London Regional Group

Children England's London Regional Group meets quarterly, in the months of February, April, July and October. The meetings are separated into two parts:

• Practice seminars
• Business meeting

Support and Development

The London Regional group facilitates a range of practice sharing events and support to members. Over the past 18 months this has included:

• Quarterly members meetings with presentations and input from key agencies such as CWDC with members showcasing good practice;
• A pan-London conference in partnership with Government Office for London (GOL) on commissioning and the impact for small groups;
• Practice seminars to target action learning on assessing impact;
• Information and communications about key thematic policy developments.

Regional Representation

Members of the group are represented at various strategic planning forums across London including:

London Children and Young People's Partnership; Commission for Child Poverty Compact; GOL Advice and Challenge Group; HEAR; Change Up; Parenting Commission Meeting; Senior Child Care Managers Meeting; Young London Participation Network; Third Sector Extended Services; Network National Youth Agency Regional Advisors Meeting; Extended Services Cluster Managers Meeting; London Safeguarding Children's Board.

There is a regional development plan for London which is being developed and monitored through quarterly meetings. If you are interested in becoming a new member of this group or would like more information, contact steven.francis@barnardos.org.uk

Key London Contacts:

Click here for information on the work of the Regional Development Manager in London

London Meeting Dates:

Address: Children England, Unit 25 Angel Gate, London EC1V 2PT

Resources:

The London regional group meeting held on the 20^th April 2009 included a valuable seminar by the New Economics Foundation on a programme of their work called Social Return on Investment. The work highlights how the voluntary sector often finds it difficult to measure the impact they make and the value they add through conventional economic and financial measures which do not capture the social and environmental benefits of projects and programmes they run. The Social Return on Investment (SROI) programme aims to capture these benefits and to show funders the value of their work in a language that they can understand. Micheal Weatherhead from the NEF's consultancy wing delivered a presentation on this work which can be accessed below. In addition, the NEF publication, Measuring real value: A guide to Social Return on Investment offers a step by step guide for organisations on how to undertake capturing the difference they make through the SROI model.

This can be accessed at: www.neweconomics.org/gen/z_sys_publicationdetail.aspx?pid=241

To download the Social Return on Investment Presentation click here

Presentations from the London event on Vetting and Barring 22^nd Sept 2009