VISION, MISSION AND VALUES (synthesised)

Outreach and Communications Strategy 2008-09

Strategic Aims

1. To effectively strengthen existing partnership base whilst focusing on under-represented groups.

2. To ensure that work supports WNC's core remit, by actively promoting the work of the WNC and its activities to raise its profile and to communicate its views to others.

3. To develop and actively engage wide-ranging, diverse, and representative stakeholders.

Our Vision

A world where all women can express their needs and priorities and where Government listens and acts so that the needs of all women are at the heart of Government policy.
A world in which every human being is respected and is able to achieve their potential, living free from harm and discrimination.

Our Mission

Support, advise and encourage the women's sector to enable all women's voices to be heard effectively;
Act as a conduit for all those voices, in order to both advise and to hold Government to account;
Promote women's equality;
Ensure the views and experiences of as many women as possible are represented to Government to promote women's equality and change;
Ensure that where possible, women's opinions are communicated to Government so that they can be taken into account when laws are made and policies decided;
As far as possible, seek the views of and empower, socially excluded and marginalised women; and
Disseminate messages from Government across the women's equality sector.

Unique Selling Point

The WNC is the only independent advisory body established to provide a bridge between women's organisations and the UK Government. It provides a route for women's organisations to communicate effectively to Government, but also provides an easier way for Government to disseminate messages to and consult with women's organisations.

Stakeholders

Individual women;
Individual partners;
Partner organisations;
Individual women's organisations;
Ministers for Women;
Other organisations that represent women
Organisations with a core commitment to women's equality; and
GEO and OGD officials

Our Values

Accessibility

Transparency, openness
Confidentiality

Learning
Integrity

Equality and Diversity

Gender equality and anti-discrimination
Diversity as a positive force
Inclusivity

Respect

Value the lived experience of women
Value grass-roots experience
Respect for all

Empowerment

Encouraging development
Enabling and participatory
Innovative and creative

Strategic Aim 1: To effectively strengthen existing partnership base whilst focusing on under-represented groups.

OBJECTIVE

ACTIVITY

COST/WHO/TIME

ESSENTIAL/ DESIRABLE/NON-ESSENTIAL

SUCCESS INDICATORS

1) To continue to identify under-represented groups and to ensure ongoing accuracy of partner database

By:

Updating the Needs Analysis report to continue to identify gaps in representation.
To regularly maintain partner categories to ensure database is accurate, reliable and updated.
Cross reference partner records with updated WORGS document.

Cost:

Staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf.

Bethan Walker and Polly Trenow.

Ongoing

Essential

Gaps in Partnership base identified, but reducing over time.

Accurate and reliable database frequently updated and fewer queries identified by partners and stakeholders.

Produce regular `Women's Organisations in the

United Kingdom' directory of WNC Partner organisations and make available on website.

2) To maintain and build relationships with under-represented groups.

By:

Initiating and sustaining regularity of contact, designed to nurture relationships and build trust. This would increase the

quality of interaction and enable effective communication via

telephone, meetings and other means.

Maintaining an up to date website and newsletter to ensure better communication.
Ensure Partners are aware of WNC's Principles of Partnership and other important documents.

Cost:

Staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf and

Bethan Walker.

Ongoing

Essential

Desirable

Feedback from new website and Newsletter is positive and constructive and partners engage with the new formats better.

Positive responses to possible on-line feedback exercise, run later in the year if resources allow.

3) To work with information gained above to target under-represented regions (e.g. North East, South West) and sectors of the community (e.g. younger women, women with disabilities, minority women and transgender women) to encourage them to become partners.

By:

Holding events / seminars for specific groups in targeted regions, as in Wales and with the `Listening to Muslim Women Consultation'.
Ensuring effective monitoring and evaluation procedures are followed, reasons new Partners are successfully recruited, i.e. through events or website etc.
Aim to hold at least two events in identified regions of England to target gaps in partnership base.

Cost:

Approx £2,400 per event.

Staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf.

Bethan Walker and Polly Trenow.

£4,800

Essential

Desirable

Under-represented groups identified and events run to engage with, support and help build capacity

Event being planned with Equality South West in Taunton on 30 April 2008.

4) To ensure outreach activities are conducted in Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland and Partners in each, feel their concerns are being heard and shared.

By:

Holding at least one event in each of the Nations every year.
Further ongoing activity to be conducted to identify how successfully WNC's aims in relation to devolved nation strategy.
Consider introducing Newsletters for each of the Nations.

Annual meeting held with Welsh Equalities Minister
Possible visits to Northern Ireland and Scotland to meet Equalities Ministers
Ensure devolved nation representation on Working Groups

Cost:

Approx £2,800 per event.

£8,400 = 3 events

Staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf.

Bethan Walker, Maria Turay and Polly Trenow.

