The National Lottery Community Fund has awarded a grant of £1.1m to support the MEAM Approach network over the next two years and help shape a nationwide legacy for work on tackling multiple disadvantage.
The funding aligns closely with the ambitions set out in the MEAM 2021-25 strategy and will ensure that a wide range of local areas across the country will have the support they need to transform services and systems for people facing multiple disadvantage.
As part of this funding, MEAM will offer support to a refreshed and expanded MEAM Approach Network. This includes:
- Welcoming 10 new areas to MEAM Approach network.
- Offering all current MEAM Approach and Fulfilling Lives areas (with and without Changing Futures investment) ongoing network membership.
- Providing focused support to new network areas, ensuring they have the partnerships, cultures and systems in place to effectively tackle multiple disadvantage.
- Offering a core training programme to network members, including a strong focus on coproduction, systems leadership and trauma-informed and strengths-based approaches.
- Continuing to host a wide range of learning and networking opportunities for the network, including regular strategic lead and frontline practitioner forums, learning hubs and conferences.
- Providing bespoke support for a sub-set of the network to run system enquiries on specific systemic challenges, using the MEAM Systems Intervention Tool as a framework.
- Facilitating a systems leadership programme for a cohort of local leaders across the network.
In addition to this, MEAM will be expanding its capacity to provide support to local areas on a commercial basis. This includes:
- Supporting local areas to identify and address specific challenges in local systems and to undertake a range of project-focused work on multiple disadvantage.
- Providing training and workforce development with a system-wide focus, helping local areas build the culture and skills needed to create systemic change for people experiencing multiple disadvantage.
Creating national legacy
The work outlined above builds on the support that MEAM has provided to more than 50 local areas in the MEAM Approach and Fulfilling Lives networks over the last ten years. The work of these local partnerships has created a strong evidence base and clear learning about how to tackle multiple disadvantage. This has informed the government’s Changing Futures programme, which is now providing investment to many of these areas.
A refreshed and expanded MEAM Approach network will ensure that many more local areas across the country have the support they need to take action on multiple disadvantage in the coming years. It will also create the opportunity for continued comparison, and peer learning, between different types of partnerships with varied approaches and funding models. MEAM will continue to maintain close links with the Changing Futures programme to enable this shared learning to take place.
Collectively, the people and places working to tackle multiple disadvantage will ensure that a case can be made for ongoing work on multiple disadvantage in the years to come, thereby securing a legacy for the work of the last decade.
Next steps
MEAM will be contacting local areas shortly regarding this announcement:
- If you are a current MEAM Approach or Fulfilling Lives area (with or without Changing Futures investment), we will be inviting you to apply to join the refreshed MEAM Approach network for this next phase. We will use the strategic leads meeting on 24 February to outline the offer and discuss the process.
- If you are a local area interested in tackling multiple disadvantage, but not currently connected to the network, we invite you to attend the MEAM Approach network conference on 30 March 2022 as a guest, to meet other areas and hear about opportunities to join the network. We also welcome enquiries about the support that MEAM can provide on a commercial basis.
Contacts
For enquires about this announcement or related work, please contact your local MEAM Partnerships Manager or one of the MEAM team – info@meam.org.uk
Notes
Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) is a coalition of the national charities Clinks, Collective Voice, Homeless Link and Mind. The coalition was formed in 2009 and has supported more than 50 local areas to transform services and systems for people facing multiple disadvantage.
The majority of these local areas are using the MEAM Approach to guide their work, while 12 are part of the National Lottery Community Fund’s £112m Fulfilling Lives programme, which we have supported over the last eight years. MEAM played a key role in the early development of Changing Futures and sits on the expert advisory group for the programme.
For further information on MEAM visit: www.meam.org.uk
To find out more about The National Lottery Community Fund visit: www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk