VONNE

History and Learning

The aims of NEEP were to:

commission community-led research
share best practice
share learning across roles and sectors
develop partnerships with the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (RIEP), local authorities and council members
support local authorities to improve on their NI4 targets (the percentage of people who feel they can influence decisions in their area)
develop regional themed priorities for action based

NEEP was responsive and delivered what communities said they wanted. It did this by working to an action plan based on criteria set out at the start of the four-year programme. This plan was built on priorities identified through individuals and organisations in the region at the Sounding Board and Forum events run in collaboration with the RIEP, Forum events, a strategic planning day with the RIEP and learning from projects. To ensure its relevance and effectiveness this was updated annually so that the latest changes in policy and practice could be taken into account. Each year had a slightly different emphasis based on what people said they needed, and what was happening nationally at Whitehall.

The NEEP was operated by a three tiered structure. The wider partnership met to debate policy and feed into the plannning. A Strategic Group steered the overall direction of NEEP whilst the Management Group ensured delivery of the action plan and compliancy of commissioned projects.

NEEP distributed two main grant programmes to the region in line with the commissioning framework . The development fund and the targeted support fund supported over 18 projects with £1million over the entire programme. In light of the Coalition government and the focus on local action through the "Big Society" agenda, the NEEP incorporated this within the commissioning framework to ensure any projects funded this year are relevant and sustainable.

NEEP Legacy

The partnership was committed to continuous learning and produced a leaftet on the lessons learnt from the programme and the projects. This is ideal if you want to get an overview. We shared this learning, research and resources with local authorities and strategic partners across the region, providing key messages and tools on community empowerment. To ensure that the collaboration and good practice is recognised across the sectors NEEP sponsored the empowering local authority award, which was presented in 2011 to Stockton Borough Council for their commitment to voluntary and community sector development and funding.

NEEP Activity

The projects funded report provides a snapshot of what was achieved by all of the contributors and partners over the programme. For more information on what the programme achieved go to the resources page. Feedback from participants demonstrates that the investment in the community sector and local authority was welcomed and valued.

‘Working with NEEP has given us the opportunity to take valuable lessons we've learned about empowerment into new areas. We have been able to take projects developed here in the North East into other regions and in doing so have discovered a whole new opportunity to generate income.'
Karen Milburn, E-participate project, Skillshare North East

"Very informative event excellent networking opportunities"
Event delegate

"The support for has been invaluable in developing Street Stars as a project with the flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of the community and the creative freedom to pursue new ideas"

Colette Harrison, Street Stars Project, Ouseburn Trust

Here's a video of the Street Stars Business Breakfast Project, supported through NEEP to encourage joint working between communities and local businesses.

NEEP Evaluation

The NEEP was evaluated each year and the final evaluation report focused more on the impact and outcomes from the projects at locality level as well as the overall programme. A summary is available. The general message from the report is that genuine empowerment takes time, investment and commitment. The NEEP has been a continous learning organisation and has provided excellent networking and cross sector delivery.

In previous years NEEP has used a combination of self evaluation with external feedback. To track the progress made you can review the year 3 evaluation report and the year 2 evaluation report here. Focusing on continuous learning and excellent working relationships with regional stakeholders. The NEEP was operating alongside challenges from the changing national government expectations and within performance management as the funding programme expanded.

NEEP Forums

The wider group members came together up to four times each year, to discuss and debate issues, and each Forum focused on a topic for debate such as Big Society, and Total Place. Click below for copies of previous event reports: