• Leadership & Collaboration

    Facilitative leadership | System convening | Multi-agency collaboration

  • Network development

    Network leadership | Governance | Purpose & values | Decision making

  • Impact & Evaluation

    Developmental evaluation | Ripple Effect Mapping | Fuzzy Cognitive Maps | Listening | Community research | Learning systems

  • Asset Based Community Development

    Strengths based community building | Asset mapping

  • Co-design & co-production

    People-led co-design | Co-production | Listening | Appreciative Enquiry

  • Funding & finance

    Co-commissioning | Collaborative funding | Participatory grant making

We help citizens, organisations and partnerships work together to build their strengths. We value relationships and the time it takes to build trust.

We believe that we have what we need when we share what we have. By weaving strong connections between residents, businesses and public bodies we can help align our work to create synergy and purposeful, positive action. Together we can mobilise the huge capacity and resources in ourselves to help one another and nurture our communities of the future.

Working relationally with strengths in systems, in organisations with citizens and communities,

Who we are

We are experienced practitioners and leaders in asset based community development (ABCD), organisational governance, networks, collaboration, funding, impact and evaluation.  We offer support at a citizen, community, organisational, partnership / network and system level.
We will support you to make a shift towards relational working using strengths based approaches. 

Areas of expertise

At the heart of our experience is working in relationship with others, working with strengths to build ways of working that allows everyone to fulfil their aspirations and potential. We help you craft the foundation from which your relational system can grow. 

Leadership & Collaboration

We have over 30 years of experience leading organisations, partnerships, collaborations and networks.

Leadership for the future requires a skill set and behaviours that embrace diversity and complexity. Working to bring out the best of ourselves is what drives us. 

See here for a blog and video that features Matt Radical Models of Leadership

 

 

Impact and Evaluation

Complete commitment to building impactful action.

We are experienced in helping to shape vision, purpose, action, monitoring and reporting, so you can demonstrate your value. We are also pioneers in developing impact and evaluation in the complex community space, such as developmental evaluation and Ripple Effect Mapping.

See here for a blog written by Matt on this subject Building a collaborative society: cooperative by design

Asset Based Community Development

Deep understanding of how to implement Asset Based Community Development.

Asset Based Community Development focusses on harnessing the strengths, passions and energy in community and supporting the people to do things with and for each other. 

We can support you to put into place the skills necessary for this, including training. 

See here for the lessons & learning from Torbay Legacy & Learning – Ageing Well Torbay

Funding & Finance

Creating financial mechanisms that support transformational change.

Grant funding and other forms of finance are a fundamental shaping force on the eventual real life impact. The decision making processes used, those that make decisions and how they are made can improve or detract from collaboration. 

We are specialists in designing systems that promote collaboration Collaborating For Grassroots Impact​ – Plymouth Octopus

Network development

Developing effective networks

Building effective networks supports radical change as flows of information, ideas are freed up unconstrained by hierarchy. 

 

With many years of establishing and sustaining networks we can support with the leadership, culture and technical requirements. 

Co-design & coproduction

Creating system change through citizen voice

Facilitating inclusive people-led co-design leading to coproduction. 

 

For example:

Belong in Plymouth

Simon and Matt have supported the Worcestershire ABCD Team in applying an innovative new approach to evaluating community interventions in public health. they have brought an extensive wealth of experience to the table and applied their expertise in a professional, flexible and personable way. I would work with them again without hesitation.
Allan Warnock
ABCD Lead, Public Health, Worcestershire County Council
Simon has been a real inspiration, bringing energy, insight, innovation and practice, with a rare combination of support and challenge to enable me and my organisation to transform, resulting in greater impact, reach and connection, both strategically and in terms of connection with and between groups and residents we support.
Amber Skyring
CEO, Wessex Community Action
Working with Matt and Simon T was great. They helped us unpick not just the answers to our conundrum but what the questions were in the first place! They gently challenged our practice from the perspective of the organisations they’re involved with having gone through many of the same issues. Simon’s creative methods shone a new light and helped us to plan the way ahead.
Tessa Hibbert
Head of Grants, Blagrave Trust