Supporting The Future Melting Pot

Please find details of two new projects with The Future Melting Pot. 

The Future Melting Pot

Project summary (1):

Project: Transforming Communities: Statistical exploration of disadvantaged communities in the local area with the aim of developing strategies to address challenges.

Time commitment: max. 3 days

Location: All work can be carried out 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 27^th March.

Project summary (2):

Project: Transforming Futures Making People. To aid the organisation to:

1.      Develop strategy and operational improvements

2.      Improve methods of working with multiple stakeholders

Time commitment: approx. 5 days, though this will need to be checked by the volunteer in the light of information gathered at their first meeting

Location: Birmingham

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 27^th March.

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives:

To improve the lives of marginalized young people (16-24 year olds) and communities.

Main activities of the organisation: 

We develop and deliver evidence-based research, involving young people to design targeted programs.

We facilitate the collaboration between organisations, providing a platform that ensures their efficient use of resources to maximize the social impact.

We align with partners delivering public services to achieve their strategic priorities.

We help the private sector organisations to make an impact by helping them to deliver Corporate Social Responsibility strategies and to engage with the wider community.

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  

Connecting professional analysts with good causes - for free! Request support today

O.R. volunteers can help third sector organisations make better decisions, improve efficiency, improve effectiveness, and tackle the problems that are keeping their top team awake at night, applying scientific approaches to the organisations specific circumstances, people, data and needs.

To find our more or request support, please visit www.theorsociety.com/probono

This support is available to all UK based Third Sector organisations - please spread the word!

APPLICATIONS OF SYSTEMS THINKING

THIRD SECTOR SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

APPLICATIONS OF SYSTEMS THINKING

Friday 17^th March 2017, 14.00-17.00

(Arrival/registration/tea and coffee from 13.30)

CAN-Mezzanine 7-14 Great Dover Street, London, SE1 4YR

Systems thinking is a powerful way of understanding the world, and accordingly, systems approaches can be powerful ways of addressing real-world problems. This half-day event is an opportunity to hear from people who are using systems approaches to address community and social issues, and to discuss the potential and the challenges of such approaches.

Speakers include Gerald Midgley, Professor of Systems Thinking at Hull University Business School, talking about resolving stakeholder conflict in a range of community settings; Miles Weaver from Edinburgh Napier University on how systems approaches have helped identify better ways for communities and socially responsible businesses to buil value; and Penny Lawrence, Deputy Director of Oxfam, on applying systems thinking to Oxfam’s change programme.

The event should be of interest to third sector managers interested in how systems thinking can be applied to their own challenges; to OR professionals interested in learning about different systems methodologies and their applications; and to anybody interested in how systems thinking can help us to drive change.

To book: The event is free to attend but we expect this to be a very popular event and space is limited, so places must be booked in advance, by visiting: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/or-society-third-sector-sig-applications-of-systems-thinking-tickets-31120017811

For further information please contact:   felicity.mcleister@theorsociety.com

Provisional timetable

2.00-2.05           Introduction/welcome

2.05-2.45           Gerald Midgley

2.45-3.15            Miles Weaver

3.15-3.30           break

3.30-4.00           Penny Lawrence

4.00-4.30           further speaker tbc

4.30-5.00           discussion, informal networking

Pro Bono O.R. video - Charities: get more from your data with Pro Bono O.R.

Operational Research (O.R.) is the science of better decision making and The Operational Research Society runs its Pro Bono O.R. scheme to match up analysts with charities and other third sector organisations to improve their operations - for free!

On a bright sunny morning in February a group of people gathered together in a function room at Southwark Cathedral to make a film to promote Pro Bono O.R.

Making such a film had been something I’d wanted to do for a little while and this was made possible by the arrival of a full-time marketing and communication manager at The OR Society.

Volunteers and third sector organisations who had taken part in the scheme would be invited to come and talk about their experiences of the scheme in an informal, script-free day full of cake, coffee and filming.

A venue was selected, a date picked and the requests sent out and I was overwhelmed with the positive responses, given the relatively short notice. The day started bright an early, setting up the room and equipment at 8am for our first interviewee from Diabetes UK to begin at 9am.  Throughout the day we had 12 interviewees: six representatives from The Childhood Trust, Marie Curie, Dachshund Breed Council, Disability Law Service and Bloodwise; and six volunteers who were able to attend, many of who had worked with the charities that were represented.

Representatives of organisations who received Pro Bono O.R. support talked about impact of the project, and the effect of the volunteer who worked on it. Volunteers talked about what it is like to work for a different kind of organisation, how they used their skills on the projects they worked on and the benefits to volunteering.

For me personally this was a great opportunity to meet with many of the organisations and volunteers whom I normally only have email and phone contact with.  It was fantastic to hear first-hand about the projects and the enthusiasm and positivity that all who involved got out of being involved with the scheme.

There was so much footage one film has now turned into two.  One is aimed at encouraging more organisations to take up the offer of Pro Bono O.R. and the other is to encourage more O.R. analysts to sign up as volunteers.

I am delighted with the outcome and you can now view the 'Organisations: get more from your data' video here.

Find out more at about the scheme here or tweet to Felicity McLeister at ‏@FMcLeister to get the conversation started.

New to volunteering? Some top tips for successful outcomes - part 2 (Guest blog from Ruth Kaufman)

Many thanks to Ruth Kaufman (President of The OR Society) for writing this guest blog.

New to volunteering? Some top tips for successful outcomes

“O.R.” is one of the most adaptable disciplines imaginable, and its practitioners are among the most flexible, prepared to bring scientific rigour and methods to any question even if it is outside their previous specialism. Given this adventurous approach, it is always a good idea to see if there are any tips from previous explorers.

For Pro Bono O.R., there are two types of novelty for many of us: working with charities, and working as volunteers. Neither of these are terribly difficult areas, but they both bring special issues which are worth noting. This post looks at working as a volunteer (a previous post looks at working with charities for the first time). So here are 3 misconceptions about volunteering, and 3 top tips for working as a volunteer.

Misconception 1: working as a volunteer means the charity gets your services for free. There may be no significant financial cost to the charity. But money is only one measure of cost. The time taken to brief you, to provide you with appropriate data, to listen to and implement your conclusions; and the emotional/psychological challenge of displaying the organisation’s or staff’s weaknesses, accepting reliance on an outsider, and changing mindsets if need be; these are major costs, not to be underestimated.

Misconception 2: “what is not paid for is not valued”. On the contrary, we all receive a great deal for free, that many of us value very highly, whether it is support from friends, family and neighbours; having a lifeboat service; a walk in the park; listening to the radio; leaving our unwanted goods at charity shops; votes for women – the list is endless. Ofcourse there are some free-loaders; and many free goods that we don’t notice and therefore don’t appreciate; but for most people, most of the time, payment is not the determinant of value.

Misconception 3: the lower the cost, the more likely people are to use services wastefully. It’s not quite fair to call this a misconception, as it is certainly true of some people, and some circumstances. But there are many circumstances where people are so keen not to take advantage, and not to waste the time of others, that they prefer not to ask than to risk wasting. If you doubt it, think of all those times that you haven’t liked to waste a busy colleague’s time asking for help, or waste a meeting’s time discussing a point of clarification if you think only you need it, or waste the doctor’s time with a trivial complaint.

And the top tips:

1) treat the commitment with the same respect as a paid commitment… You should treat agreement to undertake a pro bono project as a commitment just as great as anything you do under contract. Legally, of course it is not; but you will only be successful if you drive that thought from your mind. Commitment to timings and to the agreed quality should be as rigorous as if you were being paid: don’t think that because it is unpaid, standards can be lowered mid-project. Equally importantly (especially bearing in mind misconception 3, above) don’t let the client think it.

2) …but manage expectations, including your own As a volunteer, there are likely to be a lot of ‘other things’ going on in your life that could blow you off course. Do your best to make allowances for these before commitment. And remember that – especially if you have already shown yourself to be competent, reliable and honest – others will be willing to make allowances for you if you do find yourself unable to deliver. The support of the Pro Bono scheme is available to back you up, and stand in for y, if necessary – you are not alone.

3) manage your emotional involvement Chances are, you are working for free because you sympathise with the charity’s cause. You may even find this sympathy growing as your engagement progresses. Take care to balance this with your professional duties:

don’t allow your desire to do something for the cause, to override your professional judgement on the extent of your competence, or the amount of time something will take, or the amount of time you can commit to it;

don’t accept timing drift or scope drift that interferes with your own needs, however much you sympathise;

don’t allow your empathy with an organisation’s activities, culture or difficulties to override your professional judgement and willingness to challenge.

