Publications and Past Events

Published reports, occasional papers and notes of some of the more important meetings at the Baring Foundation are listed below in chronological order. They can be downloaded by clicking on the underlined heading links below. Hard copies are only available where indicated in green.

 

At the end of the chronological list you will see the same publications listed by category as follows:

Strengthening the Voluntary Sector
Voluntary Sector - General
Arts
International Development
Climate Change
Interculturalism
Parents with Learning Difficulties
Reports on Activities

Click on any of the above category headings to go directly to your area of interest.

To contact us about any of the following publications or to order hard copies (if available) click here

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader software to see the PDF files. It can be downloaded free from the Adobe site. Click on the icon below and look for the same icon on the Adobe homepage.

2010

Housing Associations in England and the Future of Voluntary Organisations by Andrew Purkis. This report, funded by the Baring Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, focuses on the timely question of what happens to voluntary organisations if they take over mass delivery of state services. This question has dominated voluntary sector practice and policy in recent times. Interestingly, Housing Associations rarely feature in the debate. Yet, this is the outstanding example of a take-over of state services by the voluntary sector in our times. The report reviews the territory and reflects a number of interviews with key people in this field. It ends with a series of challenging questions about the future for Housing Associations and the wider voluntary sector.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the
Baring Foundation's office.

An Unexamined Truth by Matthew Smerdon. The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change in 2006 concluded that climate change threatens the basic elements of life for people around the world. We also know that the people who will be most affected are those that are already the most vulnerable. This is a truth that has gone largely unexamined by non-environmental voluntary organisations working in the UK. This report by the Baring Foundation describes a pilot project that has supported non-environmental voluntary organisations to explore how the impacts of climate change will affect their primary charitable purpose. The approaches taken by the four groups of organisations that led the work will be of interest to all those in the voluntary sector, the independent funding community and in government that are interested in practical ways to widen the circle of organisations involved in action on climate change.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

2009

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2009
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.
 

Supporting Parents with Learning Disabilities and Difficulties - Stories of Positive Practice. The Baring Foundation has supported a consortium led by the Norah Fry Research Centre on creating a better deal for parents with learning difficulties and their children. The latest publication from this Special Initiative gives a unique insight into how the right support to parents produces enormous benefits to these families.

 

 

Mission Money Mandate presents the speeches, discussion and conclusions of the Independence Summit held at the Baring Foundation in July 2009. This one-day event brought together 70 practitioners, policy makers, funders and academics interested in how to advance the independence of the voluntary sector from government. The aims of the Summit were to join up the range of current activity to promote independence, to look forward to future challenges to independence, to ask what are the priorities for action and to help the Baring Foundation to develop priorities for the fifth year of the STVS - independence grants programme. Accompanying the main report is an annex which gives the full text of all the speeches by Julia Unwin, Andrew Hind, Professor Nicholas Deakin, Sir Bert Massie, Sarah Benioff and Matthew Smerdon.

Sitting on Chairs: Observations on Capacity Building in Developing Countries by Dr. John Twigg. This paper from our International Development Adviser draws lessons from the first twelve independent evaluations of grants that we make to UK based International NGOs to build the capacity of Southern partners to respond to the needs of refugees and internally displaced people. (In the first years of this programme grants were made for work in Latin America and Africa and since then we have only funded in Africa). The report concludes with recommendations to both funders and to INGOs.

 

Rights with Meaning. This report describes the 2008 round of the STVS - independence programme with its focus on supporting advice and advocacy organisations.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

 

Arts and Refugees Exchange Day October 2009 - Speech by Kate Organ. Each year the Baring Foundation has invited organisations it funds under this programme to an all day practice exchange and discussions. This is the closing speech of Kate Organ, Arts Adviser to the Baring Foundation to the final such event. In it she summarises some of the achievements and outcomes of this programme.

 

Ageing Artfully: Older People and Professional Participatory Arts in the UK by David Cutler. To accompany the Foundation's core costs grants programme for arts organisations working with older people, we have published the first UK wide mapping study of this work. 120 case studies of organisations were identified and numerous examples of all art forms; especially dance, drama, music, singing and the visual arts. The report looks at the history of the movement and puts it in a policy context. The main benefits of this work, beyond artistic expression are seen as improved physical and mental health and better personal and societal relationships. The report concludes with thirteen recommendations as to how this work can be strengthened. Ageing Artfully has a foreword by Dame Joan Bakewell, the Government's 'Voice of Older People'.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

 

Interculturalism: social policy and grassroots work by Malcolm James. In 2008, for the first time the Baring Foundation funded the Awards for Bridging Cultures, run by the Institute for Community Cohesion. The awards are for grassroots work. This paper looks at the implications for social policy of the winning and commended applications. It builds on the author's previous (2008) paper for the Foundation: Interculturalism: Theory and Policy. It offers a critique of the notion of interculturalism and its relationship to social cohesion policy arguing that they are often too focused on fixed notions of ethnicity and geography, denying the complexity of identity.

