Search results
1 – 10 of over 1000Says that, in recent years, public libraries have undergone budget cuts which have affected the services they provide. Shows these cuts have caused the public library service to…
Abstract
Says that, in recent years, public libraries have undergone budget cuts which have affected the services they provide. Shows these cuts have caused the public library service to be thrown into a financial crisis. Contributing to this crisis are local government restructuring with no additional money allocated for the transitionary period and also public libraries ineligibility to compete for national lottery funding. Discusses the standards a public library should have as well as government legislation affecting libraries, especially with regard to lack of funding. Includes two case studies of public libraries in different areas to show the differences in how different types of authority are affected.
Details
Keywords
Abstract
Details
Keywords
This study offers a critical inquiry into accountability vis-à-vis organizational identity formation. It investigates how accountability evolves in the transformation of an NGO…
Abstract
Purpose
This study offers a critical inquiry into accountability vis-à-vis organizational identity formation. It investigates how accountability evolves in the transformation of an NGO operating in the field of migration management from an informal grassroots group into a fully-fledged organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is the outcome of a participatory action research project on Welcome Refugees (WR), a UK-based NGO. The project involved documentary analysis, focus group and semi-structured interviews, field notes, and participant observation. The analysis draws from poststructuralist theorization to explain the interplay between organizational identity and different forms of NGO accountability over time.
Findings
The study shows how different forms of accountability became salient over time and were experienced differently by organizational members, thus leading to competing collective identity narratives. Organizational members felt accountable to beneficiaries in different ways, and this was reflected in their identification with the organization. Some advocated a rights-based approach that partially resonated with the accountability demands of external donors, while others aimed at enacting their feelings of accountability by preserving their closeness with beneficiaries and using a need-based approach. These differences led to an identity struggle that was ultimately solved through the silencing of marginalized narratives and the adoption of an adaptive regime of accountability.
Practical implications
The findings of the case are of practical relevance to quasi-organizations that struggle to form and maintain organizational identity in their first years of operation. Their survival depends not only on their ability to accommodate and/or resist a multiplicity of accountability demands but also on their ability to develop a shared and common understanding of identity accountability.
Originality/value
The paper problematizes rather than takes for granted the process through which organizations acquire a viable identity and the role of accountability within them.
Details
Keywords
Rachel Moreton, Jo Welford, Beth Collinson, Laura Greason and Chris Milner
This paper aims to explore the barriers to accessing mental health support for people experiencing multiple disadvantage along with some potential solutions for attempting to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the barriers to accessing mental health support for people experiencing multiple disadvantage along with some potential solutions for attempting to overcome these. It draws on evidence and learning from 12 voluntary sector-led partnerships in England funded by the National Lottery Community Fund’s Fulfilling Lives programme.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative research was undertaken with frontline staff, senior leaders, volunteers, beneficiaries and stakeholders from Fulfilling Lives partnerships. This comprised focus groups (21 participants) and individual face-to-face interviews (41 participants), both of which explored barriers and local solutions to accessing statutory mental health services. Following a thematic analysis of transcripts, research participants and stakeholders were invited to a face-to-face workshop to review and validate emerging findings (34 participants).
Findings
People experiencing multiple disadvantage face significant barriers in accessing support for their mental health. These include a complex system that is difficult to navigate, long waiting lists, high eligibility thresholds and models of support that lack flexibility. Fulfilling Lives partnerships have had the funding and the flexibility to trial different approaches. Promising solutions to barriers include the use of navigators, person-centred support and multi-agency networks and training. However, overcoming systemic barriers remains the most difficult challenge.
Originality/value
Fulfilling Lives was a rare example of substantial and long-term (eight years) funding to work with people experiencing multiple disadvantage. This provided a unique opportunity to try different approaches and gather learning. The programme evaluation provides insights into the experiences of people facing multiple disadvantage and those who support them and offers evidence-based suggestions for policy and practice.
Details
Keywords
The second part of two articles concerning conservation in the Republicof Ireland; highlights financial support for the preservation of listedbuildings in the republic of Ireland…
Abstract
The second part of two articles concerning conservation in the Republic of Ireland; highlights financial support for the preservation of listed buildings in the republic of Ireland. Reports that Dublin Corporation′s List 3 buildings are maintained through state funds, however only one building in Dublin outside state ownership has been supported by this fund. Suggests the usefulness of a national system of grants or subsidy to assist private owners in preserving their listed buildings and reports on existing funds available to private owners. Reveals that most dilapidated buildings in Dublin City are within Government “designated areas” and have tax incentives to assist refurbishment: describes failures in this system. Continues to outline further conservation areas, plans and and Acts necessary to ensure Dublin′s heritage is fully protected for the future.
Details
Keywords
Mark Scott, Jonothan Neelands, Haley Beer, Ila Bharatan, Tim Healey, Nick Henry, Si Chun Lam and Richard Tomlins
It is well known that culture is a catalyst for change, helping economies respond to societal problems and demands and that culture is where people turn to in moments of crisis…
Abstract
Purpose
It is well known that culture is a catalyst for change, helping economies respond to societal problems and demands and that culture is where people turn to in moments of crisis. In this case study around designing and implementing evaluation methodologies/frameworks for Coventry UK City of Culture 2021, it is suggested that in English public policy and within publicly invested arts there is a maturation of thinking around recognising/measuring the public value of culture including its social value. The purpose of this paper is to chart the recent policy of justifying cultural expenditure with social value claims and highlight challenges for evaluating activity within Coventry UK CoC 2021 as a change in wider policy is taking place.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides creative insights into the design and implementation of the evaluation methodologies/frameworks for Coventry UK City of Culture 2021. The authors of this paper as the collective team undertaking the evaluation of Coventry's year as UK City of Culture 2021 bring first-hand experiences of challenges faced and the need for a cultural mega-event to evidence its value.
Findings
The case study aims to address the concepts of measuring value within cultural events and argues that a paradigm shift is occurring in methods and concepts for evidencing the aforementioned value.
Research limitations/implications
The case study within this paper focuses on the build-up period to the UK City of Culture 2021 year and the thinking and logic behind the creation of the evaluation/measurement framework and therefore does not include findings from the actual cultural year.
Originality/value
It is acknowledged that there are papers examining measuring and evidencing the “value” of cultural mega-events, the authors bring real-life first-hand experience of the concepts being utilised by them on the ground in the delivery and evaluation design of Coventry, UK City of Culture 2021.
Details
Keywords
The SCRAN multimedia resource base has been built with capital funding from the National Lottery, but its future relies on securing a revenue stream to support its services. This…
Abstract
The SCRAN multimedia resource base has been built with capital funding from the National Lottery, but its future relies on securing a revenue stream to support its services. This article describes how SCRAN has gone about building an e‐commerce service.
This paper aims to remove the self-evidence of the concept of severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD) by drawing upon a historical as well as a critical perspective to show its…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to remove the self-evidence of the concept of severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD) by drawing upon a historical as well as a critical perspective to show its contingency.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper will introduce the concept of SMD by examining how it has come to be understood in the way that it has. This paper does so by exploring key texts which have informed the development of the concept as well as its conceptual near neighbours such as “multiple needs”. This paper traces some advancements of the concept within practice and further research with a focus on the Fulfilling Lives programme and the Lankelly Chase Foundation. Finally, the author reflects critically upon the concept and the manner in which the concept has become operationalised.
Findings
This analysis demonstrates how a particular definition of SMD has come to dominate over the past few years because of the research and practice of key organisations. On the one hand, this has further marginalised alternative definitions and ways of working, but on the other hand these stakeholders have been able to influence the way in which UK policy has taken up the concept within its governmental priorities.
Originality/value
To date, research has taken the term SMD for granted which limits the ability to critique its definitions and applications. This is an important and timely contribution because concepts are all-too-often taken for granted and at a pivotal moment when SMD has become nationalised through policy, critique is a political, potentially transformative, act.
Details