How I can help
What I do
Three things I can help with — listening and research, co-production, and turning evidence into something you can actually use. They often go together, but you don't have to need all three.
Listening and research
Coming into your community and hearing what people actually think and feel.
A lot of research asks communities to fit into a pre-set format. I try to do the opposite. I come in, spend time with the people you work with, and listen properly: through one-to-one conversations, group discussions, or whatever feels most natural for your community. The goal is to capture real views and real experiences, not a polished version of them. I use qualitative and mixed methods approaches, and I'm led by what will be most honest and most useful, not by what's easiest to write up.
This might be for you if...
- Community groups who want to understand the impact of their work
- Organisations preparing funding bids that need real evidence
- Groups who feel their community's voice isn't being heard
- Projects that need an independent ear
What this looks like in practice
- Conversations and interviews with community members
- Focus groups and group discussions
- Participatory and creative methods where appropriate
- Clear, honest write-up of what people said
Co-production
Proper co-production: where the people you work with shape the whole process.
Co-production gets used to mean a lot of things. Sometimes it just means asking people what they think at the end of a process that's already been decided. That's not what I do. Real co-production means the people you work with are involved from the start: helping to decide what questions get asked, how the research is done, and what happens with the findings. It takes more time and more care, but the results are more honest, more trusted, and more useful.
This might be for you if...
- Organisations who want communities to genuinely shape their work
- Groups applying for funding that requires evidence of community involvement
- Projects where trust between community and organisation needs to be built
- Anyone who has tried tick-box consultation and knows it doesn't work
What this looks like in practice
- Co-design of research questions with community members
- Facilitated workshops and planning sessions
- Shared sense-making: analysing findings together
- Outputs that communities feel ownership of
Evidence you can use
Giving the evidence shape and structure, in a form that actually works for you.
Gathering evidence is only useful if you can do something with it. Once the listening and research is done, I help you make sense of what you've found and present it in a way that's genuinely useful: whether that's a funding report, a case study, a summary for your community, or something else entirely. I write clearly and without jargon. I try to make sure the final output works for the people whose voices are in it first, and for funders or commissioners second. Where possible, I like to stay involved through to this stage, but I'm equally happy to come in just for this part if you already have the evidence and need help shaping it.
This might be for you if...
- Organisations with evidence they need help making sense of
- Groups who need a report or summary for a funder
- Projects that want to share their impact with their community
- Anyone who has data but doesn't know what to do with it
What this looks like in practice
- Analysis and sense-making of qualitative data
- Clear, plain-English reports and summaries
- Case studies and community-facing write-ups
- Presentations and visual summaries where useful
Funding bid writing support
Helping you translate your evidence and community impact into a strong funding bid.
Good evidence is only half the job. Funders also want to see that you understand what you are trying to do, how you will know if it works, and that you have thought carefully about your approach. I can help you write or review the evaluation and methodology sections of funding bids: the parts that explain how you will measure impact, how you will involve your community, and what your evidence base is. I write clearly and without jargon, and I know how to make a community organisation's work sound credible without making it sound like something it is not.
This might be for you if...
- Organisations preparing a funding bid who need help with the evaluation section
- Groups who have strong community work but struggle to describe it on paper
- Projects applying to funders who require a clear methodology or theory of change
- Anyone who has been told their bid needs stronger evidence of impact
What this looks like in practice
- Writing or reviewing evaluation and methodology sections
- Helping you articulate your theory of change
- Translating community evidence into funder-friendly language
- Reviewing and sense-checking full bid drafts where helpful
A note on historical and archival research
My background also includes historical and archival research, which can be useful for community organisations that want to document their history, heritage, or long-term impact as part of their evidence. If your organisation has a story that goes back further than a funding cycle, that story is worth telling properly.
Not ready for a full project?
That is completely fine. Sometimes organisations want to test the fit before committing to something bigger, or they just need a smaller piece of support right now. I am happy to start small.
Funding bid review
Send me a draft bid and I will give you honest, constructive feedback on the evaluation and methodology sections, with suggestions for strengthening them.
Evidence health-check
Not sure if your existing evidence is strong enough? I can take a look at what you have and give you a plain-English view of where it is solid and where there are gaps.
Literature review
Need to know what the research says on a particular topic? I can pull together a focused, readable summary to inform your work or support a bid.
If any of these sound useful, just get in touch and we can talk through what would work. There is no obligation and no minimum commitment.
You don't have to need all of these.
These services often go together, and many projects involve several of them, moving from listening through to a finished piece of evidence or a funding bid. But they don't have to. If you already have the evidence and just need help making sense of it, I can do that. If you need support with one section of a bid rather than the whole thing, that works too.
I'm at an early stage of my freelance journey and I genuinely welcome conversations before anything is decided. If you're not sure what you need, that's fine: let's just talk.