What is Compost Newham?

Compost Newham is a two-year targeted programme of activities for Voluntary, Community and Faith sector organisations in Newham.

It focuses on providing a range of support to local groups to help them grow, develop and thrive. Its aims are to better connect and equip the sector locally to make the most of local skills, knowledge and resources.

Compost Newham provides a range of activities which include: building and supporting networks, providing training and skills development sessions, offering one-to-one capacity building support (building skills capabilities within an organisation to help it develop), producing and sharing resources.

This is all free-to-access, though some training sessions may have a small subsidised fee where we have bought in specialist support.

We work with groups of all shapes and sizes, though we are particularly interested in hearing from and working with small or emerging groups, who find it hardest to have their voices heard.

We deliver a bi-weekly newsletter (every other week) which contains regular updates from across the sector. You can also check the noticeboard in the tab above to see what other groups across the sector are delivering.

Training and events.

The Compost Newham team have delivered a wide range of events, from First Aid and Fire Safety training, to ' Meet the Funders' events and policy writing. Our event-delivery aims to equip groups with the information and skills they need to run effectively and provide the best services they can. You can check our events tab above, to see our upcoming events. We are always looking for new suggestions for events, and always welcome doing this in collaboration: if you have an idea, contact the team!

Resources.

We are working to compile a list of resources that the sector in Newham will find useful, from policy templates through to resources around impact and evaluation we hope to build a resource bank that is useful and easy to navigate. This will include resources we've produced ourselves, but also sharing things created by others across the sector.

One-to-one support.

Do you need one-to-one expert advice or support on any aspect of your organisation? Please get in touch with us! We can arrange online or in person; your place or ours! Compost is known for its work supporting groups to grow and develop. Our ethos is about meeting a group 'where they are' and helping them to achieve their goals.

We call this work capacity-building: supporting a group to grow its own knowledge, skills and capabilities so that it can not only survive, but thrive. We have an effective track record in working with small and emerging groups, who can struggle to get their voices heard. We offer one-to-one support for groups, starting by understanding what they need, and then collaboratively working out the best way to get there. Get in touch to book in a meeting with one of our expert team.

Networks.

We know that being able to connect with others doing similar work is vital to a thriving Voluntary, Community and Faith sector in Newham. We are working to support a range of issue-specific networks, either helping to develop those already in existence or helping to set up new networks where we've been told there's a gap in provision. The role of a network is to share contacts, knowledge and resources amongst its members, so they can do more together and get support to those who need it most. From anti-poverty work to supporting older residents, children, young people and volunteers, we're supporting a wide range of networks. Contact us to find out more.