Building the capacity, sustainability and resilience of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations - learning emerging from SQW's evaluation of the Dormant Assets NI Phase 1 Grant Programme

Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations play a vital role, but how can they become more resilient and sustainable? This is the focus of SQW's latest podcast discussion, which focuses on learning emerging from SQW's evaluation of the Dormant Assets NI Phase 1 Grant Programme, which we are conducting on behalf of The National Lottery Community Fund.

The programme used Dormant Assets funding to provide grants of up to £100k each to 244 VCSE organisations across Northern Ireland. The programme was seeking to build the capacity, resilience and sustainability of VCSE organisations. SQW is conducting the evaluation of the programme, to understand what difference it has made, identify good practice and share learnings regarding how the sector can become more resilient and sustainable. 

The podcast features guest speaker Jacinta Linden, CEO of Bolster Community, a charity which received funding from the grant programme, alongside SQW's lead evaluators for the study, Lauren Roberts and Bill Carroll in discussion with SQW Managing Partner and podcast host Joe Duggett.

In the podcast we:

  • Reflect on the role of VCSE and the broader socio-economic context in which it operates
  • Hear first-hand about the difference the funding has made for Bolster Community
  • Share emerging insights from the evaluation so far, including good practice identified from the wider evidence base.

To find out more, the interim evaluation reports and associated outputs (including case studies, virtual learning session recordings, an infographic and a blog) can be accessed here. 

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