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# ~~Medium~~Short-term partnership plan

> Author: DS, 26/07/2020

1. Sign up our existing employer partners to take on apprentices from early 2021 and continue to grow our employer network;
2. Ramp up our pre-apprenticeship coaching programme in order to make our apprenticeships more accessible to those from more disadvantaged groups within the community we serve and to get them up to the high standard of preparedness that our employers will continue to require;
3. Identify potential partnerships in other communities in and around London, where we can begin to build the same kinds of close relationships within the community that we are already building successfully in Islington;
4. Start identifying regions outside London and the South East where we can make a positive economic impact. For this, we will need to establish new strategic local partnerships with both employers and local authorities.

## Why?

Last week, we were approached by somebody in the Harlow JSP to tell us to apply for funding to the DWP in Essex and then she intro'ed me to local councils to act as partners. I don't know any of these people and I spend 5 minutes on a call with them and it's like "right, great, please apply for £50k funding and ps why not make it £100k and applications close next week. Here's the application. 500 words, please".

I mentioned this to my sister-in-law in Northumberland and she was, like, "yeah, not unexpected, there are very few people who actually know what they are doing applying for funds and once people know about you they will hunt you down...I can link to you loads of people up here..."

This is all nice to hear and is suggestive of many opportunities for us to build relationships all over London, the South East and beyond. However, now is probably a good time to reach a shared understanding of the direction of travel for the next few months.

Here are my questions:

1. Are we all on board with the [coaching sessions](https://www.foundersandcoders.com/coaching) and with my efforts to sell them; what is our capacity for delivering coaching sessions this year (presumably with support from FAC19 and FAC20)?
2. Are we all on board with me developing new opportunities for coaching outside Islington, but inside our current catchment area?
3. Are we all on board with me researching new opportunities for coaching outside our current catchment area?
4. Are we on board with the idea in principle of selling *the idea of* us opening new campuses outside Islington? I am not talking about committing to anything, but to me talking about the possibility of it as part of my sales pitch.

Here are some possible initial short-term (i.e. this year) targets for me:
1. To obtain two more £50k contracts for coaching in or near London in 2020;
2. To get commitments for 8 apprenticeships from employers in London;
3. Identify potential partnerships outside London only after those targets have been met.

## Costs
A quick estimate: If we pay a sessional rate of £50 per 90-minute coaching session and each group has a minimum of 2 people, the cost per learner per week is £25 or less or £100 per month. Double that sum for online support and regular one-on-one assessments and you get £200 per month. A cohort of 20 learners over 6 months would cost around £24,000 to support. Coaches could be paid sessionally or employed either full or part-time.

Realistically, a £48,000 contract supporting 20 learners over 6 months would need two competent graduates working on a part-time or sessional basis at a cost of £24,000.

As an example of how we could resource this, we could continue to run a graduate programme, asking a pair of developer-coaches to support 20 learners (3-5 sessions per week each) while working on a Tech for Better project, paid at the rate of £2,000/month (and we might be able to get funding for some Tech for Better projects, perhaps bringing this up to £2,500).

In 2021, we could potentially recruit two (or four) apprentices onto FAC21 with a remit to do coaching + Tech for Better work. The number of apprentices we take on could be tied to the number of coaching + Tech for Better contracts we can secure in advance.

## Trial
The Islington coaching programme is effectively the trial.

## Risks
What are the risks of this proposal?

| Risk | Impact | Likelihood |
| -------- | :--------: | :--------: |
| We sell more coaching spots than we can deliver | Moderate | Moderate |
| We get fewer apprenticeship spots than we need | Moderate | Moderate |
| We secure no apprenticeships | Low | Low |

## Opportunities

| Opportunity | Impact | Likelihood |
| -------- | :--------: | :--------: |
| Funding for programmes outside Islington | High | Very high |
| Funding for programmes outside London | Very high | High |
| Greater preparedness of suitable candidates | High | High |
| Growing our profile | High | High |

## Possible schedule

| What? | When? | Who? |
| -------- | :--------: | :--------: |
| Start delivery of coaching in Islington | Now | |
| First 4 apprenticeships secured | September | DS |
| Secure contract for coaching in 2nd location | September | DS |
| 4 more apprenticeships secured | November | DS |
| Secure contract for coaching in 3rd location | November | DS |
| Secure contract for coaching outside London | 2021, Q1 | DS |

## Meetings notes

### Critical concerns

Conclusion: the Essex DWP bid is going ahead, but the wider plan is being deferred to a joint meeting of staff and directors next week