Neighbourhood Care Programme

Guidance:

1: About the Programme:

From April 2013, Cumbria County Council is preparing to invest £867,000 per annum to provide activities in the six Cumbrian localities (Allerdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle, Copeland, Eden and South Lakeland) to support people at risk of losing their independence, with the aim of promoting health and well-being and minimising unnecessary demand for statutory services. The Neighbourhood Care Programme is a key initiative of the County Council and it is hoped that through broad based promotion it will assist in increasing the level of community engagement and volunteering in the community.

The programme will be administered through a Managed Service Provider (MSP) arrangement. Cumbria Community Foundation will fulfil the role of MSP on behalf of Cumbria County Council. The chief functions of the MSP are to:

  • Invite proposals from partnerships of community organisations in each area, including parish councils
  • Assess proposals
  • Provide developmental support to partnerships
  • Administer the grants to the approved partnerships

The amounts available per Adult Social Care District can be found on the Cumbria Community Foundation website( should note that these figures represent the total indicative amount available per area. Potentially, small sums may be kept back in order to fund gaps in provision.

Approximately £25,000 per area derives from Health Authority funds and is for the provision of Home from Hospital activities. See Section 6 (iii), below.

2: Localities:

Budget allocations have been made on the basis of Adult Social Care localities. These do not, in all cases, correspond directly with Health Authority localities or with Local Authority Districts – for example, Keswick. Partnerships should consider how they will work flexibly across administrative borders. For example, an activity in one area may be provided by a Partnership in an adjoining locality as long as there is effective referral systems to ensure that people requiring those activities are able to access them.

Maps showing the Adult Social Care Districts are available on the Cumbria Community Foundation website(

3: The Purpose of the Programme:

To adults at risk of losing their independence, provide practical hands-on help and community-based activities that will improve their health, wellbeing and independence, thereby preventing, minimising or delaying their need to access more intensive (statutory) provision.

In addition, the Neighbourhood Care seeks to promote a programme of activities based on community needs and which may, therefore, vary from locality to locality in terms of what is provided, how it is delivered and by whom. It is expected that proposals will reflect the principles of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD). Building upon the skills of local residents, the power of local associations, and the supportive functions of local institutions, ABCD draws upon existing community strengths to build stronger, more sustainable communities for the future.

Working within the ethos of ABCD, a key objective of successful proposals will be to build on and strengthen the partnership between community organisations and to develop a robust volunteer base.

4: The Target Group:

Adults who need practical, hands-on advice, support and encouragement to engage in/benefit from activities to improve their health and wellbeing and maintain independence, whose needs are not sufficiently severe to trigger statutory support for the presenting issues, but where a flexible community-based provision is likely to lead to measurable outcomes. It is expected that 75% of those assisted through the Programme will come from older age groups.

5: The Outcomes to be Achieved:

More people will receive community-based help and participate in activities appropriate to their needs to prevent or delay the escalation of conditions and circumstances that have an adverse effect upon their health and well-being.

Community organisations working together in effective partnerships to deliver activities which are better co-ordinated, more “joined-up” in terms of provision to the user, and which add value to the work and expertise of each group within the partnership, thereby enriching the quality and scope of the community asset base.

Expansion and development of the volunteer base in each community in order to create lasting community capacity to develop, lead, deliver and nurture activities that will increase people's health, well-being and ability to live independently.

6: Key Elements of a Successful Proposal:

Proposals should reflect the priorities of the communities; therefore we do not necessarily expect the Programme to deliver the same things in the same way in each of the six areas. However, every proposal should address the following three elements:

i): Development of an effective partnership: This can be a formal grouping of independent groups, fronted by a lead organisation, or it can be a specially constituted consortium. The MSP will support one proposal for each of the six localities, therefore organisations are encouraged to work together to submit one, comprehensive proposal.

The purpose of requiring delivery by partnerships is to:

  • ensure that people who can benefit from the activities provided receive them in a way that is holistic and “joined-up”
  • enable partner organisations to share expertise
  • ensure that people can access and participate in a menu of activities and support actions that is flexible to their individual needs
  • improve the effectiveness of referrals between community groups and between community groups and statutory agencies

ii): Developing an Effective Volunteer Base:

Many of the activities required by adults are very suitable for delivery by appropriately trained and supported volunteers – for example befriending, doing handy-person tasks, running luncheon clubs, etc.

Without a strong and active volunteer base it is unlikely that organisations will be able to offer a full range of activities to support the achievement of people's diverse outcomes. In addition, building on, developing and supporting a strong base of volunteers will make a significant contribution towards creating a robust community asset that is sustainable into the future.

It is intended that the Neighbourhood Care Programme will be delivered according to the principles of Asset Based Community Development. Therefore a key issue for Partnerships to address is how they will support and nurture small community groups, including Parish Councils involvement in the programme.

iii): Providing Activities:

The Neighbourhood Care Programme is intended to provide a comprehensive, easily accessible range of activities, identified by the community. As far as possible, it is expected that activities will include:

a) Advice and Support to enhance independent, safe and healthy living, which could include:

  • support to obtain simple equipment through local retailers, and minor adaptations to the home, e.g.stair rails,
  • helping people live at home independently by taking advantage of support offered in the local communitye.g.Local events or activities and practical support
  • ensuring that people live in a safe environment through home safety checks, assistive technologies etc.
  • support to keep warm, eat healthily, and to engage in physical exercise
  • have an awareness of end of life care, and to support access to appropriate service
  • providing support to mainly older self-funders to access the necessary advice and financial support required to purchase their own social care services

b) Befriending activities, which could include:

  • good neighbour visits or telephone contact to isolated individuals
  • helping people to join in social and leisure activities
  • “Home from Hospital” activities, further details to follow. Home from Hospital is a mandatory element of any successful proposal. We expect proposals to include how partners will address short-term aftercare support including flexible assistance with day-to-day tasks, such as emotional support, support to enable food preparation, shopping, and laundry.

c) Provision of activities aimed at improving health and well-being, which could include:

  • luncheon clubs and community meal schemes
  • walking groups
  • social and leisure clubs/groups
  • community exchange schemes
  • handy-person schemes

7: Assessment of Proposals:

Successful proposals will demonstrate and provide evidence of the following:

Strength, breadth and effectiveness of the proposed (or existing) partnership, including evidence of their capacity for partnership-based decision-making.

Capacity for making and receiving referrals both within the partnership and from and to statutory and specialist agencies outside the partnership, in particular the ability to handle referrals from Adult and Social Care (see section on Administrative Requirements below).

That all members of the partnership meet their statutory responsibilities including systems for the protection of vulnerable adults.

That the partnership offers high quality both in terms of outcomes for clients and in terms of their financial and administrative capacity and track-record.

A comprehensive business or operational plan to include an outline of how the partnership will engage with people in the target group, particularly those groups (e.g. older men living on their own) which are harder to reach; how they will monitor their delivery; and how they will evaluate the effectiveness of what they deliver in terms of positive impact upon the lives of people supported.

A realistic plan for collecting and sharing information to demonstrate the progress and the effectiveness of the programme to include numbers supported and data on outcomes achieved (see section below on Evaluation and Data Collection).

A robust plan for volunteer recruitment and development and for the nurturing of small local groups in the spirit of Asset Based Community Development.

A comprehensive and flexible menu of activities to be provided and an explanation of how it will meet the needs identified by the community.

An assessment of the priority needs of the community within the context of the target group.

That the Partnership is able to identify additional existing or potential funds that it can invest in this programme. This may include any income from activities provided on a fee-charging/cost-recovery basis.

8: Specific Exclusions:

Cumbria County Council is investing in support for people with mental health issues and those recovering from drug and alcohol misuse via alternative funding streams. Therefore it is not intended that the needs of these groups should be met within the Neighbourhood Care Programme.

9: Neighbourhood Care Programme

All groups funded through the Neighbourhood Care programme will be required to have the funded activities identified as ‘Neighbourhood Care Programme’. Logos and other branded material is being produced.

10. Next Steps:

We are aware that the detail of such proposals will take time to work up; therefore in the first instance we are inviting partnerships to submit Expressions of Interest.

We expect these to provide sufficient information for the Assessment Panel to be able to make a considered judgement about the potential of the proposal to deliver an effective programme, but we do not require it to be fully worked up at this stage. Those submissions which are approved by the Assessment Panel to proceed to the next stage will be supported by the MSP to develop a fully detailed business or operational plan. An Expression of Interest proforma and timetable for submissions are available on the Cumbria Community Foundation website (

To help potential partnerships prepare Expressions of Interest, we are organising information workshops in each of the localities to which key providers will automatically be invited:

  • 17th October Barrow-in-Furness – 10am-1pm Ante Room, The Forum, Barrow
  • 18th October South Lakes – 1pm to 4pm, Function Room North, Castle Green Hotel, Kendal
  • 22nd October Carlisle – 9am-12 noon, Botcherby Community Centre
  • 22nd October Eden – 1.30pm-4.30pm, Seminar Suite, CREA, Redhills, Penrith
  • 23rd October Allerdale & Copeland – 9am-12 noon, The Barn, Rosehill Theatre, Moresby, Whitehaven

10: Financial Awards:

The awards approved for each area will be in the form of a grant to the Partnership submitting the successful proposal.

Proposals will be approved for 3 years, reviewed on an annual basis subject to continued satisfactory delivery and continued availability of funding.

Payments will be made quarterly in advance.

11: Administrative Requirements:

In keeping with other CCF-administered grant programmes we intend to administer the Neighbourhood Care Programme with as light a touch as possible.

Handling Referrals: Partnerships will need to have systems for handling formal referrals from the Adult and Social Care Services of Cumbria County Council which will be made using existing Adult Social Care pathways. Providers need to be aware that all people referred via this process will be followed up by Adult Social Care and/or External Evaluators via a telephone call six weeks after the date of the referral.

There is no prescribed format for the handling of self-referrals and referrals from other agencies and community groups. These may be handled in whatever ways are deemed appropriate by the partnership as long as they are able to supply information on numbers assisted and outcomes where appropriate.

Cumbria County Council will provide all Providers with customer feedback cards which they will be expected to encourage customers to complete and return to Adult Social Care.

Monitoring and Claims: Partnerships will be required to submit a quarterly return in order to trigger payments. This will be confirmation by the partnership that they are providing activities as specified in their proposal, with reporting by exception on any issues that need to be brought to the attention of the MSP, particularly in the areas of budget expenditure and performance.

12: Evaluation and Data Collection:

External Evaluation: The Programme will be subject to an external, national evaluation by the Institute of Public Care at Oxford Brookes University.

This will have minimal impact upon Partnerships and providers. However, they need to be aware that people who are referred by Adult Social Care via a pathway plan will be followed up by Adult Social Care via telephone six weeks after the referral has been made and may also be followed by the external evaluator on a sample basis in the first year of the programme.

Partnerships will be asked to issue an evaluation feedback card to all people assisted so that they have the opportunity to provide feedback. Completion by people engaging in activities is entirely voluntary.

Internal Evaluation: With regard to internal evaluation, the detail of the approach that you intend to use to gather evidence of the effectiveness of your programme can be set out in your business or operational plan and may use different approaches for different types of activities. The amount of resource involved in the collection and recording of evaluation data should be proportional to the level of service provided. Such methods as random sample surveys and focus groups may be entirely sufficient. We will be particularly interested in case studies which provide evidence of new, more effective ways of working or which demonstrate that the need for more intensive support has been prevented. Internal evaluation feedback will be used by the Managed Service Provider and Cumbria County Council in order to enhance and develop the overall Neighbourhood Care Programme.