Impact Report October 2014 - January 2017
POP ideas | Impact Report 2014-2017
About POP ideas POP ideas is a service that provides advice for small, large, new or established voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations in Plymouth. We offer: ●Funding advice ●Project and business planning support ●Training ●Signposting and resource sharing. POP ideas is delivered by Plymouth Octopus Project (POP) and Iridescent Ideas CIC. POP aims to reach out across the city to unite community and voluntary services and get their voices heard. POP: ●Creates networks so voluntary and community groups can work together more effectively ●Helps to influence policy, planning and delivery of public services ●Enables voluntary and community sector groups and local people to co-design and produce services. Iridescent Ideas CIC is a social enterprise that provides business support to a range of social economy organizations. POP ideas is funded by Plymouth City Council via a contract held by Plymouth VCSE.
Impact Report 2014-2017
320 organizations supported in Plymouth (so far)
Impact Report 2014-2017
Case Study: Home-Start South and West Devon POP ideas provided one-to-one advice to help Home-Start secure over £370,000 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities scheme. Home-Start has also benefited from training and linking up with other organisations through networking.
“POP IDEAS HELPED WITH IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS AND WITH REVIEWING THE BID WHICH HELPED US SECURE LOTTERY FUNDING" Andrea, Manager, Home-Start South and West Visit the website for more case-studies: CLICK
Impact Report 2014-2017
Return on investment: £36 for every £1 invested by Plymouth City Council
Our impact October 2014-January 2017 ● 320 organizations supported in Plymouth ● £3.2
million
raised from 93 successful grant
applications to date (more in the pipeline) ●This is a return on investment of £36 for every Council has invested in the scheme
£1 the
● Over 600 people have attended 67 training courses on subjects such as: Legal structures|Social impact|Project management|Writing funding bids| Financial management|Presentation skills ● Feedback from the training is very positive: 85% of attendees said they improved their skills and knowledge
92% of respondents to our client satisfaction survey said the service was excellent or good ● 96% of people rated our one-to-one advice as excellent or good ● 96% said the newsletter was excellent or good ● 92% said that the Plymouth Fund-raising Network was excellent or good
●
Impact Report 2014-2017
Outcomes ● 94% feel better informed ● 80% say their skills have improved ● 73% feel more confident about applying for funding ● 71% feel more effective as an organization
POP ideas | Impact Report 2014-2017
Impact in words POP ideas has developed partnerships with a range of public, private and social economy organizations across the city. We have worked with Churches Together, KPMG Accountants, Crowdfunder, Plymouth City Council and many others to support more local community groups, more effectively. We have improved local groups’ awareness of funders outside Plymouth. We delivered workshops with a number of national agencies such as: ●Heritage Lottery Fund ●Arts Council ●Sport England ●Big Lottery Fund. Our ‘Dragon’s Den’ style session in April 2015 on the Big Lottery’s Reaching Communities programme has been hailed as a model of good practice by the lottery funder. Locally, we’ve worked with North Yard Community Trust, Drake Foundation and Transforming Plymouth Together to improve the standards of funding applications. In 2016, the People’s Health Trust approached POP ideas to support their targeted funding for Plymouth community groups. We helped to get twenty bids through to the second stage of the funding process.
POP ideas | Impact Report 2014-2017
Impact in words We run Plymouth’s Fund-raisers Network. Over 100 people have attended these events and rated them very positively. The network is an opportunity for people to share knowledge and ideas and top tips around fund-raising. Speakers at these events have included: ●Children in Need ●St Luke’s Hospice ●Lloyds Foundation ●Independent fund-raising consultants. We find that people are more open to discussion and debate at these sessions than in more formal training settings.
“An excellent service which can help charities and social enterprises in Plymouth to become more sustainable” “As a result of POP ideas support we have been able to reach more young people and provide more support”
Impact Report 2014-2017
Future plans ●We want to get smarter at using the data we collect to improve our understanding of our customers and deliver even more effective, targeted support ●We would like to deliver more good work! This means supporting more clients and getting more funding into Plymouth ●We are investigating new training courses and different methods of delivery to improve accessibility ●Develop partnerships with funders - local, regional or national - to ensure grant money continues to flow to Plymouth-based community groups.
Impact Report 2014-2017
Case Study: Bereavement Counselling POP ideas has provided one-to-one support to identify funding opportunities and we did a funding review. Bereavement Counselling attended our workshops on funding and proving your impact. They have found the support very helpful and are seeking more funding to implement new ideas and help more people.
“SERVICES LIKE POP IDEAS ARE REALLY VALUABLE BECAUSE WE CAN’T AFFORD CONSULTANCY FEES, SO HAVING THAT RESOURCE IS JUST BRILLIANT." Tracy, Manager, Bereavement Counselling Visit the website for more case-studies: CLICK
Contact us POP ideas Devonport Guildhall Ker Street Plymouth PL1 4EL Tel: 07410 440380 Email: imogen@plymouthoctopus.org Web: www.popideas.org