questions than answers.

One thing is for sure: colleges, training providers, Jobcentre Plus and Work Programme providers will need to work closely together to make the most of the opportunities in front of us. We are truly seeing massive changes, not only in welfare to work but across the skills sector as well.

And for the week ahead things are still looking very exciting. I will be going down to see our delivery in Portsmouth. It will be nice to see how the Work Programme is bedding down and I will also be meeting with partners, working with the CDG team on European Social Fund and Innovation Fund opportunities and well as attending a ministerial meeting. So the pace is not due to slow down, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Richard Clifton, Director of Business Development

PATHS and partnerships: life at BEST CDG

 

Linda Walton, PATHS family development coordinator at BESTCDG; Gordon King, community programs manager at Sarina Russo; Sharon Home, PATHS family case manager at BESTCDG; and Darren Coppin, vice president at Ixion Holdings.

G’day readers.

As always, it has been a busy period down under with lots going on.

The PATHS programme has begun in earnest and staff have made an excellent start to the project, which will help many jobless families in Bundaberg, Queensland. The success of the project will also demonstrate what can be achieved by partnering with likeminded organisations that work together to meet customers’ needs.

The PATHS staff received specific training recently that will ensure the staff help the customers to overcome their barriers. This training is called Welfare Applied Positive Psychology, or WAPP. The three day WAPP course imparts the skills and proven techniques for improving an individual’s self-efficacy, well-being, preparedness for change, resilience, playing to their strengths and – in short – likelihood of getting a job. It is entirely focused upon improving the efficacy of client interventions in the welfare marketplace.

Here are the views of one PATHS staff member on the training:

“This week we had the wonderful opportunity to experience Intense Welfare Applied Positive Psychology with Darren Coppin. The interesting thing about this training is that you feel you already know so much of it, because we are reminded of how we humans naturally think and behave.

“It reinforces that it is the simple and open techniques that really work the best, but that they are also the ones that probe the most thought. Our minds have been crammed with information and we are grateful for having the written text to reach for when we need a brush up or a new strategy. We are excited to meet our clients again and work through some of these newly-acquired techniques and experience the affects and changes it is surely to have upon them and us.”

The partnership with Wesley has gathered momentum and after the recent visit of some of their staff to the UK, where they were shown the operations of CDG, the future is looking bright as both BESTCDG and Wesley begin to develop a clear understanding of the long term objectives of the partnership.

I am working closely with Wesley to implement a new innovation project in one of its social enterprises as well as working with their employment services manager to pilot the UK’s ‘Expert Volunteer Initiative’ from 1 July.

The federal budget will be released on 10 May, and will give some indication on the future contracts in JSA and DES that may be available to tender for later this year.

BESTCDG, BEST Community Development and Wesley have a strategy in place where all three organisations can work together effectively to ensure high quality tenders are submitted. This strategy will also be aided by resources from CDG UK.

At the end of May, Richard Clifton, director of business development for CDG, and David Bradford, trustee for CDG and BESTCDG, will visit Australia to work with BEST CD and me on future strategy and also to meet with the board and staff of Wesley.

BESTCDG wins first Australian contract

Great news! BESTCDG will begin delivering services for the first time in Australia on Monday 21 March. This is CDG’s first contract down under.

 

BESTCDG will be delivering a unique service to jobless families in Bundaberg, Queensland in partnership with Sarina Russo.

BESTCDG and Sarina Russo won funding through the Innovation Fund, a component of Job Services Australia, the Australian government’s national employment service. The Innovation Fund is designed to address the needs of the most disadvantaged jobseekers by funding projects that foster innovative solutions to overcome the barriers to employment these jobseekers face.

The innovation fund is very competitive, and to win such funding is recognition of the service that BESTCDG and Sarina Russo will deliver together over the next 15 months.

The project is called PATHS (Providing Assistance Through Holistic Servicing).

It is a family case management program designed to support jobless families in Bundaberg to develop pathways to employment and reduce their dependency on welfare.

PATHS will provide tailored, holistic and intensive support for families caught in a cycle of unemployment. It will offer ‘wrap around’ service solutions and will link participants to relevant community, training and employment programs while providing ongoing case management. It will also support a large number of jobless families by offering a pathway to employment.