Cost: £500

Cost: £1,500

Cost: £700

Essential

Desirable

Essential

Event held in each of the Nations during the year.

Meeting held with Welsh Equalities Minister.

Productive visits made to Equalities Ministers.

Improved representation of partners from Nations, involved in Working Groups.

5) To engage Commissioners in partnership activities throughout the year.

By:

Working with Commissioners to arrange events on issues of their expertise and / or in their localities, e.g. Baroness Gale in Wales, Bronagh Hinds in Northern Ireland, Professor Kelly in the VAW sector and Sabin Malik on the Migration and Asylum sub-group.
All Commissioners to agree to recruit a minimum/set number (10) of new Partners each year.
Commissioners to work with cross-party political representatives, for example by inviting to events and meetings with Partners for support on specific issues.
Commissioners to keep Directorate informed of progress.

Cost:

£4,800 (2 events)

Staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf.

Bethan Walker, Maria Turay and Polly Trenow.

Ongoing

Essential

Desirable

Essential

Increase in diversity of and numbers of women attending events.

Increase in total number of Partner's UK-wide, as well as under-represented groups.

Increase in number of Partners recruited by Commissioners.

Events arranged for Partners and MPs.

Regular feedback provided by Commissioners, to the Directorate on their WNC activities.

Strategic Aim 2: To ensure work supports WNC's core remit, by actively promoting the work of the WNC and its activities to raise its profile and to communicate its views to others.

OBJECTIVE

ACTIVITY

TIMELINE/

WHO

ESSENTIAL/ DESIRABLE/NON-ESSENTIAL

SUCCESS INDICATORS

1) Raise profile and promoting the work of the WNC by providing partners and others, with accessible and useful information on areas of interest, such as Government Consultations etc., to obtain views and contributions, to feed into government policy.

By:

Complete development of an attractive, modern, creative and interactive website, enabling the facility to carry out on-line consultations with partners.
To continue to fine-tune the revamped Newsletter so it is attractive, engages partners' interests and is accessible, ensuring regular editions produced.
By attending partners' and others' events and seminars to network with other organisations.
Liaise with partner organisations to ensure they include a link to the WNC website from their own website.
By attending meetings of the Equality and Diversity Forum.
Ensure all WNC publications are current, revised regularly and available.
Commissioners to fully utilise Parliamentary links.

Where possible, responding to challenging or incorrect articles in press by letters from the WNC Chair or Commissioners.

Ensuring WNC publications are available in a range of languages and in braille.
Providing presentations for relevant organisations e.g. Chevening programmes
Providing internships for individuals from the UK and abroad

Cost:

£5,000

Staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf.

Bethan Walker and Leon Bond.

Ongoing

Essential.

Desirable.

Essential

Desirable

New website successfully launched.

Improvements to Newsletter, continues in future editions.

Stronger links made with a wider range of partners and key stakeholders.

Increase in number of visits to our new website.

Better knowledge across the equality sector and better links made with other equality organisations.

Increase in information provided to Directorate by Commissioners, on Parliamentary activity, including identification of opportunities to explore.

As resources allow.

As resources allow

As resources and circumstances allow.

2) To develop and maintain a new, modern, interactive website, to be fully functional by Spring 2008.

By:

Continue process of creating the new modern, attractive and flexible Website.
Ensuring it is flexible enough to allow for online consultations with partners and others.
Ensuring content is relevant and useful to viewers.
Creating a Partner's section providing specific information for partners.
Ensuring it can be easily updated, with the minimum of maintenance and is cost effective.
Obtaining feedback on new website from Partners.

Cost:

Staff resources

Staff:

Leon Bond, Mutanser Ashraf and others in Directorate.

Ongoing

Essential

Desirable

Essential

Website launched in first quarter of the operational year.

Regular checks are made on content and appearance.

Monitor reaction of external users and seek out feedback from partners.

Ensure any necessary action is taken on feedback.

Internal report produced after 6 months of going-live, to check its suitability and whether further changes are necessary.

3) To continue to manage Ministerial meetings of the 6 O Group of women's organisations.

By:

Agreeing regular dates for meetings between Private Office, WNC Chair and members of the Group.
Briefing the WNC Chair appropriately to lead these meetings.
To consider how best to expand this group to include under-represented groups to enable a representative voice to Minister.

Cost:

£500

Staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf and Sue Green.

Ongoing

Essential

Meeting date agreed and meetings take place, approx every six months.

To ensure a briefing meeting takes place with Chair prior to the meeting.

Ensure a pre-Ministerial meeting is arranged with members of the 6 O.

Agree with GEO and Private Office, an approach for involving more diverse representatives in the communication process - Pulling together a similar group of BME representatives is being worked on.

