The Communication Consortium Memorandum of Understanding– FAQsfor organisations considering applying for membership
Contents
The Communication Consortium Memorandum of Understanding – FAQs for organisations considering applying for membership
History of the Trust
Who can become a member of the Communication Consortium?
What is the difference between ‘associate membership’ and ‘partner membership’?
How do I decide which sort of member I should be and how does the Trust decide?.....3
What is your definition of ‘SLCN’?
What is your definition of ‘not for profit’?
What is the application process for joining the Consoritum?...... 4
What is the Consoritum MOU?...... 4
Who should be the point of contact for the Consortium?...... 5
When should I submit my application?...... 5
Annex 1: Application for Partners Members...... 6
Annex 2: Application for Associate Members...... 6
Annex 3 : Responsibilities of the Trust and Consortium members under the Communication Consortium MOU s 7
History of the Trust
The Communication Trust was established in April 2007. It began as a discussion between two of the founding members of I CAN and Afasic which focused on the need to raise awareness of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) of children and young people to the entire workforce and to better lobby central Government on the needs of children and young people with SLCN.
In order to achieve these aims, ICAN and Afasic decided that a Consortium of voices would be stronger than one. The Trust was founded by Council for Disabled Children, I CAN, Afasic and BT to bring together all the training and resources that existing to support the workforce to help children with SLCN and to work as a Consortium. Six years later the Trust has a Consortium of over 45 organisations.
In 2012, The Communication Trust completed a process of evaluating both its impact since 2007 to 2012, and the impact of Hello, the national year of communication.
We have also launched our strategy for 2013-2017. You can review the strategy at
This 5 year strategy is being implemented from April 2013 alongside our new contract with the Department for Education to deliver services until 2015 and a number of new funding streams.
From April 2013, all existing and new members of the Communication Consortiumhave been asked to sign up to a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)to show that they are supportive of the strategy and new programmes of workand committed to the operational protocols we will need for this exciting stage of the Trust’s journey on behalf of the SLCN sector and children and young people and their families.
The information below should answer most organisations’ questions regarding how to apply to become a member of the CommunicationConsortium, but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Catherine Hillis / 020 7843 2554
Who can become a member of the Communication Consortium?
Not-for-profit organisations with an interest in children and young people’s communication can apply to be members of the Communication Consortium.
As a member of the Consortium you will become part of the collective voice of the sector. You will receive weekly newsletters, will have the opportunity to attend Consortium meetings and input your expertise into our collective work around children and young people’s communication. For more about our Memorandum of Understanding and the responsibilities for the Trust and members around the Consortium members, please see the item below
There are three types of membership of the Communication Consortium:
- Strategic members- These are the founding members of the Communication Trust and the two Consortium members voted onto the Programme Board[1]
- Partner members- These members meet all the criteria for membership – that they are not-for-profit, their reach is national and the primary purpose of their work with children focuses on ensuring children and young people, particularly those with SLCN, are enabled to communicate to the very best of their ability
- Associate members- Whilst being not-for-profit organisations and able to sign up to the conditions of membership of the Consortium , these are members who do not have a national reach or whose work with children does not have a primary focus on speech, language and communication or SLCN. They are however, able to contribute to the cause.
What is the difference between ‘Associate membership’ and ‘Partner membership’?
The way the Trust works with associate members and partner members is very similar. All members receive the weekly newsletters, will be able to attend all meetings, if they so wish and will be able to participate in all events.
However, the Trust has a contractual responsibility with the Department for Education to support VCS and social enterprises working in SLCN, and as such, we will always offer contracts of work and opportunities to engage in programmes when there is a financial implication to partner members exclusively in the first instance. If there isn’t take-up from Partner members, we will then offer these opportunities to Associate members.
Only partner members will be able to be elected as Strategic Members to the Programme Board of the Trust.
Associate members will have the option to opt out of the public affairs and lobbying work of the Trust and Consortium in contrast to Partner members who are opting in by default.
How do I decide which sort of membership I apply forand how does the Trust decide?
When applying for membership of the Consortium, potential members are asked to read the information on the categories and decide what is most appropriate to their organsiation.If you would like to discuss which type of membership is most appropriate to you, please contact Catherine Hillis on the contact details above.
When the application is made to the Programme Board, before the meeting when it is discussed, the Consortium representatives on the Programme Board will have checked the categorisation of each member’s organisation and based on the information on each member’s website and the information the Trust holds such as Annual Reports, has made a recommendation to the full Programme Board as to which category each member should be placed in.
What is your definition of ‘SLCN’?
For the purposes of the Trust and its Consortium membership, we would define SLCN as speech, language and communication that is not progressing along expected patterns of development.
What is your definition of ‘not for profit’?
By not-for-profit the trust means a registered charity, a social enterprise or CIC- so profits either go back into the charity or programme of work and not to the Director/ shareholders
What is the application process for joining the Consortium?
If an organisation is interested in joining the Consortium, they should contact the Trust at .
Organisations need to apply as a Partner members or Associate members based on the criteria above. If you would like to discuss which type of membership is most appropriate to you, please contact Catherine Hillis on the contact details above.
