Collaboration is vital and coronavirus shows us why

Always looking for the light in what are very dark situations, People Know How commends the incredible community spirit which has been rallied against coronavirus. Out of this national crisis, People Know How seeks only to strengthen its already thriving partnership work. The charity has recently published two new articles which consider collaborations and partnerships within the third sector and across society.

Partnership work is at the very core of People Know How and its Social Innovation Model. Every project and initiative run by People Know How is informed from its inception by the very people and communities they are meant to benefit. What is more, People Know How seeks to share its knowledge with other charities and organisations. If something really works, it should be shared, rather than patented or hidden away.

Let us take a look at some of our past success stories of collaboration and consider what innovative partnership looks like in practice.

Connect Four

Perhaps the most far-reaching and interconnected People Know How initiative is Connect Four. This networking project links up all four sectors – academic, business, public and third sector – at the heart of which is the desire to collaborate and make connections to drive social innovation. Organisations can sign up to join the network and receive the benefit of the social innovation toolkit.

Community partnership

On the ground, in People Know How’s day-to-day work, various projects rely on close partnerships. Take for example the All Aboard project. People Know How is steaming ahead with Polwarth Parish Church to increase positive engagement with the community by purchasing and running a canal boat on the Union Canal.

Reaching out to businesses

Even in the running of its office and expanding of its services, People Know How has been keen to partner with businesses and social enterprises. The charity works alongside Edinburgh Palette to manage and run the office spaces on 525 Ferry Road. Similarly, People Know How is collaborating with property developer, Summix, to establish its new office space in North East Edinburgh. These “win-win” situations show the importance of sharing resources and talents across sectors.

Working alongside fellow charities

Working directly with partners within the third sector is also key. People Know How’s Curiosity Club brings children together from different primary schools, often alongside their parents and carers. The initiative was developed alongside fellow charities, Venture Scotland and Science Ceilidh. From exploding fizzy drinks volcanoes to gooey slime, this collaboration allows children and young people to have fun with science experiments.

Venture Scotland continue to partner with us, most notably on our Computer Delivery project, delivering devices to those who need help staying connecting during lockdown.

Collaborating with universities

The delivery of People Know How’s central services and projects would not be possible without the contribution of social work and arts therapies students from universities across Scotland. This partnership with the academic sector ensures that our youngest service users benefit from the skills and knowledge of university students. At the same time, the students get the opportunity to put their learning into practice.

Partnerships with the public sector

Much of People Know How’s work takes place in collaboration with the public sector, with referrals for our services coming from schools or other publicly run initiatives. Young people access our Positive Transitions service through the collaboration of their schools. From People Know How’s befriending outings to tackling bullying in class, teachers and schools are a vital part of facilitating our interactions with children and young people.

A call to action

Partnership work is clearly central to People Know How, and now coronavirus and its devastating social consequences are emphasising just how essential collaboration is. At this time, working with funders has also taken on a new level of importance. People Know How is not alone in calling for further and closer partnerships. Organisations from across sectors have highlighted this as a necessity of 21st century charity work. Launching the SCVO’s #NeverMoreNeeded campaign, Chief Executive Anna Fowlie, writing about voluntary work after coronavirus, asserted:

Similarly, the CEO of Corra Foundation, Fiona Duncan, has called for conversations on life after COVID-19 to be “wide ranging”, with cross-sector partnership at its heart.

From its foundation, People Know How has sought to collaborate, and now at this time, when charities can so easily find themselves stranded or looking inwards, collaboration is more needed than ever before.

To continue this conversation, we’re publishing two new articles within our Research Briefings project (now relaunched as the Connect Four Journal), focusing on collaboration. Read them now: