Our Projects
Systems Change
Our first year was all about building meaningful partnerships; our second year is about proving that community organisations are vital pillars of the VCSE sector.
Our dual model is based on the reciprocity of being both place-based and place-informed; local knowledge informs our strategy and in turn strategy informs our grassroots service delivery. We’re questioning the status quo, challenging key decision makers, and voicing important issues faced by the sector. We want to be in spaces where systems change is at the centre - we’re working to shift systems and spark new ways of thinking about community organisations.
As part of this work, we’re members of forums, networks, and foundation groups - and we’re creating a community podcast dedicated to amplifying local community voices - both key stakeholders and residents.
Impact Measurement
We believe in the power of data and harnessing this to build a full, proper picture of who is coming to our centres, what services they’re using, and how these services are impacting their lives. More than often, grassroots organisations know that they are doing important work, but they have no real evidence to back this up. That’s what we want to change.
We’re working together through shared, consistent data collection practices and a collective CRM to gather vital intel around the demographic footprint of the people using our services across Rochdale. We’ve set the measurements of success for our outcomes through Theory of Change workshops and consultations, and we’re working towards using Social Return on Investment calculators to quantify the social value we add to our communities through our collective programme.
Income Diversification
Evidence shows that grassroots organisations derive much of their income from foundation and grant-giving sources. Zoom out a little and this is not uncommon even for large charities. In today’s unstable funding climate, we understand the importance of self-sustainable income. We want to diversify our income, tap into more sustainable income, and work together as a collective force to demand competitive rates.
We have a robust Income Diversification strategy in place already, with key milestones mapping our progress across two years. We believe that together, we can forge new pathways that may remain closed to us individually, and that by working in partnership and sharing our knowledge, we can become a secure and stable sector.
As a partnership, we don’t believe in gatekeeping knowledge and resources; we share intel, projects, knowledge and expertise, both informally and through more formalised peer workshops. We’ve developed external partnerships to provide pro-bono support across themes like management consultancy, leadership, data management, website optimisation, and operations.
We’re setting standards in areas such as good employment practices and quality assurance, as we know that good organisations start with good foundations. We believe that by building well, sharing openly and leading together, we can create lasting change that reaches far beyond our individual organisations.