We currently support local groups with their management, governance and outreach & engagement in a broad range of ways, all of which are free of charge:

Small Start-Ups and Early Development

  • Based on our Small Start-Up Guide, we help small groups:
    • Get through the initial start-up phase, whether as a simple constituted group (an unregistered charity) or as a CIO
    • Develop simple project plans, fundraising strategies and approaches to publicity
    • We also give basic governance training through our small charity governance seminar (typically given either at your premises or online during the evening, duration around 90 minutes)
  • As you use our guide, we can support you as you progress when you have queries or need further help
  • These resources are not just for start-ups, but any small group that needs a hand with the basics of management and governance
  • We also host public training seminars on all of the topics above

Next Steps – Growing Groups with Greater Needs

  • If you have moved beyond the initial phase of development and want to move towards more sophisticated approaches, we have two guides:
  • These are our own approaches, created with the smaller group in mind (the great majority of approaches in this area are for the larger, better resourced groups), and were developed in tandem with groups we support to ensure their relevance and ease of use
  • Once again, we will support you as you make progress with our materials

Reaching Out – Cooperating with Other Groups and Influencing the Wider World

  • At the Freshwater Foundation, we are very keen to encourage constructive contact between the groups we support and to give them the maximum impact on the wider public world. We currently do this in two key ways:
    • We have a Networking & Cooperation Directory, which currently lists about 100 groups in Ealing & Hounslow. Membership is simply a matter of filling in the relevant form, on receipt of which we will send you the directory updated with your details. You can then use it to reach out to any other group on the list for assistance, to explore partnership possibilities, form discussion groups or for any other networking purpose you can think of.
    • We organise seminars on topics of common interest to our groups, which bring them together to share experiences and build cooperative solutions. These are organised where possible with local councils so they can be useful ways of feeding common needs and suggestions for cooperative cooperation with local authorities up to the relevant quarters with the maximum of impact. We are currently organising one on the topic of Child Poverty in tandem with Ealing Council and 4in10, a child poverty charity.

Research

We are producing papers on areas of academic and policy interest to the voluntary and charity sector.

These aim to stimulate debate and make important areas of enquiry and policy accessible to practitioners in the field, enabling them to fully take part in important national debates.

We currently have one close to completion on Regeneration and the broader role of civil society, with others planned and in production.