Our Offer of Support
TfR delivers its services to groups and organisations through a range of support methods:
Consultancy
TfR advisers will provide commissioned support for clients based outside South Yorkshire by:
Offering a tailored package of support from the entire range of the work it undertakes, to develop the skills and knowledge of the VCF sector. Currently all of TfR’s core services are fully funded for support given to voluntary, community and faith groups across South Yorkshire. However, there are also circumstances in which it is appropriate to deliver paid services to some of these clients on a commissioned basis.
Desk-Based Research/Follow Up Work
As part of the ongoing support given to clients, TfR will follow up a meeting / consultation by sourcing information and evidence to facilitate the developmental process. As an example of this work within a consultancy package, TfR advisers contributed to a feasibility study for the development of a redundant church, by citing best practice examples and mapping similar existing providers.
E-mail/Phone Call Communication
TfR offers a flexible approach when communicating and engaging effectively with clients. Although we greatly value face to face work with clients, much of our initial contact is generated through telephone communication or by responding to web-generated e-mails. Some of our support work, for example mentoring, can be carried out effectively through phone calls. Much of the information that we share with clients is done through e-mail circulation, but we remain mindful that some people and groups do still prefer paper-based communication.
Meetings
TfR advisers offer clients face to face contact and support at venues suitable to the purpose of the meeting, group or individual. Our office within Church House provides a good location for meetings, or we can travel to a mutually agreed venue within our field of work.
Surgeries
Groups can book a free face-to-face session with our advisers at a support surgery; at a surgery, groups are welcome to bring their project ideas and issues for discussion! TfR also conducts joint surgeries with South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau (SYFAB) and other infrastructure providers. Surgeries are run on a quarterly basis - the latest schedule for surgeries can be found on the website. At a surgery we can:
- Provide initial advice
- Discuss other sources of help
- Offer encouragement and a listening ear
- Explore whether we can offer more formal support
Facilitation
TfR advisers will provide support for groups by:
- Enabling a process of strategy building and mission-forming by bringing an objective perspective to group discussions
- Helping organisations to think and plan for themselves about the difference they want to make and how to achieve it
- Enabling groups to identify barriers to progress and to work through ways to overcome these
Training/Workshops
A regular programme of workshops is delivered by TfR on a borough-wide basis, often in partnership with another support agency. These are often theme-based (for example, overcoming barriers to the development of a project) and are designed to be interactive and practical in order to equip a number of groups to take action. Workshops can be tailored to the needs of individual groups and can be delivered at their convenience. Past examples include the provision of scoping workshops for management committees of projects and services.
Although TfR does not currently deliver either accredited or non-accredited formal training programmes, it is able to work in partnership with other providers to respond to specific identified need e.g. Community Action Plan Training packages delivered through the Community Action Plan Support Consortium (Objective 1).