You will need to complete one of the application form given at annex one and two depending on which type of membership you are applying for. In your application you will need to state whyyou would like to join the Consortium and clarifying how you fit the membership criteria.
The Trust’s Programme Board will then review their application and agree if you can join the Consortium.
The Operations Director will then contact you to send you the Consortium Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and explain the roles and responsibilities of Consortium members.
What is the Consortium MOU?
The Communication Consortium Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalises a number of arrangements between the Trust and Communication Consortium member organisations includinga number of operational protocols, most notably an Income Generation Strategy and an Expenses Policy.
The MOU contains a list of responsibilities for the Trust and a list of responsibilities for the Communication Consortium member. These responsibilities are based on the list of ways of working that members agree when they join the Consortium and also highlight the operational protocols including Strategic Working, Voluntary Fundraising and Trading.
In addition, members of the Consortium will be signing up to either Partner or Associate membership of the Consortium, as approved by the Programme Board during their application process.
Who should be the point of contact for the Consortium?
When joining the Consortium, member organisations will be asked to provide two contacts. These two contacts will then be added to our database and sent our weekly newsletter which contains information on the latest policy developments, invites to Consortium meetings, Special Interest Group meetings, workshops and events, updates on Trust projects and programmes of work and updates from Consortium members and the wider sector.
We expect Consortium contacts to disseminate information across their organisations as appropriate and to gather opinion and input from their colleagues in order to feed into Consortium meetings and policy responses.
When should I submit my application?
To your application to be considered by the Programme Board, we will need to receive your application ten days before each meeting.
Please email your application to Cara Evans, Operations Director – .k
For consideration at Tuesday 8th July 2014 meeting, submit by Tuesday 24th June 2014
For consideration at Tuesday 9thSeptember2014 meeting, submit by Tuesday 26th August 2014
For consideration at Tuesday 4th November 2014 meeting, submit by Tuesday 21st October 2014
Applicant organisations will be contacted within two weeks of the meeting.
Annex 1: Application for Partners Members
Please describe how your organisation matches the criteria: (200 words)
- The organisation must support children’s communication development-
- The organisation must be a non for profit or charitable organisation
- The organisation much have national impact
- The organisation must agree to sign up to the duties, roles and responsibilities of the Consortium
Questions to complete
- Why do you want to join the Communication Consortium (200 words max)
- How can you and your organisation contribute to the work of The Communication Trust (500 words max)
- How do you support children with speech, language and communication needs in your work?
- Are there any projects that The Trust is currently managing that you would like to contribute to (max 200 words)
Please send your application to - noting ‘application for the Consortium –organisation name’ as the subject heading.
Annex 2: Application for Associate Members
- Why would you like to work with The Communication Trust? (500 words)
- How do you think you could work with the Communication Trust? (200 words)
Please send your application to - noting ‘application for the Consortium –organisation name’ as the subject heading.
Annex 3: Responsibilities of the Trust and Consortium members under the Communication Consortium MOU
Responsibilities of The Communication Trust
-Work to ensure that we jointly deliver the strategic objectives;
-Work within the Operational Protocols agreed with the Programme Board and Communication Consortium;
-Share the latest information on speech, language and communication through aweekly newsletter with key policy updates;
-Communicate the latest Trust developments including new resources and programmes of work via the weekly newsletter for input and feedback;
-Hold at least 5 Consortium Meetings a year, as well as additional meetings as required due to urgent policy or programme developments;
-Offer opportunities to promote member organisations to key members of the children’s workforce and the Trusts’ database (containing over 30,000 contacts at time of issue of this MOU);
-Offer opportunities to relevant Consortium members to work jointly with the Communication Trust to deliver projects;
-Promote members of the Consortium on the Trust’s website and other promotional materials;
-Respond to key government and other policy consultations on behalf of the Consortium. All responses will be developed in consultation with the Consortium, and will be submitted on behalf of all partner members unless members opt out of a particular response. More information is contained in the annual public affairs strategy.
Responsibilities under this MOU, The Communication Consortium member
-Work to ensure that we jointly deliver the strategic objectives;
-Promote the values of the Trust in all joint working;
-Promote the work of the Trust and our key messages ;
-Operate within the Operational Protocols;
-Receive and digest the latest information on speech, language and communication through a weekly newsletter with key policy updates;
-Provide feedback on the latest Trust developments when requested through the weekly newsletter;
-Attend Consortium Meetings and additional meetings as required;
-Provide content on their organisation in order to be promoted to the children’s workforce and the Trust’s database;
-Provide information on their organsiation in order to be promoted on the Trust’s website and other promotional materials;
-Contribute evidence and opinion on key government and other policy consultations in order to develop joint responses;
-Communicate internally to senior manager that the organisation is part of the Communication Trust and ensure that there is an understanding of what we do and your charity’s involvement;
-If commissioned to deliver a project, the said Consortium member will agree to a separate service level agreement for the specific project.
1
[1]Elections take place every year. The Consortium position last for a 2 year term Any partner member can stand in the elections and both strategic and partner members can vote. Associate member can’t vote