Stories Old and New and A Moving Story
Between 2004 and 2009, the Baring Foundation has focused its arts programme on arts organisations working with refugees and asylum seekers. In relation to this we made an exceptional grant to the Institute of Public Policy Research (ippr) to part fund an investigation into the representation of migration in museums and galleries. This was published as Stories Old and New. In response to this report, the ippr working party that commissioned it, has written a short paper called A Moving Story, advocating the creation of a specific museum on migration in the UK.

Participatory Arts with Young Refugees
Six essays collected and published by Oval House Theatre. This collection of essays explores projects in drama, video, photography and music developed by a range of artists who work with young refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. There is also a funder's perspective included in the collection.
Hard copies are available on request for £6 each plus postage and packing from stella.barnes@ovalhouse.com

 

Living Here Project Evaluation by Mary Ryan
An in depth evaluation of a three-year project run by Oval House Theatre for young refugees and asylum seekers between 2006 and 2009.
Hard copies are available on request for £6 each plus postage and packing from stella.barnes@ovalhouse.com

 

Report on Conference at Wilton Park
In February 2009 the Foundation part sponsored a residential conference on climate change and international development at Wilton Park.

 

The First Principle of Voluntary Action edited by Matthew Smerdon. The current focus of the Foundation's Strengthening the Voluntary Sector grants programme is on helping voluntary organisations to maintain their independence from government. The independence of voluntary action is a principle that has clear resonance in many other societies, in the UK, in Europe and across the Atlantic. The Baring Foundation commissioned essays from authors in seven countries (Canada, England, Germany, Northern Ireland, Scotland, United States of America and Wales) to review issues relating to independence from government. Together, the essays confirm that independence is fundamental to the principle and practice of voluntary action. They explore the many ways in which independence can be threatened and power exercised over voluntary action. Finally they share lessons about what voluntary organisations can do to protect their independence.

The Effective Foundation: a literature review by David Cutler. In recent years a number of authors especially in the USA but also in the UK and the rest of Europe have addressed the unique position of foundations and how this can best be applied for achieving maximum impact. Much of the key literature is considered and ten conclusions drawn.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

2008

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2008

Fair Deal for Familes? learning from the experience of parents with a learning disability
The Baring Foundation supports the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability through our special initiative for parents with learning difficulties and their children. This report, by the SCLD, marks an important step forward to wider awareness of this issue in Scotland.

Funding campaigning & policy work: The philanthropy of changing minds
The Foundation worked with City Parochial Foundation to hold a seminar for trusts and foundations on funding campaigning and social policy work. This report summarises the presentations and workshops at the seminar.

It's the System, Stupid! Radically Rethinking Advice
AdviceUK received an STVS - independence grant in 2006 to develop an alternative approach to organising local legal advice services. This report, by AdviceUK, summarises the findings of this work that have led to new pilots being set up in Nottingham, Manchester and Coventry.

The new politics of climate change; why we are failing and how we could succeed
The Foundation has supported a new pamphlet by Stephen Hale of Green Alliance which outlines the role that the third sector can play in persuading politicians to take action to combat climate change on the scale that is needed.

New Self Assessment Tool for the Independence of Voluntary Organisations
As part of our Strengthening the Voluntary Sector programme on independence we have produced a self assessment questionnaire and resource list. It has been launched in collaboration with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Commissioning, Contracts and the Third Sector
In October our Core Costs Club (recipients of major grants from the Foundation) met to discuss the above. Presentations from three of the speakers are linked to this document.

Report of a roundtable meeting on environmental auditing

Report of a roundtable meeting on the links between climate change and the charitable purposes of non-environmental organisations

Report on Conference at Wilton Park (a follow-up to the 2007 report Going Global)
The Baring Foundation and the Nuffield Foundation part-funded in April a major conference at Wilton Park, the residential centre for the Foreign Office. The Partnerships for Development Forum brought together development experts, NGOs and foundations from the UK and abroad to look at the contribution private funding can make.

