Advance Mentoring Programme 2018-2021Guidance Notes

Advance Guidance Notes 2020

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Advance Guidance Notes 2020

INTRODUCTIONHub Cymru Africa, funded by the Welsh Government, is running a mentoring programme to Advance the capacity of organisations in Wales working on international development programmes in Africa.

This programme aims to enhance established organisations’ success through dedicated access to support, funding and professional advice.

The Advance Programme

Hub Cymru Africa’s Advance Programme will help your organisation enhance their capacity and potential. This programme is available to at least five organisations in Wales each year for the next three years.

This programme could help you and your organisation:

Reach your goals: develop and deliver new activities through a year of co-production against your own activity plan.

Fund capacity enhancing activities: with up to £750 available to use for events, training or travel to achieve your goal (Advance Light and Advance Campaign will receive up to £375).

Meet peers and experts relevant to your own organisation’s development. Be supported by a one-to-one mentor.

What are these guidance notes?

This document explains more about the Advance programme and how to apply.

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Application deadline is 5pm on Wednesday 18th March 2020.

Email your application form to: advice@hubcymruafrica.org.uk

We are happy to help with any queries you have in advance of the deadline.

Advance Guidance Notes 2020

Table of ContentsAdvance Mentoring Programme 2018-2021.......................................................................1

Guidance Notes..................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................1

The Advance Programme............................................................................................1

What are these guidance notes?.................................................................................2

Eligibility............................................................................................................................4

Can I apply?....................................................................................................................4

About you......................................................................................................................4

About your organisation.................................................................................................4

Please do NOT apply if:...................................................................................................5

The programme at a glance................................................................................................6

What time commitment does the Advance programme require?...................................7

Full info:.....................................................................................................................7

Financial Support...............................................................................................................8

Full info:.....................................................................................................................8

What we can fund.......................................................................................................8

What we can’t fund....................................................................................................8

How will the financial support be paid?..........................................................................8

How can you apply?...........................................................................................................9

Submit your short application form by 5pm on Wednesday 18th March......................9

How will my application be assessed?................................................................................9

How will information about my organisation be used?.....................................................10

For further information................................................................................................10

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Advance Guidance Notes 2020

EligibilityCan I apply?The Hub Cymru Africa Advance programme is open to any Wales-based international-development organisations working in solidarity with African partners, and Fair Trade groups, to create and deliver innovative solutions for communities living in poverty and campaigns which continue to connect with people in Wales.

If you want to grow, expand, improve, refine or rethink what you do, then the Advance programme could be for you with its in-depth approach to working together over a year.

It is completely flexible and can include a range of activities to support you, including advancing your communication skills; financial management; governance; fundraising and programme and campaign design.

Your organisation or group must be based in Wales, be at least two years old and already leading a project or campaign, or if working in Africa, have realistic and tested pilot plans, a Southern partnership and be ready to start.

About you You live in Wales. You represent, either as a volunteer or staff member, an organisation which is

focused on sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa, or a campaign group focussed upon Fair Trade.

Your organisation or group has a clear idea of what you want to achieve through the Advance programme.

You have the backing and support of your organisation or group at the highest level. You and at least one other representative could co-develop with Hub Cymru Africa a

joint activity plan to implement over the next year to achieve your goal. You are committed to a monthly activity over a year to achieve your goal, whether

that’s attending conferences, training or meeting your mentor.

About your organisation Your organisation or group is based in Wales. You have a partner organisation which you work with in Sub-Saharan Africa or, you

run a Fair Trade campaign in Wales. You have experience of delivering projects with your African partner and a current

partnership agreement, or you have delivered a Fair Trade campaign in Wales. You have appropriate governance arrangements in place Your organisation is NOT in crisis.

Please do NOT apply if:Page 5 of 12

Advance Guidance Notes 2020

You only want the financial support and do not want to participate in the co-production and mentoring aspects of the programme.

You only plan to run a one-off project, event or campaign (these activities may be eligible to apply for funding through the WCVA’s Wales for Africa Small Grants programme).

Your project will be undertaking any party political or proselytising activities. You plan to use your grant fund for existing salary costs or organisational overheads.

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Advance Guidance Notes 2020

The programme at a glance

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ACTION PLANNING

MENTORING

CO-PRODUCTION

cO

VOLUNTEER TIME

cO

PEER SUPPORT

cO

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

A facilitated planning session between two or more people

from your organisation and Hub Cymru Africa staff to shape a joint Advance plan for the year ahead.

Dedicated staff time from within the Hub Cymru Africa team will be put towards achieving your goal and delivering your action

plan.

Opportunities to share your experiences and network with

others. The insight of like-minded individuals and similar

organisations can form a useful support network for you beyond

the Advance programme.

Your organisation will be matched to a Hub Cymru Africa mentor to help you build your programme and organisation across the year to meet your goal

Volunteers will be recruited to meet capacity gaps within your organisation and deliver on specific tasks. Volunteer management support from Hub Cymru Africa team.

Hub Cymru Africa will cover the costs of mentoring and training

activities up to the value of £750 or £375 (for campaigner and light applications) to help you achieve

your ambition through agreement with your mentor.

ADVANCE: 1 day a month mentoring support plus £750 towards organisational development to help you achieve your own goals.

CAMPAIGNER: For Fair Trade Groups, offering ½ day mentoring a month plus £375 towards organisational development.

LIGHT: A compact offer for smaller organisations offering 1/2 day a month mentoring plus £375 towards organisational development.

Advance Guidance Notes 2020

What time commitment does the Advance programme require?The full Advance programme will require 10 - 18 days of your organisation’s time, spread over a year.

The Advance Light and the Advance Campaigner programme are for smaller organisations and Fair Trade groups, and will require 5 – 8 days of your time, throughout the year.

Hub Cymru Africa will work with one key contact throughout but the success of this programme requires working with others within your organisation at key moments.

Full info:

As well as working with one key individual throughout the year, there are moments within the Advance programme which will require broader engagement and the support of other members of your organisation, group or board. These include for example, the initial organisational governance review and the action planning session to define what you will achieve throughout the year, and the mid-term review.

The total commitment will depend upon which Advance programme you join. The full Advance programme will include up to four meetings with your mentor, an initial action planning session, shared activities to work together on discrete pieces of work required to achieve your ambition, as well as support from Hub Cymru Africa staff, volunteers, signposting to expert advice, bespoke training and networking opportunities. Advance Light and Campaigner will be approximately half of that.

There will also be sector-wide networking opportunities throughout the year and a final celebration session with other Advance members to reflect on what you have achieved and to mark your progress through the programme.

The financial support component will help develop your organisation and work towards your goal throughout the year. This will require your time and commitment in addition to that of Hub Cymru Africa staff, mentor and volunteers.

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“Over a decade I have implemented 50 international sustainable development projects in Kenya. The support given to us by Hub Cymru Africa has been fantastic and enabled us to build the capacity of both Welsh and African arms of our community link, build significant partnership networks in both locales and attract over 1/4 million pounds of funding from a range of sources.”

Ru Hartwell, Treeflights

Advance Guidance Notes 2020

Financial SupportHub Cymru Africa will cover up to either £750, for Advance participating organisations, or up to £375, for Advance Light and Advance Campaigner participating organisations/individuals, worth of training, activities and professional and organisational diagnostics available to you.

Full info:

The financial support package is designed to help you deliver upon the ambition which you have identified in your application and refined into your action plan. What this will be spent upon depends upon your own unique goals and ambitions.

This could be used for travel, training, marketing and communications materials or other relevant activities to support the delivery of your agreed plan. The money will need to be spent on activities within the 12 month Advance programme, April 2020 to March 2021, and within the financial year so all expenditure before March 2021.

You will need to identify how you want to spend the funds as part of your application, but this can be changed at a later date with agreement from us. If you don’t know yet how you want to spend the grant, that’s fine to say too, it won’t affect your application but can instead be defined through the action planning and first quarter of the programme.

