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BOLD

BOLD is a joint project of AdviceUK, Directory of Social Change and new economics foundation, funded by The Baring Foundation’s 2008 Strengthening the Voluntary Sector programme. BOLD aims to strengthen the independence and effectiveness of advice organisations through the development of commissioning models that place the needs of service users first. This involves:

  • Working with commissioners and advice organisations to design approaches to commissioning that focus on outcomes, encourage co-operation and collaboration, and contribute to public service improvement;
  • Training for advice organisations to prepare for commissioning and enable them to influence service specifications and develop effective bids with full cost recovery;
  • Developing resources and mechanisms to raise the profile of advice in local strategy and policy including Local Area Agreements; and
  • Facilitating learning and sharing of good practice among policy makers, advice organisations, and commissioners, to increase understanding of the system conditions in which advice services operate and of effective commissioning practice.

In its initial phase, BOLD has worked in three target cities:

Coventry – we have supported Advice Services Coventry in a review of advice services being conducted by Coventry City Council. Through BOLD, nef has produced a report outlining the contribution and value of independent advce services. Based on primary reseacrh with advice centre staff, volunteers and managers, and with clients of advice services, the report uses a Social Return on Investment approach to identify the economic value of advice and the financial cost of the waste generated when public services fail to deal appropriately with people's problems. See Making Advice a Local Priority for more details

Manchester – BOLD supported local independent providers in Manchester through the CLAC commissioning process, offering training and facilitating collective planning, as well as commenting on behalf of the community-based advice sector to the CLAC consultation documents.

In Nottingham, we are working closely with Advice Nottingham and Nottingham City Council. AdviceUK has supported partners in Nottingham to undertake a Systems Thinking review of advice services, including both independent providers and the local authority’s own in-house welfare rights service. The interim report of this work (see below) demonstrated that 31% of the capacity of advice services was taken up in dealing with externally generated Failure Demand – preventable problems caused by the failure of public services to get things right for clients. 11% of demand was generated by internal failures and we have continued to support advice services as they trial new approaches to delivery, primarily focusing on access to advice and making the right expertise available at the right point in the process, without raising artifical barriers. You can download the interim report of the demand analysis in Nottingham below.


In July 2010, The Baring Foundation made a further grant to AdviceUK to continue to take the work of BOLD forward, alongside a parallel grant for Advice Nottingham. Advice Nottingham have been funded to complete the Systems Thinking pilot activities and liaise with the City Council in the commissioning of advice services. This is a collaborative process, designed to encourage the achievement of meaningful outcomes for the people who use advice. AdviceUK's grant is to fund an independent evaluation of the Nottingham work and develop a business case to take to central government and local commissioners, to influence how advice services are funded in the future.

Attached documents