Arts and Refugees; History, Impact and Future
Along with two other funders, the Arts Council England, London and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the Baring Foundation commissioned Hybrid Consultancy to look at work over the last fifteen years across the UK to involve refugees and asylum seekers in the arts. The researchers identified over 200 arts organisations working with refugees across all media. The report was launched at the Baring Foundation on 20th May.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

 

Strengthening the Hands of Those Who Do: A Review of the Baring Foundation's Strengthening the Voluntary Sector Programme Project Grants by Margaret Bolton.
This programme ran between 1996 - 2005 and gave out hundreds of grants for organisational development worth up to £30k with an average value of £8k. This review looks at the impact of these grants on a random sample of 50 organisations.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

 

Interculturalism: Theory and Policy by Malcolm James.
The Baring Foundation has decided to launch a Special Initiative on Interculturality - but what is 'interculturality' anyway? To help analyse the thinking behind what for many people is a new concept, we have commissioned this paper.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

2007

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2007

Climate Change - Notes of a Core Costs Club Meeting.
In October 2007 our Core Costs Club met and discussed the topic of climate change and the third sector.

Same Difference? Revolving Doors Agency's approach to replicating innovation. For some time the Baring Foundation has had an interest in how good ideas in the voluntary sector are spread. In 2003 we part funded Diana Leat's report on replication (see below under 2003 heading). This paper is a case study by Revolving Doors Agency arising in part from work funded by the Foundation. It sets out seven lessons from their experience in a clear way and with relevance to many other charities.

Going Global: A review of international development funding by UK trusts and foundations by Lucy de Las Casas and Caroline Fiennes of New Philanthropy Capital. This report was commissioned by three funders of international development: the Nuffield Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and ourselves. It places trust funding within the broader context of government and individual donations. Trusts are a significant funder of civil society and highly valued by International NGOs. Indeed many small and medium sized INGOs rely on foundations for support. The researchers concentrated on somewhat smaller foundations and asked what motivates them or discourages them from funding internationally.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

The Baring and John Ellerman Foundations International Development Programme Review 2006/2007 - Review Report
by Trish Silkin. In late 2006 Trish Silkin was commissioned to review the joint international development programme run with the John Ellerman Foundation. Her recommendations were accepted by both Foundations.

STVS - independence grants programme - a summary. This is a short summary of the STVS - independence grants programme setting out why the Foundation is interested in this issue and sharing results of the research carried out so far.

STVS - independence - submission to the Public Administration Select Committee
In March 2007 the Baring Foundation made a submission to the Public Administration Select Committee's Inquiry on Commissioning from the Third Sector. This built on the evidence generated by the Strengthening the Voluntary Sector - independence grants programme.

Interculturalism - notes of a Core Costs Club meeting
In February 2007 our Core Costs Club met and discussed the topic of interculturality.

Sources of Strength: an analysis of applications to the STVS - independence programme by Cathy Pharoah.
This is the second publication in the series of papers that accompanies the Foundation's Strengthening the Voluntary Sector - independence programme. It contains an analysis of most of the 515 applications to the STVS - independence programme, which are an important source of information about current pressures on independence.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

Click here to read the speech given by the Foundation's Deputy Director, Matthew Smerdon, at the launch of Sources of Strength.

Foundations for Organisational Development: Practice in the UK and USA by Meg Abdy and Margaret Bolton. The Baring Foundation has co-funded this publication with the Northern Rock Foundation. It is written by two independent consultants with considerable experience in the field.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

2006

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2006

Core Costs Club meeting on Campaigning
Note of a meeting of the Core Costs Club held on 18 October 2006

Gains and Strains: The Voluntary Sector in the UK 1996-2006
Speech by Professor Nicholas Deakin C.B.E.

Allies not Servants
This is the first publication in a series of papers that accompanies the Foundation's Strengthening the Voluntary Sector - independence programme. This publication sets out why the Foundation is interested in the issue of independence.

Exhibiting Support...developing volunteering in museums. This summary report was written by the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR) and commissioned by the Baring Foundation.
We gave three grants to very different museums to support their use of volunteers and asked IVR to evaluate how they got on and draw broader lessons. The result is a lively and practical report looking at the context to volunteering and drawing conclusions on recruitment and involvement, management, funding and learning about volunteers along with pointers to further resources.

Finding the Right Support? A review of the issues and positive practice in supporting parents with learning difficulties and their children by Beth Tarleton, Linda Ward and Joyce Howarth.
An increasing number of adults with learning difficulties are becoming parents. The Government has committed itself to providing appropriate support for these parents and their children and yet, in around 50% of cases, children are removed and placed permanently outside the family home. The report includes an agenda for action. The Baring Foundation has subsequently funded the Norah Fry Research Centre to lead a consortium to pursue these recommendations.

Finding the Right Support? Summary

Finding the Right Support? Plain Facts version for people with learning difficulties.

A meeting of the Core Costs Club on the Compact held on 8th March 2006.