4) make the most of it! Hopefully, you are only doing this voluntarily because you think it is worth it. Don’t let any pressures that occur along the way take that away from you. Pro Bono OR is worthwhile for charities, and worthwhile for the OR Society – make sure it is also worthwhile for you.

To see some of the projects we've worked on and to find out how to get involved please visit the Pro Bono O.R. webpage

New to volunteering? Some top tips for successful outcomes (Guest blog from Ruth Kaufman)

Many thanks to Ruth Kaufman (President of The OR Society) for writing this guest blog.

New to volunteering? Some top tips for successful outcomes

“O.R.” is one of the most adaptable disciplines imaginable, and its practitioners are among the most flexible, prepared to bring scientific rigour and methods to any question even if it is outside their previous specialism. Given this adventurous approach, it is always a good idea to see if there are any tips from previous explorers.

For Pro Bono O.R., there are two types of novelty for many of us: working with charities, and working as volunteers. Neither of these are terribly difficult areas, but they both bring special issues which are worth noting. This post looks at working with charities for the first time, and a second will look at working as a volunteer.

In most ways, working as a consultant to a charity is no different from working as a consultant anywhere, and the same success factors apply. Here are five top tips for charity special features.

1) before you meet the client, do prior research. Make sure you understand the basics of the charity sector (there is a useful summary available as part of the Pro Bono resource set). Armed with that, find out, for your client: what are their charitable objects; who are their beneficiaries; what are their main funding sources; how many staff, volunteers, and trustees do they have. These will all be part of your client’s day-to-day reality, and they’re all things you may not have come across in a non-charity organisation, whether or not it is not-for-profit.

2) identify the stakeholders In particular, find out about how the work is split between paid staff, volunteers and trustees (who are usually also volunteers); and in particular how they manage the interface between staff and trustee board

3) understand clients’ time constraints. Charities – small ones, especially – are run by volunteers to an extent that is unthinkable in other organisations. Trustees, in particular, will have a significant role in decision-making, but will be doing this as a tiny part of their day-to-day life. Only rarely will a trustee have signed up in advance to commit a significant amount of time, at regular well-specified intervals, to the charity. This can also be an issue for paid staff, depending on sources of funding; sometimes there is no money for staff to do anything other than deliver services specified by the funder, so thinking about strategy or change is all done in ‘spare time’ snatched from other activities.

4) build communication and trust A critical issue here can be language. Many charities will have staff who are suspicious of ‘business agendas’ and anxious that commercial considerations may be used as an excuse for driving out the qualitative aspects of their work. This is mainly a matter of being sensitive to the fact that terminology or arguments that sound professional and normal in the business world may bring different connotations to people focused on helping beneficiaries. Of course it is important to say what you mean; just do it in ordinary human language.

5) co-producing with the client It takes two parties to deliver a successful consultancy project. Agreeing terms of reference, project plans and deliverables; adapting these as necessary; managing expectations; keeping commitment through to the end; these crucial success factors rely on both consultant and client . The difference with charities is that the charity is less likely to have experience of such things than other organisations you have worked with. Make allowances! Watch out for risks such as specification changes, project drift, misunderstandings, reprioritisation. Never put these down to incompetence or lack of interest from the client, unless the evidence for that is overwhelming – they are much more likely to be due to inexperience with project management, or the organisation’s vulnerability to external events temporarily blowing it off course. Responding with a suitable mix of empathy, sympathy, and professionalism will make all the difference.

To see some of the projects we've worked on and to find out how to get involved please visit the Pro Bono O.R. webpage

RSM UK Charity Focus Seminar

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending RSM UK's Charity Focus Seminar. RSM is a leading provider of audit, tax and consulting services to middle market leaders, globally. They are the top charity auditor by number of clients (source: Charity Financials, September 2015), and they work with 1,000 diverse charity clients across the UK, delivering a full range of sector-leading solutions.

Once a quarter they invite charities to attend a breakfast seminar. The topic this month was 'An introduction to Operational Research and how it can improve your organisations effectiveness'

To see the slides please click here

For further information please visit the Pro Bono webpage

Are you O.R./analytical professional who would like to support a charity? 3 opportunities are currently available #thisisOR #ORblog

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

Pro Bono O.R. is a scheme run by The OR Society that offers free support to third sector organisations in the UK. 

Please find details of a new project below requiring the help of a skilled volunteer.

Charityworks

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives: To improve the standard of leadership and management in the UK non-profit sector, with the aim of having a transformative impact on the causes and communities the sector serves.