4) To work to develop a new, modern `logo' for the WNC.

By:

Canvassing views from Commissioners and Directorate.
By liaising with design companies to produce ideas for Commissioners to decide on an appropriate replacement.
To consider resource implication

Cost:

Unknown - dependent on resources available.

Staff resources.

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf and Leon Bond.

Desirable

Essential

Plan drawn up on how best to produce a new WNC design.

Views of the Board sought and resource implications carefully examined.

New WNC design produced and published.

5) To consider how the WNC may most effectively have a soft re-launch.

By:

Views to be sought from the Board, but may include announcing news of our revamped website and production of the new Newsletter.
Producing a plan and timeline for re-launch, liaising with GEO colleagues.

Cost:

Dependent on plan - £2,000 approx.

Staff resources.

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf.

Bethan Walker and Leon Bond.

Desirable

Board and GEO consulted and most appropriate approach.

Set of announcements grouped together to ensure launch is valuable.

Re-launch takes place and is successful, resulting in greater awareness of and contact with, WNC throughout the year.

6) To represent views of WNC Partners to government.

By:

Forwarding partners' views clearly and effectively to GEO officials through regular meetings, or through written communications, as appropriate.
To identify the `hot topics' of each event and feed back to GEO and other stakeholders.
Feedback and views received from partners attending events and seminars are relayed to government to consider in relation to policy.
Consider carrying out online consultations on specific issues.
Consider producing an article for MPs about their involvement in WNC and their constituencies
Establish an e-list for Parliamentarians
Consider use of women's Parliamentary radio
Consider piggybacking other women's organisation events e.g. Trade Unions and Parliamentary women's groups

Cost:

£7,000.

Potentially considerable staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf.

Essential

Desirable

Essential

Desirable

Essential

Regular feedback to GEO colleagues on feedback from partners, including `hot topics'.

Consultations carried out where resources allow this.

Note sent to Parliamentarians about WNC and how they can help women.

E-list of Parliamentarians created and information is regularly circulated to it.

Increased attendance at events organised by partners and key stakeholders.

7) All Partners Conference to be held every other year with defined objectives and diverse representation. Outcome of Conference to be clear, i.e. Report to be fed into Government Equalities Office and Ministers for Women.

By:

Consideration given to holding Partners' Conferences outside London.
Producing a plan, following Board decisions.
Holding a successful, Partners' Conference

Cost:

£25,000

Considerable staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf and Sue Green

Essential

Decision taken by Board on whether the Partners' conference takes place in 2008/09, or 2009/10, given that 2009 is WNC's 40^th anniversary.

Bids for funding made to city and other contacts, to cover the cost of event.

A carefully constructed project plan of the event is produced; including agenda, speakers and planned outcomes.

A successful Partners' Conference takes place.

8) A standard set material of delegate packs to be prepared for use at WNC events

Documents identified and printed for inclusion in standard delegate pack, e.g. CEDAW report, Newsletters, Annual Report
Appropriate folders and other stationary ordered and available.

Cost:

£5,000

Staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf Bethan Walker and Leon Bond

Packs produced and accessible.

Sufficient stores of stationary available.

Strategic Aim 3: To develop and actively engage wide-ranging, diverse and representative stakeholders

OBJECTIVE

ACTIVITY

TIMELINE/

WHO

ESSENTIAL/ DESIRABLE/NON-ESSENTIAL

SUCCESS INDICATORS

1) To nurture long term relationships with Partners.

To work with specific Partners by:

Where possible, ensure a WNC presence at Partners' main events, i.e. Annual conferences.
To effectively utilise information gained from partnership forms to create links between Partners with similar interests and to encourage and facilitate where possible, informal networking and exchange of information towards feeding views to government.
Use leading expert partners to provide/exchange advice and information to other partners and at events.
Continuing to co-ordinate meetings of the 6 O Group with Ministers, ensuring that meetings take place regularly and the WNC is briefed to lead them.

Cost:

£2,500

Staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf.

Desirable

Essential

More effective communications with partners.

Increased attendance at events organised by partners and stakeholders.

Feedback from partners and others demonstrates an improvement in information sharing and communications.

2) Provide appropriate information for stakeholders and promote links and awareness of the diversity of Partners.

By:

Liaise with partner organisations to ensure they include a link to the WNC website from their own website.
Ensure Women's Organisational Directory is updated regularly and available on WNC website and disseminated to partners.
Ensure hard copies are available for Partners and for other general requests.

Cost:

£1,500

Staff resources

Staff:

Mutanser Ashraf.

Essential

Carry out spot-check on leading partner and other organisations' websites to check WNC link is included.

Maintain up-to-date information on the WORGS Directory and make available on website.

Total cost of Outreach Strategy for 2008-09 is £69,200.

WNC/08/1/09

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