2005

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2005

Filling Gaps and Making Spaces edited by Dr. John Twigg.
This report brings together a collection of nine essays on projects funded by the Baring Foundation in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America since 2000. They all capacity build local voluntary organisations supporting refugees and internally displaced people. The Foundation's international adviser, John Twigg, considers the implications of this body of experience for other funders and for the British Government.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

Small Arts Grants 1997-2004: An Overview by Phyllida Shaw.
Over this period the Baring Foundation received 3,328 eligible applications and awarded 535 grants worth £1.75 million. Most grants were around £5,000. The Foundation's Arts Adviser (1997 - 2007) analyses these applications, trends over time and puts them in context of changes in wider arts funding policy.

Sources of Funding for Organisational Development by Marketa Dolezel.
This resource was written by a Visiting Fellow to the Foundation from the Czech Republic. Readers should be aware that information on funding dates quickly and should check this carefully with the relevant funder.

Support for Diaspora Organisations in London Following the Asian Tsunami by Ellie Robinson.
A small scale piece of research on the experience of 21 mainly London based organisations after the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004. These groups provided money and other forms of support to the victims. The report looks how these organisations could be better supported by other funders.

2004

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2004

The Grantmaking Tango: Issues for Funders by Julia Unwin.
This book asks 'what sort of funder do you want to be?' It goes on to give a simple framework for grant makers of giving, shopping and investing, as styles of funding. It is based on over ten years experience in the field by the author and has become an indispensable guide to reflective trusts and foundations. Funded by the Abbey Charitable Trust, Bridge House Trust, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Lloyds TSB Foundations and the Baring Foundation.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

Speaking Truth to Power - 2004 by Julia Unwin.
This paper looks back to the experience of the third sector in the first term of the Labour Government. It draws attention to measures that would enhance the relationship between the sector and Government, arguing that both would suffer if the voice of the voluntary sector was confined.

2003

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2003

Replicating Successful Voluntary Sector Projects by Diana Leat.
Why don't successful voluntary sector projects spread more widely? In seeking to answer this question, this report is based on a literature review, case studies and interviews with funders. It concludes with a series of recommendations. It outlines seven stages in the process of replication. Published by the Association of Charitable Foundations with funding from the Baring Foundation, Community Fund, The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.
Hard copies are available on request for £10 each from The Association of Charitable Foundations

2000 - 2002

Leading the Way to ICT Success (2002) by Paul Ticher, Aba Maison (lasa) and Martin Jones (AdviceNow).
Most senior managers and board members are not ICT experts, so working out how best to use technology is something of a journey into the unknown. Nevertheless there are those who negotiate this journey successfully. This study aims to identify what we can learn from seeing how some voluntary organisations are reaching their desired ICT destinations. The report argues that senior managers who are well-informed and confident about their ICT strategy are the key to success. These managers do not have to be experts but they do need access to reliable advice in non-technical language. The report makes recommendations on how senior managers, board members, umbrella bodies, funders and other agencies can support and develop the leadership that voluntary and community organisations need to take advantage of the opportunities that ICT offers.

This report is funded by the Baring Foundation and the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists.

Capacity building and its challenges: by Dr John Twigg. A review of the Baring Foundation's International Grants Programme 1997-1999 (2001).
This review examines the nature and achievements of projects funded by the Baring Foundation's international programme between 1997 and 1999, to assess their impact, and to consider lessons for future capacity-building initiatives.

 

Merging Interests (2000) by Bill Mather.
This book seeks to guide the decision-makers in a voluntary organisation from the first moment of consideration of merger, through to full implementation. It offers advice to practitioners - trustees, directors and funders - on exploring the issues and pathways to achieve effective collaboration and join the forces of voluntary organisation with voluntary organisation. It outlines options and innovatory models of joint working as steps on the way to merger, or as alternative end results, providing insights and tools to help achieve best returns and avoid costly mistakes.

Health Action Zones (2000) by Julia Unwin and Peter Westland.
This study considers the ways in which the voluntary and community sectors have become involved in the Department of Health's Health Action Zones by presenting three case studies which highlight the challenges of forging meaningful partnerships between the voluntary and statutory sectors.

Speaking Truth to Power (2000) by Julia Unwin. The voluntary sector's relationship with Government.
This is a discussion paper about the changing relationship between government and the voluntary and community sector. It draws on the experience of, mainly, national organisations working in England to address a range of issues including the opportunities and challenges offered by engagement with a government which aims to be more consultative at both central and local levels.