Main activities of the organisation: Charityworks is first and foremost a graduate programme open to any non-profit organisation regardless of size or activity. It connects organisations with talented graduates capable of making an impact on the causes and communities those organisation’s serve.

Area of benefit: We work to improve the quality of services provided by UK charities, by building their capacity in terms of management and leadership.

Project summary:

Project: Review of Selection & Placement Process: Analyse and improve an open, mass selection and placement campaign for a cross-sector graduate leadership programme with multiple stakeholders/partners.

Time commitment: approx. 10 days

Location:  London (potential for some if not all the project to be carried out remotely).

Please read the 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 Wednesday 2^nd September 2015.

This project is suitable for an individual volunteer or pair of analysts.  If you would like to work on a project with the support of a mentor please do specify in your application and I can try to arrange this.  Lastly, if you are interested in working on a project but cannot meet the deadline specified please do register your interest in the first instance before the deadline.

We are still looking for volunteers for the following projects:

Hope North East

Information about the organisation:

Charitable objectives: Hope North East exists to inspire, motivate, empower and support all those affected by substance misuse, to sustain long term recovery and lasting positive change.

Main activities of the organisation: We have a variety of funding from grants and a sub-contracting relationship. We provide psychosocial support through individual and groupwork, we have a housing team and provide supported housing and tenancy support. We have a volunteer coordinator with 34 volunteers as part of the organisation. We have 20 staff and 15fte.

Other relevant information: Hope North East started as a CIC and achieved charity status 2 years ago, it has had a rapid growth spurt 18 months ago which has left areas of the organisation in need of development and modernization. There is no strategy in place and I feel we need support to work up the beginnings of a strategy which informs future workstreams.

Project summary:

Project: Facilitating strategy planning: To aid the CEO, trustees and staff to develop a 3-year strategic plan

Time commitment: approx. 2 days

Location:  Middleborough

Please read the 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 31^st August 2015.

This project is suitable for an individual volunteer or pair of analysts.  If you would like to work on a project with the support of a mentor please do specify in your application and I can try to arrange this.  Lastly, if you are interested in working on a project but cannot meet the deadline specified please do register your interest in the first instance before the deadline.

Big Issue

Information about the organisation:

Main activities of the organisation: Enabling Big Issue vendors to access a wide range of ‘support’ agencies that will help them journey away from homelessness.

Charitable objectives: The relief of poverty with particular reference to the needs of homeless persons.

Other relevant information: Big Issue are seeking to gain further insights into the data that we hold on our supporters which, in turn, we hope leads to further growth again regular committed income (monthly direct debits) and seasonal appeals. The CRM database that we use is ‘Raiser’s Edge’

Project summary:

Project: Gaining insight from a CRM database: To analyse supporter data held on a Raiser’s Edge CRM database to gain insights that will help identify and target opportunities to grow income.

Time commitment: approx. 2 ½ days on site

Location:  London (SW8 2LN)

Please read the 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 August 2015.

This project is suitable for an individual volunteer or pair of analysts.  If you would like to work on a project with the support of a mentor please do specify in your application and I can try to arrange this.  Lastly, if you are interested in working on a project but cannot meet the deadline specified please do register your interest in the first instance before the deadline.

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to get in touch.

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

Kind regards

Felicity McLeister

O.R. Pro Bono Project Manager

(Mon, Tue & Wed)
Direct Tel +44 (0)121 234 7826, Main Tel +44 (0)121 233 9300

If you are not already a member of The OR Society and are interested in joining please visit https://www.theorsociety.com/ or send an email to carol.smith@theorsociety.com

Additionally you may be interested in becoming a member of our Third Sector Special Interest Group (ORiTS). For more details visit:  https://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/SpecialInterest/ORThirdSector.aspx

Other webpages that may be of interest:

http://probonoor.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/Probono/Probono.aspx
http://www.LearnAboutOR.co.uk
http://www.ScienceofBetter.co.uk

OR & Oxfam: optimising donation bank collections (write up and video now available) #ORblog

Many thanks to Tom Cherrett for a great presentation on his work with Oxfam illustrating the application of remote monitoring technology and optimisation techniques to collect donations more efficiently.

To view the full presentation please visit: http://www.theorsociety.com/Pages/Probono/latestnews.aspx

Below is a full write up from the event (by Nigel Cummings)

OR and Oxfam

(The OR Society: Joint Third Sector SIG, SORG and CORMSIS Event)

A recent presentation given by Tom Cherrett, Associate Professor, Logistics and Transport Planning, Southampton University, illustrated the application of remote monitoring technology and optimisation techniques to collect donations more efficiently.

