Content

12.1

The Health Improvement Principal submitted a
report that sought approval for a grant to Voluntary Action
Sheffield (VAS) to support their proposal to develop and evaluate
culturally appropriate and inclusive support systems for frontline
voluntary and community sector (VCS) staff.

 

 

12.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the
Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee approves a grant of
up to £94,564 to Voluntary Action Sheffield for work to
develop and evaluate support systems for frontline voluntary and
community sector workers.

 

 

12.3

Reasons for
Decision

 

 

12.3.1

VAS has strong relationships with a wide range
of VCS organisations and groups across the city and has provided
leadership and support for the sector in Sheffield for over 90
years.

 

 

12.3.2

Given VAS’s role and relationships, the
pressing need to improve support systems for frontline VCS staff
and the learning from their work to date in testing clinical
supervision, VAS is best placed to take forward this proposal.

 

 

12.3.3

As well as benefiting the participating
organisations, the findings from this work and its evaluation will
be shared with both the wider VCS in the city and the wider health
and care system across Sheffield and South Yorkshire. This will
seek to influence thinking and practice on how best to support
frontline staff across a range of organisations and sectors, in
particular with regard to providing culturally appropriate and
inclusive support.

 

 

12.4

Alternatives
Considered and Rejected

 

 

12.4.1

Alternative option 1:
 
Do nothing.
 
Due to the time constraints for submitting
proposals for Public Health Grant Reserves funding, it was not felt
possible to consider other options for taking forward work of this
nature. The alternative would therefore have been to not submit a
proposal for Public Health Grant Reserves and do nothing.
 
However, given the pressing need to improve
support systems for frontline VCS staff in the city, and the risks
of not taking action for their mental health and wellbeing, and the
wellbeing of the workforce as a whole, the option of doing nothing
was rejected.