 

Publications by Category

Strengthening the Voluntary Sector

Mission Money Mandate presents the speeches, discussion and conclusions of the Independence Summit held at the Baring Foundation in July 2009. This one-day event brought together 70 practitioners, policy makers, funders and academics interested in how to advance the independence of the voluntary sector from government. The aims of the Summit were to join up the range of current activity to promote independence, to look forward to future challenges to independence, to ask what are the priorities for action and to help the Baring Foundation to develop priorities for the fifth year of the STVS - independence grants programme. Accompanying the main report is an annex which gives the full text of all the speeches by Julia Unwin, Andrew Hind, Professor Nicholas Deakin, Sir Bert Massie, Sarah Benioff and Matthew Smerdon.

2009

Rights with Meaning. This report describes the 2008 round of the STVS - independence programme with its focus on supporting advice and advocacy organisations.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

2009

The First Principle of Voluntary Action edited by Matthew Smerdon. The current focus of the Foundation's Strengthening the Voluntary Sector grants programme is on helping voluntary organisations to maintain their independence from government. The independence of voluntary action is a principle that has clear resonance in many other societies, in the UK, in Europe and across the Atlantic. The Baring Foundation commissioned essays from authors in seven countries (Canada, England, Germany, Northern Ireland, Scotland, United States of America and Wales) to review issues relating to independence from government. Together, the essays confirm that independence is fundamental to the principle and practice of voluntary action. They explore the many ways in which independence can be threatened and power exercised over voluntary action. Finally they share lessons about what voluntary organisations can do to protect their independence.

 

2009

It's the System, Stupid! Radically Rethinking Advice
AdviceUK received an STVS - independence grant in 2006 to develop an alternative approach to organising local legal advice services. This report, by AdviceUK, summarises the findings of this work that have led to new pilots being set up in Nottingham, Manchester and Coventry.

 

2008

New Self Assessment Tool for the Independence of Voluntary Organisations
As part of our Strengthening the Voluntary Sector programme on independence we have produced a self assessment questionnaire and resource list. It has been launched in collaboration with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

 

2008

Strengthening the Hands of Those Who Do: A Review of the Baring Foundation's Strengthening the Voluntary Sector Programme Project Grants by Margaret Bolton.
This programme ran between 1996 - 2005 and gave out hundreds of grants for organisational development worth up to £30k with an average value of £8k. This review looks at the impact of these grants on a random sample of 50 organisations.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

2008

STVS - independence grants programme - a summary. This is a short summary of the STVS - independence grants programme setting out why the Foundation is interested in this issue and sharing results of the research carried out so far.

 

2007

STVS - independence - submission to the Public Administration Select Committee
In March 2007 the Baring Foundation made a submission to the Public Administration Select Committee's Inquiry on Commissioning from the Third Sector. This built on the evidence generated by the Strengthening the Voluntary Sector - independence grants programme.

 

2007

Sources of Strength: an analysis of applications to the STVS - independence programme by Cathy Pharoah.
This is the second publication in the series of papers that accompanies the Foundation's Strengthening the Voluntary Sector - independence programme. It contains an analysis of most of the 515 applications to the
STVS - independence programme, which are an important source of information about current pressures on independence.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

Click here to read the speech given by the Foundation's Deputy Director, Matthew Smerdon, at the launch of Sources of Strength.

2007

Allies not Servants
This is the first publication in a series of papers that accompanies the Foundation's Strengthening the Voluntary Sector - independence programme. This publication sets out why the Foundation is interested in the issue of independence.

2006

 

 

Voluntary Sector - General

 

Housing Associations in England and the Future of Voluntary Organisations by Andrew Purkis. This report, funded by the Baring Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, focuses on the timely question of what happens to voluntary organisations if they take over mass delivery of state services. This question has dominated voluntary sector practice and policy in recent times. Interestingly, Housing Associations rarely feature in the debate. Yet, this is the outstanding example of a take-over of state services by the voluntary sector in our times. The report reviews the territory and reflects a number of interviews with key people in this field. It ends with a series of challenging questions about the future for Housing Associations and the wider voluntary sector.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.
2010

The Effective Foundation: a literature review by David Cutler. In recent years a number of authors especially in the USA but also in the UK and the rest of Europe have addressed the unique position of foundations and how this can best be applied for achieving maximum impact. Much of the key literature is considered and ten conclusions drawn.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

2009

Funding campaigning & policy work: The philanthropy of changing minds
The Foundation worked with City Parochial Foundation to hold a seminar for trusts and foundations on funding campaigning and social policy work. This report summarises the presentations and workshops at the seminar.

 

2008

Commissioning, Contracts and the Third Sector
In October our Core Costs Club (recipients of major grants from the Foundation) met to discuss the above. Presentations from three of the speakers are linked to this document.