Many shops around the country have “food banks” where shoppers can deposit unwanted non-perishable items possibly bought in a BOGOF deal. Charity shops also often receive items that they cannot sell but are perhaps too good to throw away. Oxfam recognised that collecting these items accounts for something like 20% of their income and thought O.R. might be able to make significant reductions in this.

While the main focus of Tom’s presentation concerned work done for Oxfam, he also had the time to detail some of the processes involved in achieving logistics efficiencies in other organisations.  Primarily his talk concerned the implementation of remote sensor technology in donation banks to help organisations like Oxfam more efficiently judge “fill levels” and allocate appropriate times for donation bank collections.

Using the fill levels reported daily and derived collection strategies using tabu search methods Tom Cherrett’s team had achieved considerable efficiencies and overcome many obstacles associated with donation bank management. One of the problems they had to address was neatly illustrated by a slide which showed a small child being used by donation thieves to enter donation banks and remove contents (Fagin would have been proud!).

Such despicable acts were all too common, and it was a goal of this research to find ways of reducing this type of pilfering.  The work undertaken had involved equipping Oxfam banks with infra-red sensors that measured how full the banks were, reporting the data twice daily, and using it to schedule collections more efficiently whilst reducing thieving.

O.R. methods were employed to help provide indicators as to the most appropriate times to make collections. The proposed routes output by the algorithm used for each day of operation were then adjusted by Oxfam's transport manager to take into account issues such as round balancing, vehicle access restrictions, staff availability and other constraints.

A trial was run 2013 with the results showing a relatively modest time and distance savings (~3%) initially, these being limited by Oxfam's fixed shop servicing constraints. It was estimated that savings of up to 25% could be made by easing these restrictions. These savings were based on a set of rules that only allowed banks to become eligible for servicing once they had reached a specific fill level.

The fill/collection problem was made more complex by the need for the collection vans to visit Oxfam shops on a fixed schedule basis to remove unsold textiles too. Following live and simulated trials, the results suggested that time and distance savings of up to 30% over the current fixed schedules could be achieved when a minimum bank and shop fill level of between 50% and 60% was used as a collection trigger.

Some of the outcomes from the project are now being developed commercially in the form of a mobile phone app, to allow area managers, shop managers and drivers to communicate and manage collection scheduling in a more dynamic way. Other benefits included greater flexibility for transport managers working at Oxfam, to schedule ad hoc work and offer shops additional collections. The Oxfam drivers benefited too as the efficiencies achieved in logistics and better division of labour meant that sometimes it was possible to finish work an hour early.

The work with Oxfam is ongoing, and it is expected that further efficiencies will be achieved.

Free event: O.R. & Oxfam

O.R. & Oxfam: Optimising donation bank collections using remote monitoring sensors

(The OR Society: Joint Third Sector SIG, SORG and CORMSIS Event)

Date/time:         Thursday 11 June 2015

Registration from 15.30 with refreshments

Talk 16.00-17.30

Location:           University of Southampton, Highfield Campus

Building 2, Room 3043

Please use this link for directions:

            http://www.southampton.ac.uk/about/visit/highfield-campus.page  

Cost:                 FREE

The major charities can spend around 20% of their income on logistics, collecting new donations from donation banks and recycling unsellable textiles via various outlets. This talk will describe the key learning outcomes from a project undertaken with Oxfam which installed remote monitoring sensors into a subset of their textile donation banks and using the fill levels reported daily, derived collection strategies using tabu search methods. These were based on a set of rules to only allow banks to become eligible for servicing once they had reached a specific fill level. The problem was made more complex by the need for the collection vans to also visit Oxfam shops on a fixed schedule basis to remove unsold textiles. Following live and simulated trials, the results suggested that time and distance savings of up to 30% over the current fixed schedules could be achieved when a minimum bank and shop fill level of between 50% and 60% was used as a collection trigger. Some of the outcomes from the project are now being developed commercially in the form of an app, to allow the area managers, shop managers and drivers to communicate and manage collection scheduling in a more dynamic way.

To book your place please visit: Eventbrite: O.R. & Oxfam

For further information please contact:   felicity.mcleister@theorsociety.com            

Note: Please note parking is limited so you are advised to travel by public transport (there are excellent bus links to the university from both train stations).  If you do require parking please contact me ASAP.            

