RSS and OR Society develop new partnership on pro bono work

RSS and OR Society develop new partnership on pro bono work: The OR Society's Pro Bono scheme connects volunteers with third sector organisations to work on short term projects to assist them in making evidence-based decisions for operational improvements. Proj

Pro Bono O.R. projects with Diabetes UK, The OR Society and Action 4 London

Please find details of three new projects below with Action 4 London, The OR Society and Diabetes UK. 

Action 4 London

Project summary:

Project: Impact 4 London

To aid the organization to:

1. Identify and quantify the potential impact of Action4London’s activities

2. Design methods for measuring quantitative impact of activities

Time commitment: approx. 5 days over 2-3 months, though this will need to be checked by the volunteer(s) in the light of information gathered at their first meeting

Location: London, W1C 1BB. Mix of onsite and remote working

Please read project scope  and if you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return to me along with your CV by midnight on Sunday 11^th December.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

A4L supports the most disadvantaged communities in London through the actions of sharing of over 150 volunteers.

Main activities of the organisation: 

Group volunteering, mentoring and self-empowerment courses

The OR Society

Project summary:

Project: Development of an Impact Survey tracking and reporting process and tool: Pro Bono O.R. has been tracking the impacts of charities who have been supported by our volunteers. We now need help to develop a spreadsheet system for capturing and reporting project impacts.

Time commitment: approx. 3-4 days, though this will need to be checked by the volunteer(s) in the light of information gathered at their first meeting.

Location: This project can be carried out remotely. An initial kick off meeting could be held in Birmingham, London or remotely via Skype.

Please read project scope  and if you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return to me along with your CV by midnight on Sunday 11^th December.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

Advance knowledge of and interest in Operational Research and to advance education in Operational Research. 

Main activities of the organisation: 

·        Publications

·        Training programme

·        Conferences and events

·        OR in Schools

·        Pro Bono O.R.

Diabetes UK

Project summary:

Project: Delivering an excellent customer experience: Diabetes UK want to improve the way they deal with all supporters. Map current processes, identify problems, design improved processes.

Time commitment: approx. 20 days, although though this will need to be checked by the volunteer(s) in the light of information gathered at the first meeting.  If possible, it would be useful if the volunteer(s) could commit to a block of work rather than spreading the project out over several months.

This project would be suitable for a pair or team of volunteers.

Location: Whitechapel E1 1FH. Mix of onsite and remote working

Please read project scope  and if you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return to me along with your CV by midnight on Sunday 11^th December.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

To be experts in the field of diabetes care, treatment and research

Main activities of the organisation: 

We care for, connect with and campaign on behalf of all people affected by and at risk of diabetes, reaching people with diabetes in local communities across the UK.  

If you would like to volunteer on a project but are not able to commit to the full time requirement please let me know as it may be possible to pair you up with another analyst.  

Lastly if you would like to work on a project as part of a pair or with the support of a mentor please indicate on your application and we try to facilitate this. 

I look forward to hearing from you and once again thank you for your help and support.

For further information about the scheme please visit: http://www.theorsociety.com/Probono  

Free IMPACT magazine. Issue 4 includes how Operational Research is being used to help not-for-profit organisations

IMPACT magazine is a free bi-annual publication produced by The OR Society.  It is packed with real-world examples of how to use analysis to make better decisions. It‘s full of thought-provoking articles and it‘s FREE.

The fourth issue contains the usual eclectic mix of stories of analytical work making an impact in a variety of organisations, including how Operational Research being used to help

not-for-profit organisations. In South Africa, Shout-it-Now, which is involved in

HIV counselling and testing, used simulation to help them contribute significantly

to reducing the rate of new HIV infections. In the UK, Bloodwise, a specialist blood

cancer charity, took advantage of the OR Society’s Pro Bono scheme, which provided

a volunteer analyst to help it understand better the various audiences with which it

seeks to engage. Details of the scheme are found in the article.

If you missed the first three issues, electronic copies are available at https://issuu.com/orsimpact

For future issues of this free magazine, please subscribe at

http://www.getimpactmagazine.co.uk/

Gaining strategic insight - latest complete #ProBonoOR project

Last year two #ProBono O.R. volunteers who worked for GORS (Government Operational Research Service) started a project with St Michael's Fellowship.

The charity wanted to be able to gain strategic insights from its data.  The two volunteers spent 18 days over a period of 10 months working with St Michael's Fellowship to achieve this outcome.