 

2008

Same Difference? Revolving Doors Agency's approach to replicating innovation. For some time the Baring Foundation has had an interest in how good ideas in the voluntary sector are spread. In 2003 we part funded Diana Leat's report on replication (see below). This paper is a case study by Revolving Doors Agency arising in part from work funded by the Foundation. It sets out seven lessons from their experience in a clear way and with relevance to many other charities.

 

2007

Foundations for Organisational Development: Practice in the UK and USA by Meg Abdy and Margaret Bolton. The Baring Foundation has co-funded this publication with the Northern Rock Foundation. It is written by two independent consultants with considerable experience in the field.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

2007

 

Core Costs Club meeting on Campaigning
Note of a meeting of the Core Costs Club held on 18 October 2006

 

2006

Gains and Strains: The Voluntary Sector in the UK 1996-2006
Speech by Professor Nicholas Deakin C.B.E

 

2006

Exhibiting Support...developing volunteering in museums. This summary report was written by the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR) and commissioned by the Baring Foundation.
We gave three grants to very different museums to support their use of volunteers and asked IVR to evaluate how they got on and draw broader lessons. The result is a lively and practical report looking at the context to volunteering and drawing conclusions on recruitment and involvement, management, funding and learning about volunteers along with pointers to further resources

 

2006

A meeting of the Core Costs Club on the Compact held on 8th March 2006.

 

2006

Sources of Funding for Organisational Development by Marketa Dolezel.
This resource was written by a Visiting Fellow to the Foundation from the Czech Republic. Readers should be aware that information on funding dates quickly and should check this carefully with the relevant funder.

 

2005

Support for Diaspora Organisations in London Following the Asian Tsunami by Ellie Robinson.
A small scale piece of research on the experience of 21 mainly London based organisations after the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004. These groups provided money and other forms of support to the victims. The report looks how these organisations could be better supported by other funders.

2005

The Grantmaking Tango: Issues for Funders by Julia Unwin.
This book asks 'what sort of funder do you want to be?' It goes on to give a simple framework for grant makers of giving, shopping and investing, as styles of funding. It is based on over ten years experience in the field by the author and has become an indispensable guide to reflective trusts and foundations. Funded by the Abbey Charitable Trust, Bridge House Trust, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Lloyds TSB Foundations and the Baring Foundation.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

2004

Speaking Truth to Power - 2004 by Julia Unwin.
This paper looks back to the experience of the third sector in the first term of the Labour Government. It draws attention to measures that would enhance the relationship between the sector and Government, arguing that both would suffer if the voice of the voluntary sector was confined.

2004

Replicating Successful Voluntary Sector Projects by Diana Leat.
Why don't successful voluntary sector projects spread more widely? In seeking to answer this question, this report is based on a literature review, case studies and interviews with funders. It concludes with a series of recommendations. It outlines seven stages in the process of replication. Published by the Association of Charitable Foundations with funding from the Baring Foundation, Community Fund, The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.
Hard copies are available on request for £10 each from The Association of Charitable Foundations

 

2003

Leading the Way to ICT Success (2002) by Paul Ticher, Aba Maison (lasa) and Martin Jones (AdviceNow).
Most senior managers and board members are not ICT experts, so working out how best to use technology is something of a journey into the unknown. Nevertheless there are those who negotiate this journey successfully. This study aims to identify what we can learn from seeing how some voluntary organisations are reaching their desired ICT destinations. The report argues that senior managers who are well-informed and confident about their ICT strategy are the key to success. These managers do not have to be experts but they do need access to reliable advice in non-technical language. The report makes recommendations on how senior managers, board members, umbrella bodies, funders and other agencies can support and develop the leadership that voluntary and community organisations need to take advantage of the opportunities that ICT offers.
This report is funded by the Baring Foundation and the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists.

 

2002

Merging Interests (2000) by Bill Mather
This book seeks to guide the decision-makers in a voluntary organisation from the first moment of consideration of merger, through to full implementation. It offers advice to practitioners - trustees, directors and funders - on exploring the issues and pathways to achieve effective collaboration and join the forces of voluntary organisation with voluntary organisation. It outlines options and innovatory models of joint working as steps on the way to merger, or as alternative end results, providing insights and tools to help achieve best returns and avoid costly mistakes.

2000

Health Action Zones (2000) by Julia Unwin and Peter Westland.
This study considers the ways in which the voluntary and community sectors have become involved in the Department of Health's Health Action Zones by presenting three case studies which highlight the challenges of forging meaningful partnerships between the voluntary and statutory sectors.