PATHS will provide the following outcomes for its participants:

• Sustainable employment.
• Training opportunities.
• Mentoring.
• Work experience.
• Pathways to appropriate agencies.

The project will build BESTCDG’s reputation in Australia in the following ways:

• BESTCDG can work effectively with other providers.

• BESTCDG can deliver services to a high standard in disadvantaged regions.

• BESTCDG can deliver services to jobless families successfully.

BESTCDG, in partnership with Sarina Russo, will be delivering a program which, when successful, can be replicated throughout Australian states and territories to meet the needs of jobless families.

The delivery model and results will be communicated to the UK to see if all or part of the program can make a difference to jobless families in the UK.

I will update you on the progress of the program in future blog updates.

Chris Dale, general manager, BEST CDG

BEST CDG finds PATHS to success while Australia picks up the pieces

2011 has been jam-packed with incident, ever since New Year’s Day.

As you might have read in my last post, Queensland has been devastated by the floods and was hit again by a cyclone a few weeks back. Even though Cyclone Yasi saw minimal loss of life, it did cause widespread damage to homes, roads, bridges and crops. Hopefully Mother Nature will leave us alone for the moment.

Australia was also hit by another cyclone in the form of the English cricket team.

I must first say, with immense pride, how fantastic the English cricket team were in retaining The Ashes and essentially giving the Aussies a lesson in how to play test cricket.

Let’s hope we can continue that success in the Cricket World Cup, and then let’s see England doing well in the Rugby World Cup later this year.

The business side of things has also been busy. BEST CDG has just won its first contract to deliver services to jobless families in Bundaberg, Queensland.

Called the PATHS Programme, this contract will be delivered in partnership with a very successful Australian organisation called Sarina Russo. I will update you again in the next week with a more detailed blog report on the PATHS programme.

It is a busy time in Australia at the moment as star ratings for providers have been released that may see some providers losing parts of their business to more successful organisations.

The time is approaching when details of the next round of tenders will be released; BEST CDG has already started work on these tenders, specifically in Melbourne with its partner, Wesley Mission Victoria.

I will be in the UK for a week from 19 March with members of the BEST Community Development and Wesley Mission Victoria senior management teams. We will be discussing and mapping out a way forward for all the organisations to be successful.

Chris Dale, general manager, BEST CDG

Neck-high in nuisance, Queensland assesses the damage

I wanted to post a short blog on the current flooding in Queensland. I will give a detailed update on BEST CDG in my next blog.

As you may have seen, Queensland has been having one of the worst disasters in its history and the floods have caused major disaster, even in the city of Brisbane where I live.

You have probably seen coverage on the news and the coverage is a fair reflection of what has and is happening here down under.

I live in New Farm, in an apartment on a road back from the Brisbane River. Even though the hardest part for me was not having power for two days, some of my neighbours have been inundated with problems. Brisbane will not be the same again for a very long time.

Where I live, there was a floating walkway that led to the city (left). I used it all the time for running, cycling and strolls into the city, but only parts of that walkway remain - some parts were washed away the council removed others due to the damage it could cause.

In New Farm, was not as bad as other areas in Brisbane, but substantial damage has been caused. Our local supermarket went under and most businesses lost power for a number of days. Many homes were flooded.

The image below shows the park next to me and the ferry terminal going under. The top of the stands you see are the public bike stands. The boat is not normally there!

The flooding in Brisbane has damaged almost all the ferry terminals and there is suggestion that non have survived, the ferries are a major source of public transport.

The clean-up has begun but the damage is immense, the picture below shows a street near me - there is normally no water there!

All of Queensland has been hit and there have been many lives lost, the scenes you may have seen in northern Queensland were remarkable and the impact on people’s lives will last forever. Nobody thought that the tragedy of the floods in 1974 could hit Brisbane again, but Mother Nature has showed her power. You can see before and after pictures of the flooding here.

My wife and I were safe through all this and all we had to deal with was a loss of power and difficulty of buying food. This paled in comparison to the thousands of Queenslanders who have suffered loss of life, loss of homes and possessions, and the true economic damage is yet unknown.

