Creation is a beautiful thing, here's my quick take on getting you there.

Step One: Thought

So you've had a great idea, a spark! Fantastic! It could be a new product or service, or an enterprising idea which tackles a social problem.  Hold on to it, give it some serious thought and nurture it. Set it down for a little while if you have to... but not for too long and never, ever let it go!

Step Two: Word

If a spark is a thought then a word must be a fire! You may feel uncomfortable talking about your idea at first, but ultimately it needs to be shared. Talk to people you know and trust, consult some reputable experts, consider opinions and build your mental momentum. Keep it rolling.

Step Three: Action

It's time to take action now. Do some market research and create an action plan. Put things in place, get people on board, build a website or run a pilot project. It may be daunting exposing your idea to the rest of the world, but creation requires action, so take that leap and be all that you can be.

Top 10 tips for Partnership Working

1.  A consortium is made up of individual organisations within an overarching project. With this in mind, please consider whether what each organisation asks (the work you/they are seeking funding for) is proportionate to the size of the organisation. Consider this both in terms of financial standing/history and in the capacity to physically deliver the work.

2. Partners should consider sitting down together and creating a shared mission statement, set of focus areas and values. This will get partners thinking more like a unified entity rather than individual organisations under a shared banner.

3. Unify measurement and evaluation systems as much as possible. Shared practices here will make capturing, measuring and ultimately communicating outcomes much easier, particularly for the Lead Provider who will need to collate and demonstrate outcomes on behalf of the consortium to the funders.     

4. Be responsive rather than retrospective. Project partners should aim to meet monthly and have clear lines of communication for matters which arise in between meetings. This will support the project to tackle issues at the earliest possible stage, improving outcomes and shared working practices in ‘real’ time.

5. Play on the strengths of individual partner organisations within the overarching project. We all have strengths and weaknesses, as well as focus areas in delivery (activities/services) and target cohorts. Be very clear about what each partner brings to the table, call on each other’s strengths and support each other to improve practice where needed.   

6. Be realistic about both the outputs (eg. number of sessions you plan to deliver) and the outcomes you feel you can achieve with young people. Don’t over commit as these need to be demonstrable as the project progresses.

7. Young People referrals both within the overarching project and with specialist services outside of it (eg. mental health, early help) are extremely important. Carefully consider how you might form and nurture relationships and clear communication lines with diverse providers to support this requirement.

8. Children and Young People’s steering is of high importance, so create a plan around how you will engage CYP, when and how they can shape the project with you, as well as how to keep them engaged throughout the project duration. This will also strengthen your ability to seek external funding too, as CYP steering is becoming increasingly important to many funders.

9. Carefully select the project’s Lead Provider, ensuring they have the team, skills and capacity to undertake the task. Also ensure that enough focus within the budget is allocated to support their role and the additional time and resources they will need to commit to undertake the function.

10. Consider creating a shared online platform, a central ‘home’ for the consortium to share documents, resources, meeting minutes and project plans etc. so that all partners have a go-to location from wherever they are, whenever they require it. This may require a small commitment up front, but will ultimately save time and effort, example; no more searching through long email chains for that attachment!