New Pro Bono O.R. projects #volunteers required

East Greenwich Neighbourhood Plan Forum

Project summary:

Project: To gather the views of local residents regarding local regeneration to steer the future development of the community.

Time commitment: This project could probably be split into 2 or possibly 3 sub-projects, each drawing upon different skill sets.

·         The first part would be concerned with developing and designing the survey, and deciding how best to maintain contact with the stakeholder groups. A volunteer with experience of Social Research would be ideal for this part of the project.

·         The second part would be to design the database/input method to store and analyse the results

·         The third part would be the analysis itself, and drawing the conclusions.

(The second and third parts could probably be combined.)

Each part would take a few days (5) over the course of a month, with the total project taking a few months (to carry out the survey, etc). If different volunteers undertook different parts there would have to be some collaboration/handover.

The volunteer(s) selected would be required to discuss the scope with East Greenwich and use the project proposal form to scope out what is achievable in the time available.  Due to the time commitment this project would suit a pair or team of volunteers.

Location: East Greenwich, SE10. Initial meeting on site would be very helpful. Other than this it can probably 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 Thursday 3^rd November.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

a) Help promote and improve the social, economic and environmental well-being of residents within the relevant area of East Greenwich

b) Work with all relevant parties to achieve the sustainable regeneration of the area ensuring adequate provision of community infrastructure and amenities

c) Encourage high standards of development and architecture in creating a place where people want to live, work and visit

d) Represent the views of the local community and to ensure its voice is heard as part of the planning process and development of the area

e) Hold meetings, lectures and exhibitions

f) Raise funds by way of subscription, donation or otherwise

e) Do all such other lawful things as are necessary for the attainment of the aforesaid objects

Main activities of the organisation: 

To bring together the community to ensure we have an input into planning and development decisions within our local area as per the localism act 2012.

We are also recruiting a volunteer for the following project:

Willow

Project summary:

Project: Understanding the prevalence of serious illness in young people: To understand future demand on its service Willow needs to better understand the number of people that are diagnosed and suffering with serious illness.

Time commitment: approx. 1-3 weeks.  This can be spread out over a longer time period.  The volunteer selected would be required to discuss the scope with Willow and use the project proposal form to scope out what is achievable in the time available.  Due to the time commitment this project would suit a pair or team of volunteers.

Location: Hertfordshire. Much of the research will be online although telephone and email exchanges may be required to better understand the data. Therefore mostly this can be done from a location of the volunteer’s choice. One or two days scoping and catch up at Willow’s offices in Welwyn Garden City or a London location.

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 Friday 28^th October.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

To improve the quality of life of young adults aged 16 to 40 with life-threatening illnesses through the provision of Special Days.

Main activities of the organisation: 

Willow is the only national charity working with seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 to fulfil uplifting and unforgettable Special Days. These Special Days enable them and their families to reconnect and refocus on each other while enjoying an activity of their choosing. A day for them, a day about them and a day that will create memories they will all treasure forever.

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 can 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   

Understanding the Benefits of a Social Care Programme #ORblog

CORDA recently completed a project for the WAVE Trust - a charity committed to improving the welfare of children – as part of its support of The OR Society’s Pro Bono scheme. The scheme connects volunteer analysts with charities and other not-for-profit organisations to work on short-term projects to help them to make evidence-based decisions for operational improvements.

Ben Ludford, a senior consultant at CORDA, led the project and explains: “Working with the WAVE Trust was a great experience. Not only were we able to support a charity that provides such a valuable service for children but it also gives volunteers like me the opportunity to tackle different kinds of problems in their entirety, using a range of OR and analytics techniques, and other skills to help good cause.”

The WAVE Trust has a particular focus on improving social and emotional development and mental health, and preventing child maltreatment. The project saw CORDA work closely with the charity to develop a business case for it to present to local authorities in a bid to secure funding for a pilot of its social care programme Pioneer Communities.

CORDA’s analysts worked with the Trust to understand its current business case and to identify where further work was needed. This highlighted that the WAVE Trust had a good understanding of the costs and delivery of the programme, but that there was a need to develop a better understanding of the benefits and how this tied to financial savings for the local authorities. This benefit information could then be linked with the cost data to create a cost benefit model showing the payback of the programme over time.

Using its modelling expertise, CORDA planned several ways in which benefit data could be collected, delivering a report with advice on how this could be achieved. It also built a model that provided a cost-benefit analysis.

This is the first pro bono project CORDA has delivered through The OR Society’s scheme. Projects through the scheme usually involve data analysis, impact measurement, options appraisal, risk analysis, strategic planning/review, scheduling & process improvement.

As well as providing companies with an opportunity for its employees to get involved in pro bono work, it also provides third sector organisations like The Wave Trust with a range of benefits including access to analytics experts, help with identifying and clarifying problems and finding real solutions that improve what they do.

To find out more about the scheme or to request support for a charity or third sector organisation, please visit www.theorsociety.com/probono

New #ProBonoOR project - understanding the prevalence of serious illness in young people

Pro Bono O.R. – enabling managers to make more effective decisions

Pro Bono O.R. is a scheme operated by The OR Society that places professional analysts in short term projects with third sector organisations in the UK. 

Projects require skilled professionals who work in operational research, analytics or related professions.  If you have the skills required for a project, we’d love to hear from you.

Please find details of a new project below that we are seeking a volunteer(s) for:

Willow

Project summary:

Project: Understanding the prevalence of serious illness in young people: To understand future demand on its service Willow needs to better understand the number of people that are diagnosed and suffering with serious illness.

