It was great to hear directly from charities what would be most helpful for them in pursing partnerships with businesses. As a local business, we can now keep their feedback in mind as we grow our own social impact model. [Business]
The format of having presentations / speakers along with interactive group activities and the chance to network. [VCS]
On Tuesday 29th April, Community Southwark hosted a vibrant networking event, bringing together 35 VCS groups and businesses to explore creative partnerships, celebrate the incredible work of Southwark’s VCS, and spark new connections.
Thank you to ‘The Ministry‘ for hosting us.
Speakers:
The day started with welcoming guests and mingling over tea and coffee.
Syeda (VCS Support Manager at Community Southwark) opened the event by highlighting that ‘partnership working’ can take many forms and mean different things to different people.
Raks (VCS Support Officer at Community Southwark) expanded on partnership working—covering its definition, pros and cons, clear roles, and formal/informal agreements. Attendees also shared their own experiences in group discussions.
You can download the presentation: Partnerships Workshop Presentation 29.04.2025
Our first speaker, Anahita from PPL, shared their impact report on offering free space to the VCS through the PPL Hub—an inspiring initiative providing meeting rooms, co-working spaces, and a main hall for events, casework, team building, and more.
You can download their presentation: PPL Presentation Slides.
You can also read their newly launched impact report.
Our second speaker, Sayce from Mentivity, shared their journey from humble beginnings to running a centre on the Aylesbury Estate, empowering young people through education, employment, and mentorship. He highlighted successful and challenging business partnerships, their impact, including providing young people job opportunities, and stressed the value of strong mentorship for Founders, both received and given.
You can download their presentation: Mentivity Presentation
Next was the ‘Wild Tea’ activity, where attendees had 2–3 minutes to speak with different partners, offering a fun way to meet others, share their work, and build connections. This flowed into break time, allowing conversations to continue and deepen.
Our final speaker, Donelle from The Brave CIC, shared her grassroots journey of launching during lockdown while raising a family. She credited her success to seizing opportunities for growth—through training, mentoring, business advice, and learning from others.
Group Discussions
Share your experiences of any partnerships you have built (business, stakeholders, partnering with other VCS groups etc).
What do you as a charity or community group think you could offer as a Partnership to business or other charity or community group?
What do you as a business think you could offer to a charity or community group? (only ask if there is a business representative in your group)
What help do you need from businesses?
Highlights
Case studies
- Example 1: Started a netball team for older adults that grew popular, especially with mums. As admin became too much for one person, we shared costs and formalised roles through a partnership agreement, paying for coaching and umpiring. The team progressed to competitions. A key challenge was lack of a shared vision—someone acted independently, leading to loss of members. In future, we’d establish clear expectations and ensure consensus from the start.
- Example 2: We run a food bank and identified men’s mental health as an issue. We partnered with ‘Andy’s men’s club,’ which will run support sessions; in exchange, we will provide the space.
- Example 3: Community Tech Aid partnered with BT to access more tech resources and improve digital inclusion for residents. Tips – if you don’t ask, you don’t get; emphasis on building connection with partners – sharing your insights and stories
Learnings
- Community Tech Aid: We refurbish laptops and redistribute them. Donations were low from small businesses, so we approached large businesses. We had to compete with IT removal services, and it became social values vs sustainability. What we learned is to have a clear ask, your impact, the need and know when to cut your losses.
- Kroll: We’re exploring CSR and found that success depends on reaching the right contact within large businesses. Having an internal advocate makes the partnership more effective, while some may look for shortcuts that don’t yield lasting results.
- Pecan: Stay focused on your goal—don’t expect corporates to give money upfront. Start small and build the relationship. We began with a collection bucket, which led to volunteer fundraising and broader support over time.
Top Tips
- Building and maintaining relationships takes time and may not always meet expectations. Focus on aligning values—be clear on your objectives, needs, and ask. Target relevant contacts, start small, and grow the partnership gradually. Not all partnerships are a good fit—some may be token efforts and waste time. Be clear about your organisation’s goals and don’t pursue mismatched opportunities.
- Be confident in your expertise and the value you bring….We can offer and share our lived experience, networking, knowledge, and expertise.
- Both parties sometimes need to be flexible and adjust the processes/outcomes.
- There must be a mutual respect – a negative story of power imbalances leading to compromise and feeling less.
- Case studies and telling the story are key.
- Making the tick box exercise work for you. If businesses have CSR tick boxes, use them to make connections.
Support needed
- How do we know which corporations to approach? How do we ask for support?
- Mentoring for each other to discuss frustrations, learning, and opportunities from partnerships
- Can Community Southwark advise on pricing when costing a service? Value of the cost of the service to the community.
- Opportunities to connect with businesses and corporations to ask for support.
Networking and Lunch
We wrapped up the day with vibrant networking and a delicious lunch that brought everyone together in a relaxed and uplifting atmosphere.
Up Next
- Find your Leadership Style
- Engage your audience
- Negotiate your asks
Join our WhatsApp Networking group
For Community Southwark members only – JOINING LINK
100% of attendees who provided feedback reported making a connection with a voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) group and/or a business.
Additionally, 95% of respondents gave the event an overall positive rating.
It was extremely well planned with a great balance of presentations, networking and exercises. I learnt a lot more about Southwark wonderful organisations. Thank you. [Business]
Getting in touch wth some new organisations who I hadn’t met before and the round table discussions were helpful. [VCS]