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Project Overview
When Birmingham City Council put together their support offer for local organisations receiving the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), they knew that digital confidence and impact reporting were going to be key. That’s where we came in. Brought on as part of a wider delivery team: Including my fab collaborator Chris from Digikick - we were asked to support their grantees with two areas that often feel like a bit of a kerfuffle: digital operations and evaluation.
Over the course of the programme, we led practical sessions to help local socially driven organisations feel more confident using digital tools and improve the way they collect, analyse, and reporttheir impact data. All sessions were designed to be relevant, accessible, and immediately useful - to help them work smarter and show their impact more clearly.
On the digital side, I designed and ran several hands-on workshops to help grantees improve how they run their operations. We looked at simple, effective ways they could upgrade their digital systems, including new tools to help with comms, task management, admin, and more.
There was also the evaluation element of the project for which I delivered 5x one-to-one sessions with individual organisations, learning more about their current data and reporting processes. We also hosted 3x group workshops to dive into the practical side of things - Strengthening data collection and getting clearer on impact outcomes to make sure everyone could confidently report back in line with UKSPF requirements.
Across both strands of the project, it was all about giving community business owners the tools, confidence, and clarity to do their work better not just for their community, but for their own learning and growth too.
Project Outcome
This support made a noticeable difference for grantees navigating the UKSPF programme. Here’s what came out of it:
- Clearer Digital Direction:
- Organisations left the digital sessions with actionable ideas and a stronger sense of what tools could help them scale their work (without adding complexity) We took the overwhelm out of “going digital” and made it feel doable.
- Improved Admin & Ops:
- A number of participants streamlined their processes straight after the workshops things by making plans for audit their key processes and switching to time tracking tools to learn more about where they spend their time.
- Stronger Evaluation Skills:
- Through one-to-one support and group workshops, organisations also built more confidence in collecting and using data. They got clearer on what outcomes they were working towards and how to evidence their impact in meaningful (and funder-friendly) ways.
- Alignment with UKSPF Requirements:
- A key part of the project was helping organisations translate their good work into solid reporting. We made sure they could confidently track progress and align with funding goals and tell a story with their numbers.
- Empowered Organisations:
- The overall takeaway? Grantees felt more in control. Whether it was using Sunsama to manage daily tasks, or how to refine their evaluation process, they were better equipped to make informed decisions and keep momentum going post-funding.
TL;DR This project was all about supporting Local changemakers doing community work on the ground. With a mix of practical digital advice and real-world evaluation support, we helped them get clearer, more confident, and better prepared to make their funding go further.
"Janinah has given me much more confidence in knowing that what we're doing is worthwhile and beneficial to our local community. From our very first conversation, it felt reassuring and validating to have Janinah understand and affirm our ideas. Her fresh perspectives encouraged us to approach our activities differently and consider improvements we hadn't thought of before. Janinah is engaging, genuinely passionate about the sector, and consistently goes above and beyond, she made every session both insightful and enjoyable."
— Jonathan Williams - Co-Founder (Well Run Brum)
"The training (in evaluation) delivered by Janinah was highly informative, practical, and well-structured. I was impressed by her deep knowledge and ability to simplify complex concepts, I really enjoyed the session."
— Naeim Joya - Fundraising Co-ordinator (New Hope Global)