What we can fund What we can’t fundCosts to participate in the Advance programme including travel and subsistence

Existing staff salaries

Training activities and costs Office overheadsActivities related to your activity plan (which could include website and communications activity)

Proselytising or party political activities

Events Assets more than £500 which don’t contribute directly to your activity plan

Volunteer expensesOther items you can show are relevant to the development of your project.

How will the financial support be paid?The financial support will be budgeted against activities through the year, and how the money will be accessed will depend upon you and your activity plan.

Some of the money might be paid for training directly by us on your behalf. Other activities we will transfer the money directly into an organisational bank account once you have an agreed spending plan.

You will need to sign up to terms and conditions and go through a due diligence check before we release the funds into your management.

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Advance Guidance Notes 2020

Things to think aboutThe aim of the Advanced scheme is to increase the capacity and sustainability of your organisation. It is not a cash donation to your organisation. It is recommended that, to ensure the funds are as effective towards these aims as possible, a budget is developed in partnership with the mentor, mentee and your organisations board of trustees.

Hub Cymru Africa recommend that you and your board put serious consideration to justifying how each line of the budget meets the objectives of Capacity Building and Sustainability.

An example of which would be: the cost of a training course, plus travel expenses to that training.

Fundraising training for Board: £350.00 to be paid directly by HCA

Travel expenses, petrol at .45p a mile £20.00 to be paid to your org bank acc

Please note that the budget may be changed at a later date as priorities and needs may be reconsidered through the mentoring scheme and other factors which may occur in the 12 months.

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Advance Guidance Notes 2020

How can you apply?Submit your short application form by 5pm on Wednesday 18th March 2020.

We recommend you apply early so that we have time to answer any questions you might have.

Download the form: www.hubcymru.org.uk/ADVANCE

Email the form in advance of the deadline to advice@hubcymruafrica.org.uk

Don’t forget to attach any supporting documents (optional).

Please do not submit your application after the deadline of 5pm on Tuesday 17th March 2020 as it will not be considered. Under exceptional circumstances, and with prior consent, we may grant approval to submit an application late, however you need to call in advance to discuss this.

How will my application be assessed?

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ADVANCE Programme

Accepted into Advance programme. (March)

Advance Mentoring Programme begins (April)

We read and assess your application. (March)

We contact you with any follow up questions and could also

request some governance documents to support your

application (March) Mentor selection panel (April/May)

Development Support and advice available on programme design and organisational effectiveness

Volunteering opportunities within Hub Cymru Africa and organisations around Wales

Fair Trade campaigns, business and status advice and support

Training and networking events around Wales

Advance Guidance Notes 2020

How will information about my organisation be used?Hub Cymru Africa is committed to support the development and contribution of international development organisations based in Wales.

The programme will require you to share some monitoring, governance and financial information with us to enable us to monitor the efficacy of the Advance programme and your own progress towards your goal. This will all be outlined at the start of the programme in the action planning phase and all information will be handled sensitively.

Hub Cymru Africa is committed to protecting your personal data and acting in line with your rights under data protection laws. All information will be stored securely in soft copy and used for the monitoring of the sector as a whole to enhance the work of Hub Cymru Africa. Our data protection policy is online here: www.wcia.org.uk/privacy-policy

Hub Cymru Africa will collect data provided within your application form and through subsequent meetings in line with any shared activity plan.

Advance participants will also share some data in relation to their own organisation to enable us to assess the efficacy and value of the Advance programme through a variety of measures. These indicators will be relative to your own action plan and could include information such as funding success and diversity, communications reach and changes in programme delivery and design, or joint outcomes.

We may share your information with our funders the Welsh Government in line with the delivery and reporting of our programme.

For further informationIf you would like to discuss the Advance programme and your ideas for what you might achieve throughout a year within the programme, please contact us on 029 20 821 057 or email advice@hubcymruafrica.org.uk

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