What next? A new beginning for Stage 2
Joanna Rowelle
With the Easter break approaching, we have reached another milestone in the Towns Fund programme with many of you now turning your attention to what comes next.
I want to take this opportunity not just to celebrate your achievements in delivering your Town Investment Plans but to recognise this is also a new beginning as you take another step forward to making the vision for your Towns a reality. To reflect this, we have developed an exciting new portfolio of support that the Towns Fund Delivery Partner will be offering your Towns from April.
Even though you are at different points in the programme, this is no reason to wait to develop your Business Cases. Getting your Business Cases prepared is paramount to the next stage. For those of you waiting to receive your Town Deal offers, there is much that can be done to prepare for when you do.
Over the coming months, we can offer you access to the type of resources and guidance you need: whether it is a new template, a themed workshop or perhaps bespoke, one-to-one advice from one of our specialist advisors. We will also be offering new ways in which you can share your ideas and learning together and build on what has been established and achieved during Stage 1.
TFDP will be continuing to support you until early autumn and our team of Town Coordinators are still your first point of contact working alongside CLGU Area Leads. They can offer advice on what is available and how you can access it.
Below, we outline the latest services available to help you progress during Stage 2 and plan for future delivery of your projects.
As you continue on your Towns Fund journey, we will be regularly updating the website with new content and our Town Coordinators can help you navigate the growing library of resources. More detail on these updates will be provided in the coming weeks via our newsletter - sign up here.
What’s new
Business Case Festival
From 12 to 26 April 2021, we will be hosting events on each of the five cases set out in your Business Cases, focusing on the format and detail involved. All sessions will be recorded and you can access the latest information here.
Launch of the Towns Fund Place Leadership Programme
Modern place leadership is entrepreneurial and visionary, determined, collaborative and holds the best interests of local communities and organisations at its heart.
We are running an 8-week programme for Programme Leads and Town Deal Board Chairs to expand understanding of place leadership through 12 hours of workshops and coaching.
More details about the programme starting in late April and how to sign up are on our website.
Preparing your Town Deal Board for Stage 2
We have specialist senior advisors on hand who can offer one-to-one advice on the changing role of your Town Deal Board during Stage 2 and how best to prepare for these changes. The recently published blog from Jonathan Flowers provides more details.
The panel of brilliant people who are going to make a difference
Bringing together a group of people from your Towns who have applied to be part of the panel, they will consider what green growth looks like from your Towns’ perspective.
Chaired by Kate Willard OBE, the panel will develop an action plan that will be presented to Central Government in October. The panel is currently taking shape and we will be announcing our selection of panellists very soon – so watch this space!
Finally, we would like to remind you of some of the other opportunities that are still available.
Our Town Stories – share your Town story either by completing our ‘call for stories’ on the website, by contacting Loren from the TFDP storytelling team, storytelling@townsfund.org.uk or your Town Coordinator.
Town blogs - if you would like to share your Town’s experiences, learning and ideas, you can draft a blog that we will put on the website.
Town Working Groups - covering a range of themes, check out this page for more details on how you can share best practice with, or access it from other Towns across the programme.
Expert Drop-ins – sign up via our website for a one-to-one session with a specialist Topic Expert.
On behalf of the TFDP team, I hope you find our new look services and resources of interest and we are very much looking forward to supporting you in this exciting new stage of the Towns Fund programme.
Best wishes,
Joanna Rowelle
Senior Responsible Officer, Towns Fund Delivery Partner