History of One Blackpool
In the autumn 2011 the Government, through the Office for Civil Society, announced the Transforming Local Infrastructure grant programme. The Transforming Local Infrastructure programme provided grants with the aim of transforming the local support provided to frontline civil society organisations. The funding mainly supported local infrastructure and volunteering infrastructure organisations to rationalise and transform, so they would become well-led, influential, responsive, efficient, and less reliant on statutory or Lottery funding. Applications were received and assessed by the Cabinet Office and Big Fund (the non-lottery arm of the Big Lottery Fund). In early 2012 a total of £30,016,086 was distributed to 74 organisations across England. Blackpool being one of the winning partnerships. The bid was led by CVS Blackpool Fylde & Wyre and the notion was to pioneer a new and diverse model of support services for the benefit of the sector as a whole.
A partnership was created between; CVS Blackpool Fylde & Wyre, BFW Volunteer Centre, N-Vision and Social Enterprise Solutions CIC. The project officially ended in September 2013 and the legacy was been the creation of new member-controlled cooperative consortia – ‘One Blackpool Ltd’.
One Blackpool is a social enterprise committed to social goals and offering an innovative business model and solutions for the benefit of the Civil Society across the Fylde coast. The services continue to be complementary to existing organisations and are a collaborative mechanism aimed at developing and growing the sector.
Mission
To equip member organisations to positively impact on each other and the lives of local people and their communities
Aim
To develop a sustainable business model that provides support services to the VCFSE sector maximising the social capital of Blackpool and the Fylde coast
Vision
Be the leader in the creation of a resilient, dynamic and flourishing social economy across Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre
"Social Value Should be at The Heart of All Services That are Commissioned by the
Public and Private Sectors."
That was the message from Chris White MP, the man who pioneered the Social Value Act through Parliament. Chris White, who is the government’s social value ambassador, accepted an invitation from One Blackpool to address delegates from the local public and third sectors. In the grand surroundings of Blackpool’s iconic Tower, more than 50 representatives from the sectors gathered to hear the MP explain why he championed the cause. He was also able to hear first-hand examples of how the system works in practice in Blackpool from the council’s deputy chief executive, Carmel McKeogh, Vicky Wells, programme director at One Blackpool, said: “We appreciate Chris giving up his time to explain this extremely important piece of new legislation. We are pleased that local commissioners will now also be looking at the social value of the organisations from which they commission services and not just the cost.”
Image at left shows One Blackpool team with Chris White at the Social Value Summit 2013
Inaugural Cooperative Summit 2014, Blackpool Football Club Conference Room
Some of the country’s leading figures in the Community Sector addressed more than 150 delegates at the One Blackpool Cooperative Summit. The summit formed part of the major Third Sector Support program, One Blackpool delivered on behalf of Blackpool Council. Speakers included: Michael O’Toole, Crown Representative of the VCFSE Sector, Ed Mayo, General Secretary of Cooperatives UK, Richard Caulfield from Voluntary Sector NW, Tessa Wiley from Big Lottery Fund and Dr Arif Rajpura, Blackpool’s Director of Public Health.
