Start Here
Increasing resilience and sustainability in the community sector in Northern Ireland.
Start Here is skills and employment programme for the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) and sports sectors in Northern Ireland. The Rank Foundation was appointed to deliver the programme in 2022, with £9.9m funding from the Department for Communities Northern Ireland.
Start Here set out attract new talent to the VCSE and Sports organisations, to upskill existing employees, and to build organisational resilience.
The programme has:
- Provided funding for 100 VCSE and sports organisations to employ a new full-time staff member for three years.
- Offered skills development and training opportunities to participants and their organisations.
- Encouraged network building during and beyond the programme, at post holder, manager, and organisation level.
Start Here was launched as a part of the Northern Ireland Department for Communities COVID Recovery Employment and Skills Initiative. The Initiative provided funding to the Art, Creative industries, Heritage, Sports and VSCE sectors. This funding was in response to the employment and skills deficits which arose, and were exacerbated by, the COVID-19 pandemic. Start Here is a part of this initiative focusing specifically on the VSCE and Sports sectors.
With the Start Here funding the organisations have set up a new role to contribute to an area which they want to develop and grow. These new roles are based on the individual needs each organisation has. It was also encouraged that these roles were advertised as entry-level positions for people who do not yet work within the sector.
Through the offer of Real Living Wage employment over three years, up-skilling, and extensive networking opportunities, the programme is developing not only the individuals who have been employed, but also the Sports and VCSE sectors in Northern Ireland more broadly.
The development opportunities have included a range of online and in-person learning and conferences. The Start Here participants also attend regular meetings with a group of programme members to take part in Action Learning Sets.
We have appointed an evaluation partner, Rose Regeneration, to assess the impact of the programme on both individuals and organisations. The evaluation is currently taking place, but the results will be published here when they become available.
Case Studies
Start Here Celebration Event
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