As you go about your business today, please think about the struggle that many thousands of people in Queensland will have  to endure over the coming months.

Chris Dale, general manager, BEST CDG

No short supply of Christmas cheer as BEST CDG reflects on a busy year

Welcome to another installment; it has been a very busy period indeed, both professionally and personally.

Let’s start with an update for BESTCDG, which has been continuing with its partnership strategy. Recently, it confirmed with Wesley Mission Melbourne that the two organisations will tender together for the 2012 JSA tenders.

Work has begun on putting together a strategy for the areas in Melbourne. In November, the senior management team at Wesley visited BEST in Ballarat and BEST’s senior management team visited Wesley in Melbourne. Both visits were exciting and showed that we can learn from each other - in partnership we will be able to deliver exceptional outcomes for our customers.

The above photo shows me with the SMT of BEST and Wesley visiting one of many Wesley’s successful operations. The partnership with Interwork has also developed, and its senior management has visited BEST. Over the next two weeks I will be working closely with Interwork to determine what business we will tender for together next year.

And here is a photo showing me with the BEST senior management team and Interwork as well as the chairman of BESTCDG and BEST, Erich Sinkis and CDG’s trustee David Bradford on Interworks recent visit to BEST.

As you can see, the Aussies are gearing up for Christmas, and it seems that Santa has already given England an early present in the cricket. The boys did a great job in rescuing the first test at the Gabba. Fingers crossed, we can go one better in Adelaide next week.

November has also been busy with visits to the federal government in Canberra and state government in Queensland. Last week I met Sandra Parker, Deputy Secretary of Employment. It was a successful meeting and the department is well and truly aware of the strategy of BESTCDG for the next three years.

My visit to Queensland was to meet with DEEDI (department of employment, economic development and innovation), and again this was a successful meeting. It highlighted areas where BESTCDG can tender to make a difference to the lives of the disadvantaged throughout Queensland – this will be explored during the first quarter of 2011.

From my previous blog entries you will remember that politics has been high on the agenda this year and there are more problems for Labour as they lost the Victorian election today. After 11 years in power, the party suffered a backlash in the eastern and south-eastern suburbs at Saturday’s poll, with a swing of around 6.5 per cent against the government.

David Bradford visited Australia in November and worked on the strategy for 2011, and while he was here he also helped with the e-learning strategy that BEST are conducting with BEST CDG. This is a very exciting opportunity in Australia, and one that has begun successfully. A bigger pilot will be delivered to customers across the country from March 2011.

That is all for now: my final installment for 2010 will be posted just before the Christmas break.

Chris Dale, general manager, BEST CDG

Work Choice begins in earnest in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Newport in the Isle of Wight is one of the areas where CDG is running the Work Choice contract

25 October marked a landmark for CDG in its bid to service customers from all walks of life on their return to the work force.  This important landmark was the launch of the Work Choice programme in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. 

CDG has remained committed to helping people access employment, no matter how far removed they are from the work force.  The Work Choice contract is a demonstration of this commitment to working with people with impairments. 

The contract, which will run out of Southampton, Portsmouth, Basingstoke and Newport on the Isle of Wight, will be run under the prime provision which is a partnership between WISE Ability and CDG through a special purpose vehicle.  There are a number of other organisations that will deliver this contract alongside CDG to give the most effective geographical spread for the residents of Hampshire. 

This launch was made even more exciting with the TUPE of some exceptional expertise into the organisation.  A number of staff have now joined CDG to deliver what we hope will be the best possible service to this customer group. 

The Work Choice contract affords CDG the opportunity to work with some of the most marginalised people in the community.  It is well documented that through active engagement in employment people are more healthy and thrive within the community. 

I would like to welcome the new staff who have come on board and I look forward to building further relationships with organisations within the community to best service all people with an impairment. 

Renae Lowry, contracts manager

Catch of the day

Well I’m back on deck as a married man, and the ceremony and reception went perfectly. The stag do was a lot of fun too: believe it or not we went fishing. It was the first time I’d been, and of course I caught the biggest fish, because I finally married my long term fiance, Sally. 

Realising the huge mistake she had made, Chris's new wife desperately tried to remember the divorce lawyer's phone number

We had our honeymoon on Hamilton Island and apart from the English weather for the first three days we had a fantastic time. Thanks for all the good wishes.

