Rotary in Cumbria & Lancashire First Response Global Grant Project

District 1190 Community First Response Global Grant Project | 1

Implementation – Community Health Mela

Community First Response A Global Grant Funded ProjectPDG Kevin Walsh, Rotary in Cumbria & LancashireNovember 2016 – Slideshare Version

I wish to tell you the story of Our Community First Response Project and will cover

How it came aboutWhy we decided that it needed to be funded by a Global GrantWhat we have doneAnd some lessons we have learnt along the way.


The Initial Idea


AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

As I prepared for being District Governor for Cumbria & Lancashire in 2013/14 I knew that during the year I didn't just want to gather funds for a local or international community.

I wanted to make sure that clubs left a legacy for their own communities.

I also wanted to make sure that they were more aware of and positive about our own Rotary Foundation

But how might this be achieved?



Living and working in a mainly Rural part of the country I am acutely aware of the need to make sure that we do everything we can to get help to those in need as quickly as possible



Initially I went to our local mountain rescue teams many of whom suggested that defibrillators would be of great use, alongside some other more expensive items of lifesaving equipment.



The leader of Cumbria CC, my former employer, then approached me to see if we could help with his vision of installing 100 public access defibrillators in 100 days.

A task that even a well run authority would find somewhat daunting!



The North West Ambulance service was the next stop and their comment was that we need as many Community Public Access Defibrillators as we can get to support local First Responder teams both in isolated rural communities and in congested city centers.



So what might such a project really look like. How much might it cost? What support would there be from clubs in the district?

In truth, the potential scope was as big as we wanted it to be. The usual fund raising for a DG project could be between £15 and 30k. This would buy some kit for the rescue teams and around 10 Community Public Access Defibrillators However even if only 30% of clubs wanted their communities to get involved then the budget could be in the region of £45,000.



There were many Positive indicatorsMany Clubs were already engaged with installing equipment in their communities

We already had several Community Partners including Parish and town councils, NHS professionals etc.

We were helping with Stroke Awareness Day and Community Health Melas (Fairs)

But how to ensure we had adequate funding……………..


The Global Grant Application

A global grant was not the first thing that came to mind, but the more we thought about the need to provide this lifesaving equipment in our communities the more it seemed appropriate to invite our Rotary Foundation to consider a bid for funds to come into the UK rather than overseas.


HOW TO MAKE THE CASH AVAILABLE

Challenges1/3 of pre match funds have to be from another country

DDF needs to be agreed

The project has to be sustainable

There needs to be an element of community involvement / engagement

Community Partners need to be fully engaged

Need to know how you are going to measure success

But …..

We need to make sure the technicalities of the grant process could be overcome.

The experience we had gained with District 1070 in managing a Global Grant in Mali during the Future Vision Pilot phase was invaluable.

But we still need to consider where our support was going to come from; how the project was to be managed in the long term and what our success criteria were



The international funding came from former matching grant and scholarship partners in Bangalore and Japan.

And, luckily, our friends across the border in Scotland are already independent as far as Rotary is concerned so a very positive decision on the donation of DDF from the Scottish SE and Border District (on a quid pro quo basis) gave us the confidence to move forward.



The Final Bid – Funding

Club Donations - £12,688 50% TRF Match £ 6,344 = £19,032

District DDF - £12,200 100% TRF Match £12,200 = £24,400

International DDF - £10,675 100% TRF Match £10,675 = £21,350

approx. £64,782

A 5 to 1 matchThe resulting bid provide a five to one match on original club donations. Since increased to around 6 :1 with other funding streams being made available during the life of the project.



The Final Bid – BudgetCapital Investment

Search & Rescue Teams - £15,000

Community Defibrillators - £30,000

Community Involvement

Health Melas - £12,000

Training - £ 3,600

The Final BidIn order to satisfy the community activity aspects of the grant to sit alongside the capital expenditure we included for training in the use of the Automatic Defibrillators and the development of the concept of community health fairs

Memorandum of Understanding were also agreed with the key partners these included Community Defibrillators - Northwest Ambulance Service

Health Fairs or Melas - National Forum for Health & Wellbeing



The Agreed Funding

Request was £64,782 @0.61 £/$ Rate $106,200

TRF agreement $106,905 @0.59 £/$ Rate £63,074

Plus other donations £13,674

£76,748TimescalesDRFC Agreements March ’14Primary Contact Authorisations June ‘14Funds available August ‘14

The Bid was authorized by our Rotary partners in June 2014 and we had the cash in the bank by August 2014

We have been busy spending it for the past two years. And here’s how


Implementing the Project - Outcomes


Implementation – Mountain Rescue Teams

Each of the Mountain Rescue Teams in Lancashire were presented with Defibrillators including one that was only the size of a Samsung galaxy and could fit inside the pocket of a cave rescue team member as they crawl through tight spaces to rescue people.


