Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!Chapter 11 | 77Key challengesWhilst there is growing recognition ofthe valuable contribution to be madeby voluntary sector organisations likethose involved in Listen Up, thereare still a number of inter-linkedchallenges to overcome to make thiscontribution a reality.Funding is not the least of these, with organisationsoften having to weigh up the planning anddevelopment of their services against what isavailable: often short-term and piecemeal funding.There is an increasing drive from the governmentfor the statutory sector to work with thevoluntary sector in order to meet the needs ofthe community. This can potentially be a positiveexperience, but has its own challenges, suchas finding ways to develop shared goals andnavigating through a range of cultural differences.The organisations involved in this project work withyoung people aged between 16 and 25, a timeof ongoing transition between adolescence andadulthood. This is substantially different from moststatutory organisations who define adulthood asbeing between the ages of 16 and 18.In order for voluntary sector services to becommissioned and funded, they need to be able toshow what it is they do and where their expertiselies. Monitoring and evaluating their services playsa crucial role in this, but there is a no ‘one size fits all’approach that will capture what a diverse range ofvoluntary sector organisations are achieving. Fundersand commissioners can work alongside voluntarysector organisations on this, and take an importantlead in looking at different and flexible approachesto what they want from the sector in terms ofmonitoring and evaluation.Funding“Whilst the workers have a wealth of innovative ideasand skills the service need sufficient funds to actuallyturn these into reality.”Project worker, Sorted Not Screwed Up,Aberdeen Foyer, AberdeenIt is unsurprising that one of the main problems thatall our partner sites faced was funding, particularlysourcing sustainable funding. During the lifetime ofthe project, two of the organisations found themselves