Wells Community Network (WCN) is a coordinated network of volunteers, organisations and initiatives that connect and collaborate across the area to support the community.
What began in March 2020 as the Wells Coronavirus Network in response to the Covid-19 pandemic has evolved into an array of services and providers working together to support people in Wells and the surrounding area.
We caught up with WCN volunteer, John Chettoe, to find out more about what they do, and how working with Spark Somerset has helped their organisation become an incorporated charity – giving them the structure needed to develop and apply for funding.
“At the start of the pandemic, a number of community-minded people got together to set up a helpline. Volunteers collected shopping, prescriptions, marshalled at vaccination clinics, and did some befriending as a lot of people in Wells are elderly and were isolating at home without any relatives nearby.
“In 2021, we became a CIC, as we weren’t sure about the longevity of the project but wanted a more formal status. After the lockdowns started to tail off, we did some research into whether the Network was still needed. The overwhelming view was “yes”, as we were plugging the gaps in the local community and linking up with other voluntary groups as well as statutory bodies.
“When the Ukraine war started, we began an informal drop-in at the Portway Annexe for refugees coming into the area, providing basic English conversation classes, as well as support for sponsor families. This was formalised within a few months, and we now offer support for displaced people of other nationalities in Wells, Glastonbury and Street.
“We soon realised we were going to be around for much longer than we anticipated, and we weren’t sure that being a CIC gave us the right sort of structure for the organisation and our charitable activities, and applied for CIO status. We were also experiencing volunteer burn-out, and wanted to hire a part-time Coordinator and Administrator to be the engine room and run the organisation on a day-to-day basis.
“We approached the National Lottery Community Fund for funding for this. They came back to us wanting to know how we intended to monitor and report back, and we weren’t sure.
“We got in touch with Spark Somerset, and Sharon Hale, Head of Voluntary Sector Development, set up a meeting with herself, their Development Manager for Mendip, Karen Leafe, and their Funding & Enterprise consultant Miranda Millan to devise a plan of action.
“Miranda walked us through a stakeholder mapping exercise, and how we might do some monitoring and evaluation. We were very impressed with the quality of the input from the team.
‘Shortly after this, we got into discussions with the Charity Commission about our application for CIO status. Again, we turned to Spark Somerset to ask for their help, and Sharon put us in touch with Development Manager Jenny Hannis who gave us brilliant advice.
“We’re very happy to work in collaboration with Spark Somerset; you know the county, you know the structures… You’re the experts in the infrastructure side of things.
“Miranda particularly has been absolutely fantastic. She has had very high-quality insights, not just on how to answer the questions in our funding bid, but how to do the work behind them.
“Our next steps, now we’ve got our new status, is to recruit another couple of Trustees, particularly with expertise in HR and fundraising. Once we’ve gelled and are working together, they can start to drive the organisation forward as a charity and help us meet our charitable objectives.”
To find out more about WCN’s work and how you can get involved, please visit their website.
Are you looking for guidance on structuring your organisation or applying for funding? Find out how our team can support you here.
