SSBC117 DPIL Fundraising Consultant

Tender description

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) is a global scheme dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books to children from birth to age five, through funding shared by Dolly Parton and local community partners in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Republic of Ireland. Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly started her Imagination Library in 1995 for the children within her home county. Today, her program gifts over 1 million free books each month to children around the world. DPIL programme set up Appendix 9 DPIL impact Appendix 8 Small Steps Big Changes (SSBC) is a 10 year £45m transformation programme hosted by Nottingham CityCare Partnership, supported by the National Lottery Community Fund's (NLCF) A Better Start (ABS) initiative. SSBC is a partnership of parents and professionals working together, through co-production and parent powered change, to drive the delivery of the programme and focus on giving every child the best start in life by helping children to live happy, healthy and fulfilled lives. SSBC is one of only five programmes nationally. The programme commenced in April 2015. For further information on the SSBC programme, please see our website. In Nottingham, our programme operates across four communities (Aspley, Bulwell, Hyson Green & Arboretum, and St Ann's). The services commissioned in these areas are delivered by a range of local partners and providers and are free to families living in those SSBC designated communities. Our programme seeks to positively impact outcomes for 0-4 year old children in the areas of communication and language, social and emotional development and nutrition. There is an additional outcome focused on sustainability and system change across the partnership. SSBC works with a range of partners including parents, health & social care professionals, early years workforce, community representatives, universities and city leaders. Our “workforce” is supported by parent volunteers who guide and shape the programme as it changes and help us communicate with families in their local communities. Our Vision: ‘Growing our children together with love and respect.’ Our Core Principle: ‘Children at the heart, parents leading the way, supported and guided by experts.’ Our Approach: ‘Building adult capacity and capability in Nottingham in order to improve children’s outcomes.’ We do this through: • Evidence-informed activities designed to support positive child development. • Testing new approaches and activities. • Learning and scaling approaches and activities that work. • Supporting, inspiring and empowering parents, communities and workforce to achieve together. Our Aim: ‘We want all our children to be ready to learn at 2, ready for school at 5 and ready for life at 16!’ Background to Tender • In December 2007, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was launched in the United Kingdom. Since then, the programme has grown, and now works with over 200 affiliate partners and delivers more than 40,000 books every month to children living in communities across the UK. • In Nottingham, the DPIL scheme was introduced in 2009 by a Teaching Assistant at Fernwood Infant School. Since then, the scheme has been introduced to 10 out of 20 wards in Nottingham city, reaching nearly 8,000 children. • SSBC funds Dolly Parton's Imagination Library scheme for: - Children living within SSBC wards age 0-5 (St Ann’s, Aspley, Hyson Green and Arboretum, Bulwell) - Private, Voluntary and Independent childcare settings and libraries within the SSBC wards. Each setting has a dedicated trained DPIL champion responsible for promoting books and ensuring they are displayed in prominent places. • SSBC also administers the scheme in wards served by the Rotary Club (Bridge & Dales, Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey) with a limited number of funded registrations currently halted as agreed funding has been exceeded. • Other DPIL areas in Nottingham, funded by Local Authority and third party, are Bilborough, Radford and Dunkirk/ Lenton. However, the registration in these areas have been halted due to a shortfall of funding. • Nearly 500,000 free books have been delivered to Nottingham children to date. • In March 2025, the SSBC programme funding will come to an end. To sustain the success and vital services provided by the DPIL scheme for children in Nottingham, an independent charity is being established. This charity will assume responsibility for the local administration and delivery of the scheme, with a specific focus on sourcing funds to ensure its ongoing success. • To uphold the SSBC programme's legacy, especially the DPIL scheme in Nottingham, SSBC has committed to commissioning a consultant/ organisation to develop a comprehensive fundraising strategy to support Nottingham Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Charity’s mission and organisational objectives.