GRAPE was funded from the Big Lottery Fund Advice Services Transition Fund: a one-off payment to make local advice provision joined-up, relevant, accessible and (above all) sustainable in a tougher funding climate.

The partners are Age UK Ealing (Lead Partner), Ealing CVS (project delivery), Ealing Mencap, Centre for Armenian Information and Advice (as lead for Ealing Advice Forum), Ealing Law Centre, Nucleus, and Ealing Equality Council.

Outcomes of the Project

1. Development of a service that answers need as identified through research and consultation with the local voluntary and statutory organisations and appropriate networks.
   
2. Ensure that voluntary and community organisations have the right tools to assess client need, identify issues, refer people onwards (to the GRAPE partners and others) and support clients during this process, by giving them the technical means to do so (i.e. designing a system that can support this way of working, with all the right forms/templates in place, and available online.
   
3. Given the right tools above, voluntary and community organisations can actually work effectively with clients, working within protocols for assessing client need, early warning 'problem notification' case management, confidentiality, monitoring, and so on.
   
4. Ensuring long-term project viability through effective coordinated income generation by partners and the wider voluntary sector based both upon assessment of actual and future need, consultation with Ealing Advice Forum and mapping future opportunities.

Work Strands

1. Development of a referral process to bring together smaller organisations and specialist organisations to offer the most appropriate level of advice at the earliest opportunity.
   
2. Funding to assist the development of smaller advice giving organisations through assistance with accreditation processes, provision of free training sessions, supply of technology, and mentoring/development work through grant giving.
3. Development of an Advice Workers Support Network to offer peer support and updating opportunities to those working on a day to day basis in the advice sector.
   
4. Creation of a website for advisers to access up to date information on relevant legislation, training opportunities and advice/support on development of advice giving agencies.

If you would like any further information, please contact Jenny Dunne – Advice Services Development Officer – at [email protected] or look at the Grape Website on www.ealinggrape.org.uk