Time commitment: approx. 1-3 weeks.  This can be spread out over a longer time period.  The volunteer selected would be required to discuss the scope with Willow and use the project proposal form to scope out what is achievable in the time available.  Due to the time commitment this project would suit a pair or team of volunteers.

Location: Hertfordshire. Much of the research will be online although telephone and email exchanges may be required to better understand the data. Therefore mostly this can be done from a location of the volunteer’s choice. One or two days scoping and catch up at Willow’s offices in Welwyn Garden City or a London location.

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 Friday 28^th October.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

To improve the quality of life of young adults aged 16 to 40 with life-threatening illnesses through the provision of Special Days.

Main activities of the organisation: 

Willow is the only national charity working with seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 to fulfil uplifting and unforgettable Special Days. These Special Days enable them and their families to reconnect and refocus on each other while enjoying an activity of their choosing. A day for them, a day about them and a day that will create memories they will all treasure forever.

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 can 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/Pages/Probono/Probono.aspx
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Free software software/tools available to O.R./analytical professionals

A variety of analytical and modelling techniques have been used for Pro Bono O.R. projects so far, including:

·       discrete event simulation,

·       statistical analysis/data mining,

·       forecasting,

·       process modelling,

·       system dynamics.

 As a result we have started compiling an evolving list of software / tools which may help to solve different types of problem. These tools could be useful not only for those working on our 3^rd sector projects but O.R./analytical professionals looking to develop their all-round “O.R. toolkit”.

The list so far includes 40 tools across a range of areas including:

·         Statistical analysis (e.g. PSPP, R)

·         Data visualisation (e.g. D3, Gephi, Vizable)

·         Geospatial and mapping (e.g. QGIS, GDAL, MapsData)

·         Programming languages (e.g. Python, Ruby)

·         Databases (e.g. PostGres, SQLlilte, ArangoDB)

·         Optimisation (e.g. Pyomo, OpenSolver)

·         Simulation (e.g. SimPy, Insight Maker)

·         Supply Chain (e.g. OpenBoxes, Odoo)

The list is ever-evolving and we would welcome further contributions or to hear about any tools or software you have successfully used in the past. Ideally the software should be free to use. The list can be accessed at https://www.dropbox.com/s/crkoc002bo0j37p/Useful%20Software%20list.xlsx?dl=0.

Please email any suggestions to felicity.mcleister@theorsociety.com.

If you want to find out more about volunteering for a project more information on the scheme is available here

Helping consider possible futures with Age UK (Portsmouth) #volunteers required

Pro Bono O.R. – enabling managers to make more effective decisions

Pro Bono O.R. is a scheme operated by The OR Society that places professional analysts in short term projects with third sector organisations in the UK. 

Projects require skilled professionals who work in operational research, analytics or related professions.  If you have the skills required for a project, we’d love to hear from you.

Please find details of a new project below that we are seeking a volunteer(s) for:

Additionally please visit the Pro Bono O.R. webpage (useful resources tab) which includes our free O.R. toolkit.  These tools could be useful not only for those working on our 3^rd sector projects but O.R./analytical professionals looking to develop their all-round “O.R. toolkit”.

Age UK (Portsmouth)

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

To help older people and their families, and carers of older people to be well informed, advised and supported so that they can make real choices and have control over their lives.

Main activities of the organisation: 

We help support older people to remain independently  in their own homes for as long as possible; we offer older people a range of services from gardening, hairdressing, chiropody, information and advice etc. providing a friendly face, a helping hand and companionship to mitigate against social  isolation.

Project summary:

Project: Helping us to consider possible futures in a systematic way: We have come to the point when we need to evaluate various options for our future.  Do we want to/should we grow the organization, and, if so, what form might the growth take?  A determination of possible futures, and an evaluation of them, would be extremely helpful to us

Time commitment: approx. 4 days

Location: Portsmouth (PO1 5RZ). Two 1/2 days at the Centre and 3 days of analysis and report writing

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 Thursday 20^th October.

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 can 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/Pages/Probono/Probono.aspx

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New #ProBonoOR project: 'Understanding our audience'

Pro Bono O.R. – enabling managers to make more effective decisions

Pro Bono O.R. is a scheme operated by The OR Society that places professional analysts in short term projects with third sector organisations in the UK. 

Projects require skilled professionals who work in operational research, analytics or related professions.  If you have the skills required for a project, we’d love to hear from you.

Please find details of a new project below that we are seeking a volunteer(s) for:

The Theatre Chipping Norton

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

We exist to ‘promote, maintain, improve and advance education and the encouragement of the arts for the public, particularly the inhabitants of Chipping Norton, its surrounding areas and children within these areas.

Main activities of the organisation: 

Presenting theatre, cinema, screens, dance, music, comedy to the public. Our Take Part department includes 2 youth theatre groups every night of the week plus holiday workshops and 13 regular weekly sessions for young people and adults. We also produce an annual pantomime that is renowned in the UK as being the home of traditional panto, along with 2 other ‘HomeGrown’ shows. Recently these shows have undertaken tours of the UK, we have co-produced with other venues, and have transferred a show into London for a 2.5 week run this Summer.

Project summary:

Project: To understand our audience, locate more audience to reach out to, to build our resilience and sustainability into the future.

Time commitment: approx. 3-5 days

Location: The Theatre, OX7 5NL, but we are happy to also communication via phone/email etc.

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 17^th October.

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 can 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  

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