After being back at work for two weeks, a lot has happened. In partnership with BEST Community Development, we have launched our e-learning strategy in Australia. We currently have customers who are studying a recognised qualification on build, CDG’s customer-facing e-learning website. The course should take between three and four months to complete.

The feedback so far is that the customers are really enjoying studying to their own timetable. Once more assessment of this pilot has been carried out, we will look to attract customers across Australia.

Australia’s new government has been finding its feet and there has not been much drama politically. Employment increased 49,500 (0.4 per cent) to 11,324,900. Full-time employment increased 55,800 to 7,984,500 and part-time employment decreased 6,300 to 3,340,400. The unemployment rate remained steady at 5.1 per cent.

Unemployment has not been an issue in Australia and with interest rates remaining the same things at the moment are looking ok for Australians.

BEST CDG is continuing with the partnership model and the relationship with Wesley has gained momentum with opportunities being explored for growth in 2011 and 2012. BEST CDG is also monitoring the New Zealand model as the Australian government has been looking at this with great interest, running a number of pilots based on the model.

BEST CDG is still awaiting the announcement of the tenders that were submitted. Hopefully results will be announced sometime during mid to late November.

The Brisbane Cricket Ground, otherwise known as 'The Gabba'

Back to a topic the English like to talk about: the weather. We are in the middle of spring with temperatures hitting on average 27 degrees in Brisbane.

I must admit I am looking forward to another sunny Christmas, but not as much as I am looking forward to the Ashes series that starts in Brisbane at the end of November.

I will be going to the third day of the test and hoping and praying that we will win the series. There’s nothing more terrible than having Aussies gloating over beating the English at sport.

Until my next instalment, have a great day.

Chris Dale, general manager, BEST CDG

Food for thought at home and away as CDG cooks up volunteer summit

Richard Egger's DC Central Kitchen proved a focal point of CDG's recent visit to Washington

After the recent (and snappily-monikered) Inclusion through Employment: US and EU policies and practice for prisoner re-entry conference in Washington conference, I’ve returned with some ideas of how volunteering could be used to enhance welfare to work delivery in the UK.

Especially after seeing some great examples of this at the DC Central Kitchen, I’m really excited by the ‘sell out’ of CDG’s Expert Volunteer Summit, taking place this Thursday at Central Hall in Westminster.

It will be great to be able to work with a wide range of organisations to drive forward the Expert Volunteer Initiative and we will also be able to link it in with what we’ve learned from our tour of the party conferences.

The aim of being present at the conferences was to look at how the Big Society concept will practically link into the Work Programme and find out more about the coalition government’s other ideas, which will soon be applied to our everyday lives.

We’ll report on the summit later this week.

Richard Clifton, director of business development

In politics and in sport, replays are rife down under

G’day readers.

I have a lot to update you on. I have recently returned from a very productive visit to the UK with the Australian directors of BEST CDG. We had our board meeting, which was very productive, and confirmed the following:

• Looking at a more formal working relationship between BEST and CDG.
• Discussing other revenue streams for BEST CDG other than governmental.

As well as work we did have a chance to do some sightseeing; below are the Australian directors and I having lunch across the road from CDG’s central office in Putney.

I also need to bring you up to date with events in Australia:

Firstly Julia Gillard’s Labour won the election as they formed a minority government with a number of independents. It is certainly a new paradigm in Australia and the question on everyone’s lips is how long it will last.

I think there will be another election within twelve months but only time will tell.

The Australian Football League (AFL) Grand Final was held on Saturday 25 September and for only the third time it ended in a stalemate with both teams locked on 68 points. This meant that Collingwood and St. Kilda will have to play again this weekend, which has not gone down well down under.

After the game the general reaction was that there should be a rule where extra time should be played so a result can be reached. My money is now on St. Kilda as it seems the ‘Collywobbles’ are certain to return.

I will not be able to send an update for a few weeks now as I will be on holiday for three weeks, when I will be marrying my long term Australian fiancee. I will post photos on my next entry.

Until next time, as a married man…

Chris Dale, general manager, BEST CDG