 

2000

Speaking Truth to Power (2000) by Julia Unwin. The voluntary sector's relationship with Government.
This is a discussion paper about the changing relationship between government and the voluntary and community sector. It draws on the experience of, mainly, national organisations working in England to address a range of issues including the opportunities and challenges offered by engagement with a government which aims to be more consultative at both central and local levels.

2000

 

 

Arts

Arts and Refugees Exchange Day October 2009 - Speech
by Kate Organ. Each year the Baring Foundation has invited organisations it funds under this programme to an all day practice exchange and discussions. This is the closing speech of Kate Organ, Arts Adviser to the Baring Foundation to the final such event. In it she summarises some of the achievements and outcomes of this programme.

 

 

Ageing Artfully: Older People and Professional Participatory Arts in the UK by David Cutler. To accompany the Foundation's core costs grants programme for arts organisations working with older people, we have published the first UK wide mapping study of this work. 120 case studies of organisations were identified and numerous examples of all art forms; especially dance, drama, music, singing and the visual arts. The report looks at the history of the movement and puts it in a policy context. The main benefits of this work, beyond artistic expression are seen as improved physical and mental health and better personal and societal relationships. The report concludes with thirteen recommendations as to how this work can be strengthened. Ageing Artfully has a foreword by Dame Joan Bakewell, the Government's 'Voice of Older People'.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

 

2009

Stories Old and New and A Moving Story
Between 2004 and 2009, the Baring Foundation focused its arts programme on arts organisations working with refugees and asylum seekers. In relation to this we made an exceptional grant to the Institute of Public Policy Research (ippr) to part fund an investigation into the representation of migration in museums and galleries. This was published as Stories Old and New. In response to this report, the ippr working party that commissioned it, has written a short paper called A Moving Story, advocating the creation of a specific museum on migration in the UK.

 

2009

Participatory Arts with Young Refugees
Six essays collected and published by Oval House Theatre. This collection of essays explores projects in drama, video, photography and music developed by a range of artists who work with young refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. There is also a funder's perspective included in the collection.
Hard copies are available on request for £6 each plus postage and packing from stella.barnes@ovalhouse.com

 

2009

Living Here Project Evaluation by Mary Ryan
An in depth evaluation of a three-year project run by Oval House Theatre for young refugees and asylum seekers between 2006 and 2009.
Hard copies are available on request for £6 each plus postage and packing from stella.barnes@ovalhouse.com

 

2009

Arts and Refugees; History, Impact and Future
Along with two other funders, the Arts Council England, London and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the Baring Foundation commissioned Hybrid Consultancy to look at work over the last fifteen years across the UK to involve refugees and asylum seekers in the arts. The researchers identified over 200 arts organisations working with refugees across all media. The report was launched at the Baring Foundation on 20th May.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

 

2008

Small Arts Grants 1997-2004: An Overview by Phyllida Shaw.
Over this period the Baring Foundation received 3,328 eligible applications and awarded 535 grants worth £1.75 million. Most grants were around £5,000. The Foundation's Arts Adviser (1997-2007) analyses these applications, trends over time and puts them in context of changes in wider arts funding policy.

2005

 

 

International Development

2009

Sitting on Chairs: Observations on Capacity Building in Developing Countries by Dr. John Twigg. This paper from our International Development Adviser draws lessons from the first twelve independent evaluations from grants that we make to UK based International NGOs to build the capacity of Southern partners to respond to the needs of refugees and Internally Displaced People. (In the first years of this programme grants were made for work in Latin America and Africa and since then we have only funded in Africa). The report concludes with recommendations to both funders and to INGOs.

Report on Conference at Wilton Park
In February 2009 the Foundation part sponsored a residential conference on climate change and international development at Wilton Park.

 

2009

Report on Conference at Wilton Park ( a follow-up to the 2007 report Going Global)
The Baring Foundation and the Nuffield Foundation part-funded in April a major conference at Wilton Park, the residential centre for the Foreign Office. The Partnerships for Development Forum brought together development experts, NGOs and foundations from the UK and abroad to look at the contribution private funding can make.

 

2008

Going Global: A review of international development funding by UK trusts and foundations by Lucy de Las Casas and Caroline Fiennes of New Philanthropy Capital. This report was commissioned by three funders of international development: the Nuffield Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and ourselves. It places trust funding within the broader context of government and individual donations. Trusts are a significant funder of civil society and highly valued by International NGOs. Indeed many small and medium sized INGOs rely on foundations for support. The researchers concentrated on somewhat smaller foundations and asked what motivates them or discourages them from funding internationally.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

 

2007

The Baring and John Ellerman Foundations International Development Programme Review 2006/2007 - Review Report
by Trish Silkin. In late 2006 Trish Silkin was commissioned to review the joint international development programme run with the John Ellerman Foundation. Her recommendations were accepted by both Foundations.

 

2007

Filling Gaps and Making Spaces edited by Dr. John Twigg.
This report brings together a collection of nine essays on projects funded by the Baring Foundation in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America since 2000. They all capacity build local voluntary organisations supporting refugees and internally displaced people. The Foundation's international adviser, John Twigg, considers the implications of this body of experience for other funders and for the British Government.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

2005

Capacity building and its challenges: by Dr. John Twigg. A review of the Baring Foundation's International Grants Programme 1997-1999 (2001).
This review examines the nature and achievements of projects funded by the Baring Foundation's international programme between 1997 and 1999, to assess their impact, and to consider lessons for future capacity-building initiatives.

2001

 

 

Climate Change

 

An Unexamined Truth by Matthew Smerdon. The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change in 2006 concluded that climate change threatens the basic elements of life for people around the world. We also know that the people who will be most affected are those that are already the most vulnerable. This is a truth that has gone largely unexamined by non-environmental voluntary organisations working in the UK. This report by the Baring Foundation describes a pilot project that has supported non-environmental voluntary organisations to explore how the impacts of climate change will affect their primary charitable purpose. The approaches taken by the four groups of organisations that led the work will be of interest to all those in the voluntary sector, the independent funding community and in government that are interested in practical ways to widen the circle of organisations involved in action on climate change.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

 

2010

Report on Conference at Wilton Park
In February 2009 the Foundation part sponsored a residential conference on climate change and international development at Wilton Park.

 

2009

The new politics of climate change; why we are failing and how we could succeed
The Foundation has supported a new pamphlet by Stephen Hale of Green Alliance which outlines the role that the third sector can play in persuading politicians to take action to combat climate change on the scale that is needed.

 

2008

Report of a roundtable meeting on environmental auditing

 

2008

Report of a roundtable meeting on the links between climate change and the charitable purposes of non-environmental organisations

 

2008

Climate Change - Notes of a Core Costs Club Meeting.
In October 2007 our Core Costs Club met and discussed the topic of climate change and the third sector.

2007

 

 

Interculturalism

 

 

Interculturalism: social policy and grassroots work by Malcolm James. In 2008, for the first time, the Baring Foundation funded the Awards for Bridging Cultures, run by the Institute for Community Cohesion. The awards are for grassroots work. This paper looks at the implications for social policy of the winning and commended applications. It builds on the author's previous (2008) paper for the Foundation: Interculturalism: Theory and Policy. It offers a critique of the notion of interculturalism and its relationship to social cohesion policy arguing that they are often too focused on fixed notions of ethnicity and geography, denying the complexity of identity.

2009

Interculturalism: Theory and Policy by Malcolm James.
The Baring Foundation decided to launch a Special Initiative on Interculturality - but what is 'interculturality' anyway? To help analyse the thinking behind what for many people is a new concept, we commissioned this paper.
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.

2008

Interculturalism - notes of a Core Costs Club meeting
In February 2007 our Core Costs Club met and discussed the topic of interculturality

2007

 

 

Parents with Learning Difficulties

 

 

Supporting Parents with Learning Disabilities and Difficulties - Stories of Positive Practice - The Baring Foundation has supported a consortium led by the Norah Fry Research Centre on creating a better deal for parents with learning difficulties and their children. The latest publication from this Special Initiative gives a unique insight into how the right support to parents produces enormous benefits to these families.

 

2009

Fair Deal for Familes? learning from the experience of parents with a learning disability
The Baring Foundation supports the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability through our special initiative for parents with learning difficulties and their children. This report, by the SCLD, marks an important step forward to wider awareness of this issue in Scotland.

 

2008

Finding the Right Support? A review of the issues and positive practice in supporting parents with learning difficulties and their children by Beth Tarleton, Linda Ward and Joyce Howarth.
An increasing number of adults with learning difficulties are becoming parents. The Government has committed itself to providing appropriate support for these parents and their children and yet, in around 50% of cases, children are removed and placed permanently outside the family home. The report includes an agenda for action. The Baring Foundation has subsequently funded the Norah Fry Research Centre to lead a consortium to pursue these recommendations.

2006

Finding the Right Support? Summary

2006

Finding the Right Support? Plain Facts version for people with learning difficulties.

2006

 

 

Reports on Activities

 

 

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2009
Hard copies are available free of charge from the Baring Foundation's office.
2009

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2008 .

2008

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2007

2007

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2006

2006

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2005

2005

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2004

2004

Baring Foundation Report on Activities 2003

2003

Back to Top of Page