Success story:  Sheffield Well Being Consortium Back to Success stories

Futurebuilders invested £155,344 in Sheffield Well Being Consortium (SWBC) to fund costs associated with developing a formal consortium comprising third sector organisations that deliver health and well being services in Sheffield.

About Sheffield Well Being Consortium

SWBC is currently a consortium of 40 third sector organisations, although this number is expected to grow as the consortium develops.  The primary goal of the consortium is to serve the needs of service users, especially those who are the most disadvantaged and/or have mental health problems, through the provision of high quality, responsive, generalist and specialist health services and initiatives.

The concept of SWBC arose out of a desire amongst local organisations to work together more effectively. It’s members felt that as small third sector organisations, they would have a better chance of achieving this goal through forming a consortium, as there is a greater prospect of securing contracts and having enough capital to deliver much needed services. The key advantages to the consortium approach include the increased opportunity to develop services through heightened access to statutory funding, joint service planning and delivery leading to improved services for beneficiaries and enhanced training and development support for smaller members.

A member of Manor Top Agewell on the Flowers in the Frame project for Eventus.

Greater third sector involvement in public health also align with the Government’s goals of improving health and well-being and giving people more choice, a stronger voice, and better access to a wide range of community services.

Before Futurebuilders got involved

As SWBC was a new organisation it initially had no financial track record so was having trouble securing funding for start-up costs, subsequently having limited resources and working capital to employ staff to manage contract delivery.

Newly appointed Development Director at SWBC, Neil Coulson, stated that “being a new entity it was proving rather difficult to obtain funds to get the ball rolling...this is when we looked towards Futurebuilders as a potential funding source. We were aware of Futurebuilders strong brand profile and saw the real potential of an investment from them”.

How Futurebuilders helped

Futurebuilders invested £155,344 in SWBC to fund the costs associated with developing the consortium. The Full Investment, which was primarily in the form of an overdraft guarantee facility, also included a revenue grant* to fund the first year’s salary costs of a Development Director.

As the Development Director is responsible for the indentifying, tendering for, and subsequently managing of contracts, funding for this role was essential.

Futurebuilders investment leads to increased confidence of commissioners

With the help of Futurebuilders, SWBC has expanded its capacity for securing contracts. It has recently won a three year contract (commissioned by the Sheffield City Council) to set up a Community Health Champions Network, whose goal is to develop a network of volunteers to empower local people to improve their health.

“There was no possibility of securing the contract for The Community Health Champions Network without Futurebuilders investment. Even if we did win the contract, there is no way we would have been able deliver it without the capacity to employ people to manage contract delivery.”

Organisations that Futurebuilders invest in very often say the investment increases commissioners’ confidence in them. This was certainly true in the case of SWBC, as Neil explains:

“Getting a Futurebuilders investment was a real badge. I feel that for a new consortium such as ours to be associated with a well known, reputable brand like as Futurebuilders demonstrated that we were a credible organisation worthy of investment.”

Ensuring long term stability through Futurebuilders

Many current SWBC members already have a track record of delivering well valued services for Sheffield Primary Care Trust and Sheffield City Council, the worth of which is estimated to be over £1m per year.  This is not the case for SWBC itself – as they have no track record of delivery, perceived sustainability is hard to achieve. With Futurebuilders investment SWBC are able focus on delivering the contract recently secured, put systems in place for contract management, and thus develop and embed a track record of delivery.



The winners of a skipping competition put together by Upperthorpe Healthy Living Centre

“The Futurebuilders investment has given us the working capital to develop our service delivery, instilling more confidence for securing contracts and therefore enabling us to grow organically. This in turn will increase membership and turnover, and increase our chances of becoming sustainable in the long-term.”

* Please note that revenue grants are currently unavailable

What next

Are you an organisation like SWBC who needs investment to help you successfully bid for, win and deliver public sector contracts? Then find out which of our products is right for you and check if you could be eligible for a Futurebuilders investment .