Implementation – Mountain Rescue Teams

In Cumbria the Lake District Teams have more demanding requirements and we supplied two Autopulse machines which automatically provide chest compressions to a victim on a stretcher.


Implementation – Community Public Access Defibrillators

We have now supported 35 Community Public Access Defibrillators. All shown on the map of Cumbria & Lancashire

By working with local community groups, many of whom secured some of the funds locally we have made the Global Grant funds go further than expected. Here are some examples

Some are managed by local First Responder Teams



Some are in isolated communities, this one is cut off at every high tide.



Others are on Church Halls and looked after by the local community



Village Halls and Parish Councils are involved



Local Businesses, some of whom are Rotarians themselves got on board and of course the Rotary Foundation has a mention on each housing unit



And we’ve supported innovation with this site on a Golf Course without access to mains power.

Heating to the housing unit is managed by solar and wind power – the site will definitely get plenty of the latter.



Training is a key element for sustainability and community support.

Its been encouraging to hear about many clubs taking up the CPR and AED training even if they are not getting directly involved in supporting one in their own community.



Grange over Sands Club has arranged several public training events in recent years making sure that many more people know how to undertake potentially life saving interventions in their local community



Where Community Access Defibrillators have been installed we have worked with the local Ambulance Service to ensure that people who use or manage the host site have been given appropriate training


Implementation – Community Public Access Defibrillators, Sustainability

Sustainability of the Community Public Access Defibrillators is important. They are not replaced by North West Ambulance Service but the community sponsor and host site agree to manage and maintain into the future including their eventual replacement. Some sponsors are local Rotary Clubs, others being community centers and parish councils.

We are also recommending hosts sign up to governance provided by Community Heartbeat Trust - This community ownership allows Rotary to quietly and safely move away from the project when appropriate to do so.


Implementation – Community Health Mela (Carlisle)

Alongside this capital investment we have also taken the opportunity to develop our relationship with National Forum for Health & Wellbeing and do what we can to develop the concept of Community Health Fairs.

Here’s an explanation of what this aspect of the project is all about

The Community Health Mela (or Fair) is a friendly, festival with entertainment and activities. The day will be centred on a series of “Streets” set up in the City Centre. These “Streets” will allow a wide range of Health & Wellbeing activities to take place under the following headings Health Advice and support (both statutory and non-statutory)Listening TherapiesComplementary TherapiesHealthy Food and CookingGardeningExerciseEntertainment and Music A key element of the day will be the “Health Olympics”. An opportunity for visitors to have a Health MOT with appropriate advice and signposting. We will be working with local groups and organisations in the weeks before the event to encourage involvement including work with local schools. We will also work with several local sports/exercise groups to arrange for a number of activities to be scheduled during the day. These could be fun runs, cycle rides or walks. The event will allow all visitors to have a family day out to enjoy, learn and pick up useful tips to lead a healthy, enjoyable and long life.



The Health Mela we ran in Carlisle funded in part by the Global Grant was very well received.

These events are, in part, aimed at getting to those sections of society who do not go to their GPs or the NHS.



It took a lot of work to arrange making sure that the local statutory and volunteer communities were as involved as much as possible.

Due to the December 2015 floods we had to spend more than expected on the hire of Gazebos – we were successful in obtaining a grant from our local Community Foundation to help with this.Expanding the reach of the project and setting the scene for future years.



We included Health MOT’s blood tests and standard BMI and Blood pressure screening – but we imported our team from Lancashire.

These Health MOT’s are a key part of the Health Mela. Typically we are finding that between 30 & 40% of those seen are referred to their doctors. Particularly for High Cholesterol or potential diabetic conditions.

One of the key lessons we are learning is that we need to help increase the capacity to do this valuable community work using local professionals and trainees.



And of course as with all Rotary Projects we must make sure that everyone has the opportunity to have fun

Local Commercial Radio hosted the event for us, schools danced and laughter therapists performed.


Implementing the Project - Publicity


Implementation – Publicity

In this specific case we were pleased to receive a Cardiac Smart Award on two occasions from NWAS attending regional events to receive the award



We also attended, at the invitation of NW Ambulance Service, and added our signature to a list in the House of Commons encouraging the Government to make CPR & AED training mandatory in schools



We’ve also had several TV and Radio appearances during the life of the project and are preparing something for the end of the project.


Implementation – Publicity, Rotary Showcase

The project also features on the Rotary Showcase, a feature of the RI web site that is probably underused but a great tool to share experiences with the rest of the Rotary world and the general public


Implementation – Publicity, Rotary Showcase

It also helps with the issue of identifying the hidden value of our work – the dedicated man-hours that we all put in but don’t always tell people About

These figures are only guestimates but latest update suggests nearer 1200 hours and 53 volunteers with some $43,000 of club or community donations


Implementation – Publicity, Social Media

We all know that Social Media can sometimes be a curse, but used in the right way can help raise awareness and promote the good causes we all want to get involved in.

