Need to update on recent events (and have a bit of a winge).
The good stuff;
Take a Break
The article in take a break magazine will be published on the 18th of March which should be interesting to see what we get from that.
Anne Frank
The Anne Frank trust contacted me about a new project they are planning to run in education and want to discuss my involvement. Another possitive.
DVD request (latest)
We have sent a DVD to a Pupil Referral Unit in London following a request from them. Im planning to send out questionnaires online in March to those who have used the material to get some feedback. The idea has been raised to find a way to get pupil feedback so i want to look into an online link to a questionnaire and PDF form that could be printed off and posted to myself. Its always good to hear from the target audience.
Final steps for Charity Application
I am waiting for one more Trustee to sign the trust deed then we hope to get charity status. On that note we also have a volunteer to do accounts and manage the finances for audit and returns for the charity commission. This is a great help as im rubbish with that sort of thing.
Link to Teachernet
After much hassel trying to contact them, Teachernet has put a link to our resource on their website. It is a well known site used by teachers and linked to the DCSF. This should hopefully raise profile and get more teachers using it.
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/usefulsites/index.cfm?mode=search&intContent=1&ShowAtoZ=0
Funding
I had a chat with a lady at the Princes Trust about funding and ideas. As a result i have a couple of other routes to take to raise some funds including the Vinspired program. I have registered but am trying to figure out a little more as to what it is about and how to use it. I will update with developments.
Next meeting
I have a meeting next week in Plymouth at their council offices which i will include in my next update.
Not so good news:
We were declined the Awards for All grant on account of my application form. The chap that contacted me was very helpful however and he said that he has a very keen interest in what SAV does and congratulates us on our work. He said he had experienced loss through violence and would like to help me get funding. He said to get in touch with him if i get stuck next time. This is a great help and im grateful but the problem is the Awards for All program. Basically as i run the campaign, at present, pretty much single handedly people dont like giving money/grants/funding to individuals and want you to have a managment team. Obviously this is more work trying to gather people to help. They also wont fund current projects so i basically have to create a new idea and apply for funding to do that. Again more work i cannot afford the time to undertake! Basically, i cannot get funding from them to continue a project that has been running for 4 years and proving effective however, i can apply for funding for projects that people think will work and are a good idea but wont necessarily work! Does that make sense?? Surely you would invest in something that is already working. The plan was to use funding to increase awareness and cover printing expenses etc. They wont support this because it is a current project. So basically i have to create more work for myself just to get a small grant, i also have to create more work for myself to become a charity in order to get further funding and official charity discounts. It seems this charitable world is set to break you rather than help you! The fact that the charity commision wont allow you to be a charity unless you have an annual turnover of £5000 is proof of that. What came first, the chicken or the egg???? How can u get £5000 with nobody giving you funding! Any way that is my moan on unfairness. Forgive me but at the end of the day we all moan from time to time and i think this is a valid point. Any way we managed to get the money eventually so i can stop moaning about the charity thing.
Point of interest:
I have something that a)is a little winge (again) and b) will hopefully also demonstrate the brick walls you are faced with when it comes to the government.
I have been trying to contact the DCSF (Department of Children, Schools and Families). I have sent them 3 emails and below are each reply i have received...
29/04/2009
"Dear Adam
Thank you for your email of 23 April, about the anti violence DVD you are producing.
The Department is always interested in receiving information aimed at improving the educational experience of children, and I can see how the DVD you enclosed could help children in learning. However, the role of this Department is limited to setting the policy framework of the National Curriculum of what is taught in terms of content, attainment targets and how performance is assessed and reported. Therefore, we do not endorse, fund or promote specific resources or activities for use in schools.
We leave such decisions for teachers themselves to make, as we believe they are best placed to recognise the needs and abilities of their pupils. With this in mind, you may wish to contact schools directly with your suggestion, or Local Authorities (LAs). Details of LAs can be found on our website at: www.dcsf.gov.uk/localauthorities.
Once again thank you for taking the time to write to the Department.
Yours sincerely"
20/05/2009
"Dear Mr Fouracre
Thank you for your recent email with your project to encourage violent crime reduction through education. Your email has been forwarded to the Department for Children, Schools and Families. On this occasion I have been asked to reply.
The Department is always interested in receiving information aimed at improving the educational experience of children. However, the role of this Department is limited to setting the policy framework of the National Curriculum of what is taught in terms of content, attainment targets and how performance is assessed and reported. Therefore, we do not endorse, fund or promote specific resources or activities for use in schools.
We leave such decisions for teachers themselves to make, as we believe they are best placed to recognise the needs and abilities of their pupils. With this in mind, you may wish to contact schools directly with your suggestion, or Local Authorities (LAs). Details of LAs can be found on our website at: www.dcsf.gov.uk/localauthorities.
Once again, thank you for writing.
Yours sincerely"
Yesterday (11/02/10)
"Dear Adam
Thank you for your email dated 2 February about your resource for anti violence/alcohol awareness for use in citizenship.
The Department is always interested in receiving information aimed at improving the educational experience of children, and I can see how your resource could help children with anti violence/alcohol awareness. However, the role of this Department is limited to setting the policy framework of the National Curriculum of what is taught in terms of content, attainment targets and how performance is assessed and reported. Therefore, we do not endorse, fund or promote specific resources or activities for use in schools.
We leave such decisions for teachers themselves to make, as we believe they are best placed to recognise the needs and abilities of their pupils. With this in mind, you may wish to contact schools directly with your suggestion, or Local Authorities (LAs). Details of LAs can be found on our website at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/_contacts/
Regards"
Something slightly odd about these replies me thinks!? Each one a reply to a different question relating to gaining support for the SAV material. Notice that the language sounds genuine and the 1st paragraph is personalised but then word for word in the following paragraphs its identicle. This is the government for you. Below is the email i sent in response to this final email. Please read it and let me know if you would write the same. I was pretty fed up!
"Hi Samantha,
Ive been in touch with the DCSF before and it seems that other than the initial paragraph, you send standard replies which can come across a little insulting. What i was trying to get at in my last email was that i was trying to contact teachnet as they do talk about available teaching resources. However every time i clicked on the contact page it referred me to your site. I am trying to establish whether you are the same people? If this is the case then teachnet do promote other resources and id like to contact them.
If you are not anything to do with them then can i just add that it is impossible to contact every LA in this country or every school. I am trying to get a bit of help. I dont make money on this so im not asking for advertising to make money. You may not be able to push certain educational material but surely you can suggest or provide resource links? Im supprised that an educational organisation wont help. This is the 3rd time ive had exactly the same reply almost word for word. This material is proving effective and if the home office are serious with their plan to 'reduce crime via education' and all these other government initiatives including those by the DCSF, why wont the department that can make a difference pick up and help with material proven to be effective? I just dont understand it. Can you explain to me what it is the DCSF actually do?
Sorry to be stroppy, i dont intend to be but it is extremly frustrating when the main people that can help me in four years of struggling to get the material used wont and only reply with exactly the same templated email. Id appreciate a reply.
Kind regards
Adam Fouracre"
now i hope that didnt sound too rude but i feel something had to be said. I just wanted to bring this up as its a pain and very annoying and also i would be quite interested to hear how you would react to this and your views on this sort of attitude. Im still waiting on a reply and will post it when it comes. This will probably take them another few weeks to reply to!
Anyway, a long and wingeing entry is complete. As you can tell the last couple of days have taken their toll!
Cheers
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