Wishes range from funding to mentoring and training
Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface (CTSI) has launched a new community benefit wishlist to improve the communication between public sector suppliers and the third sector.
Created in collaboration with Scottish social value agency, Samtaler, the new wishlist is hosted on the CTSI website and features requests from social enterprises, charities, community groups and other third sector organisations that are looking for community benefit support from the private sector.
Wishes range from practical items and funding through to mentoring advice, training and volunteer support.
All businesses that tender for public sector contracts in Scotland are required to consider how they will deliver community benefit as part of the procurement process, but it is hoped that the wishlist will enable suppliers to tailor their community benefit offer to address specific problems in the communities they serve rather than offering generic benefits.
Suppliers can now simply view the list and find a match for their expertise and resources before contacting the organisation directly if they think they are able to fulfil a wish – cutting out any procurement red tape.
Suppliers hoping to tender for public sector contracts can also use the wishlist to inform their response. In addition, other private sector companies, that are not public sector suppliers but are still looking for ways to add value in their community, are welcome to use the list and third sector organisations wanting to submit new wishes can do so at any time.
CTSI has worked closely with Clackmannanshire Council throughout the process and the wishlist will now be an integral part of the council’s benefits factory, which provides information to suppliers through a new Trello dashboard. The wishlist also allows local small organisations to upload easily to the new NHS Portal via the CTSI website.
Anthea Coulter, chief officer at Clackmannanshire TSI comments: “We saw that a lot of our members just weren’t really benefiting from the community benefit programme and there was this disconnect between suppliers and the third sector where our members weren’t sure what to ask for and suppliers weren’t sure what the third sector needed.
The wishlist cuts through that confusion and makes it really easy for suppliers to see exactly what the immediate needs of the community are and spot where they can use their expertise and add value.
“We think it will make the whole process much faster and lead to much stronger and more productive relationships between suppliers and the third sector. We are looking forward to seeing the first wishes granted and watching the list evolve over the coming months.”
The Clackmannanshire TSI wishlist follows a similar format to the one used by Perth & Kinross Council which was also created by Samtaler in 2019.