Here we see examples of Facebook posts from the carlisle Health Mela


Implementation – Publicity, Social Media #carlislehealthmela

And here promotional activity on Twitter in advance of the event in Carlisle. Note these were not just from ourselves but from many of those taking part on the day.

Encouraged by the use of an appropriate Hashtag



We had plenty of positive coverage on all social media channels during and after the event



A key part of any grant process is measuring success and reviewing the process. We held a review meeting with Carlisle City Council following the successful Mela in the City. This has resulted in the development of a positive dialogue about where we go next – what legacy will be available by this part of the Global Grant Project.

I’m pleased to say that we will be jointly promoting an event with the city council in May 2017


Feedback & Reports


Outputs / Outcomes

MRT Equipment (£19,220)Lancashire

Cumbria

Community Public Access Defibrillators (£39,600)35 Communities supported

Many more trained people in our communities

Community Health Melas (£16,000)2 held in new areas of region

Over 100 people through MOTs

Over 30% referred to Doctors

So what have we achieved

The Mountain Rescue Teams have more and better equipment.

35 communities have been supported with Community Public Access Defibrillators and there are more trained people in our communities

We have held 2 community health Melas in new areas of the District and are planning a third

More importantly we have started a debate about how these community led events can benefit the local NHS and how they can be more integrated into local provision

The fact that we had signed up MOU’s with NWAS and NFHW has helped keep a positive dialogue with these organisations.

Rotarians are now influencing how the Health Fair concept can be grown outside of its south Lancashire roots


REPORTING

Reports need to be regularAt least annually to TRF and Sponsors

District Foundation Committee at least twice a year

To Clubs at District Council Meetings and available on-line

We need to be transparent and seen to be accountable

By reporting in this way we have kept the project and the support given by our Rotary Foundation in front of Clubs in the District.

Thanks have to go to the DG team for encouraging the continuity of the project and reporting beyond by 2013/14 year.


Lessons Learnt


LESSONS LEARNT – Using Foundation Grants here in the UK

Many people, say that Charity should start at home and Rotary certainly did that in the beginning with the public toilets in Chicago

As our organisation grew we quite rightly supported the less advantaged in our world.

When I was in San Diegio in January 2013 my colleague from Bangalore said to me “If we can help you in any way do please ask “ – so we did.

Some parts of the so called developing world are starting to be able spread their new found wealth outside. And I have to say that some parts of the so called developed world are looking distinctly shaky.

By working together with Rotarians around the word, we can make a difference wherever the need is found. – At home or abroad


LESSONS LEARNT – The Global Grant Process

Using the GrantFlexibility is available – just ask and report fully

Include an element for Administrative and Travel Expenses

Managing the GrantEnsure you have a (Pro) Active Team around you

Project Plans are only a starting point ……..

The Rotary Foundation grants teams are very thorough in how they support us. And increasingly the Cadre of Foundation Grant experts is being used to help the development of projects.

But your initial plan is only a starting point, don’t be concerned if you need to change the detail – but make sure that you explain the what and the why. We should also note that the flexibility of what we can do within the 6 areas of focus is guided only by our own innovation.


LESSONS LEARNT – Project Vision to Implementaion

Patience is a VirtueCommunity based Capacity Building takes time

The NHS is a difficult nut to crack

Would I do it again ?Yes – because we must always try and convert our visions into reality

We must always try and convert our Visions into Reality. Facing up to the difficulties and using our vocational skills and contacts to make a difference

For me this is what Rotary is all about.

And specifically our Rotary Foundation – the vision of being able to do good in the world and bring peace to troubled areas


LESSONS LEARNT – Project Vision to Implementation

Specifically in relation to our project it is clear that we now have a number of positive building blocks in place.



We are still being asked if we have funding to provide Community Public Access Defibrillators – a project that Clubs now have a template for to use in the future



Rotary Grants need not be the end of a project but a way of making something happen.

We reviewed the Carlisle Health Mela in July and had some very positive comments from all partners.

There is a keen interest in how the Health Mela concept can be developed into the future – without the funding provided by Rotary.

We are also talking to the Rotary Action Group involved with Family Health Days across the world to see if we can work together to develop the concept.



You all know that Rotarians have big hearts, we support communities across the globe in so many different ways.

Our Rotary Foundation can help us and I would encourage you all to contribute and make the most of this, our own Charity.

Government & Nonprofit

Rotary in Cumbria & Lancashire First Response Global Grant Project