Below is a case study slide that summarizes the project.

For more information about Pro Bono O.R. visit: www.theorsociety.com/probono 

New Pro Bono projects with Save the Rhino and Form the Future

Pro Bono O.R. is currently recruiting for 3 new projects with Form the Future and Save the Rhino.  Below is a brief outline of the projects and a link to detailed project scopes.

Please do get in touch if you require any further information.

Form the Future (1)

Project summary:

Project: Process improvement: Reviewing Form the Future’s two main service delivery processes, to help them move to an online system.

Time commitment: approx. 4 days, though this will need to be checked by the volunteer in the light of information gathered at their first meeting

Location: Cambridge, CB4 2HY. Mix of onsite and remote working

Please read project scope  and if you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return to me along with your CV by midday on Monday 21^st November.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

To help young people learn about the world of work and prepare them for employment

Main activities of the organisation: 

Link schools and businesses to help young people understand the world of work. We run career and employability skill related events at schools, we undertake Health and Safety Checks for Work experience and run a mentoring programme.

Form the Future (2)

Project summary:

Project: Impact and performance measures: enabling Form the Future to understand, measure and report their impact and effectiveness

Time commitment: approx. 3-4 days, though this will need to be checked by the volunteer in the light of information gathered at their first meeting.

Location: Cambridge, CB4 2HY. Mix of onsite and remote working

Please read project scope  and if you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return to me along with your CV by midday on Monday 21^st November.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

To help young people learn about the world of work and prepare them for employment

Main activities of the organisation: 

Link schools and businesses to help young people understand the world of work. We run career and employability skill related events at schools, we undertake Health and Safety Checks for Work experience and run a mentoring programme.

Save the Rhino

Project summary:

Project: Analysis of fundraising data: SRI wishes to understand where its return on investment to raise unrestricted income is greatest and where it should focus its activities on growing

Time commitment: approx. 5-6 days, although though this will need to be checked by the volunteer(s) in the light of information gathered at the first meeting. 

This project would be suitable for a small team of volunteers who could then, perhaps look at more data, or carry out more in-depth analysis.

Location: London, SE1 4PR. 0.5 day on-site for kick-off meeting. Most of the analysis can be done remotely.

Please read project scope  and if you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return to me along with your CV by midday on Monday 21^st November.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

     Raising funds to protect and increase rhino numbers and population distribution in African and Asian range states

     Facilitating the exchange of technical support and information between rhino conservation stakeholders
     Ensuring that local communities in key rhino areas benefit from employment, capacity building, education, outreach and the sustainable use of natural resourcesDeveloping and delivering behaviour-change campaigns to reduce the demand for rhino horn in consumer countriesRaising global awareness of the need for urgent action on rhino conservation

Main activities of the organisation: 

Fundraising through trusts and foundations, companies, events, donations, campaigns, membership and merchandise

If you would like to volunteer on a project but are not able to commit to the full time requirement please let me know as it may be possible to pair you up with another analyst.  

Lastly if you would like to work on a project as part of a pair or with the support of a mentor please indicate on your application and we try to facilitate this. 

I look forward to hearing from you and once again thank you for your help and support.

For further information about the scheme please visit: http://www.theorsociety.com/Probono  

Government OR conference plenary presentation

This week I attended the annual GORS (Governement O.R. Service) conference. It was the biggest conference to date with around 180 delegates attending on both Monday and Tuesday. Four streams were running covering a range of topics and areas of O.R. in practice in Goverment. As the membership body for professionals in Operational Research, The OR Society were there to tell people about the benefits of being a member of the society.

On the second day we also had the opportunity to give a plenary presenation which covered an overview of the Society and its two volunteer programmes (Pro Bono O.R. and O.R. in Schools). During the presenation 2 GORS Pro Bono volunteers gave an overview of thier expeirnce of carrying out a Pro Bono project and an ORiS volunteer described what it was like going into schools to promote maths and O.R.

The full presentation can be found here: http://ow.ly/F5sb305O67B

Half term and The Big Apple

After 10 years, my husband and I finally got to visit the city on the top of our bucket list.  For our 10 year anniversary we spent 4 fantastic days in this awesome city.  From the moment we touched down and saw the New York skyline to the 60 miles we walked to see all the sights, every moment lived up to my expectations.  My highlights include: watching the sunset at the top of the Rockefeller, the flatiron building, sunrise on Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park (which we manged to visit 6 times!).