Tweet chat tonight: what is O.R. and how can it help charities? #charityhour

Join @CharityHourUK using the hashtag #charityhour for a tweet chat today from 8-9pm (GMT) 

We will be exploring the following questions:

• What role does pro bono consultancy have to play in the Third Sector?
• What's your experience of using pro bono consultancy?
• What tips do you have for others considering using pro bono consultancy?
• What type of projects benefit most from pro bono consultancy?
• Big data is a big thing! What tips do you have for getting insights from your data?
• What is Operational Research and how can it be used to help the Charities?

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Thanks for your support!

#CharityHour Pro Bono O.R. tweet chat Wednesday 15th April 8-9pm (GMT)

Join @CharityHourUK using the hashtag #charityhour for a tweet chat on Wednesday 15th April from 8-9pm (GMT) 

We will be exploring the following questions:

• What role does pro bono consultancy have to play in the Third Sector?
• What's your experience of using pro bono consultancy?
• What tips do you have for others considering using pro bono consultancy?
• What type of projects benefit most from pro bono consultancy?
• Big data is a big thing! What tips do you have for getting insights from your data?
• What is Operational Research and how can it be used to help the Charities?

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Thanks for your support!

Still wondering if Pro Bono O.R. could help your organisation? Check out all the projects we've completed so far

This PowerPoint presentation provides a one page case study slide for each project Pro Bono O.R. has worked on so far: Pro Bono O.R. Case Studies 

The variety of the projects shows just how widely O.R. can be applied whether you want to: 
Review your strategy; 
Reduce costs; 
Improve processes; 
Improve utilisation of limited resources; 
Demonstrate impact; 
and much more, O.R. can offer the flexibility and adaptability to provide objective help.

Don't just take my work for it, here is what some of the organsations we've work with have to say:

'The work is already supporting our planning and development for next year and allowing us to focus our thoughts and decisions on the places of most importance for our organisation. It has helped us to come up with new solutions already.'

'We’ve benefited hugely from your work and support in all areas of the project, and from an organisational perspective you’ve enabled us to take a highly professional approach to increasing the efficiency of our charity.'

'Brilliant – it makes the predictions of risk visible. This will be so useful.'

'I’m really pleased with the report and it will be very useful indeed for forward planning and to support our Big Lottery bid.'

For more information please visit Pro Bono O.R. or contact me via email, twitter or LinkedIn 

Make your new year's resolutions count in 2015

As we start 2015 most of our new years resolutions will go something like this: 'I must try and eat less', 'I must exercise more', 'I must drink less', etc.

Let me set you a challenge and give you two alternative new years resolutions for 2015 that could make a real difference for both yourself and others around you.

1) Volunteer

Use your skills to help third sector organisations.  There are many ways which you can do this; if you have Operational Research/analytical skills then why not get involved with Pro Bono O.R.?  Pro Bono O.R. worked with over twenty UK based third sector organisations in 2014.  The volunteers were able to provide a wide range of support from problem structuring, facilitation, data analysis, strategic review, impact measurement and much more.  The volunteers all reported a positive experience, here's what a few of them had to say: 

"Working as a pro bono volunteer is a great way to contribute some professional expertise to some truly worthwhile causes.  The Third Sector is full of people who feel passionately about their Mission, so working with them is invariably a positive learning experience"

"I've really enjoyed working with third sector organisations and found the staff extremely positive about the contribution we make"

"Being a volunteer was a great way to make a real difference for an organisation with people that were clearly passionate about what they do. At the same time I've added some interesting people to my network and expanded the breadth of projects I've undertaken on my CV"

To see more about becoming a volunteer and to see some of our completed case studies, please visit the webpage

2) Charities/third sector organisations look into Pro Bono O.R.

UK based organisations in the Third sector can  benefit from O.R. consultancy at no cost. The Operational Research society is offering third sector organisations the opportunity for free consultancy to help reduce costs and improve utilisation of limited resources.  

Pro Bono O.R. completed 10 projects in 2014 and the feedback we had was overwhelmingly positive:

"We are enormously grateful for being able to benefit from the advice and support of such a knowledgeable and experienced professional, who was able to raise challenging issues in a

sensitive and helpful way"

"We've benefited hugely from your work and support in all areas of the project, and from an organisational perspective you've enabled us to take a highly professional approach to increasing the efficiency of our charity"

So what are you waiting for, surely you should be saying 'I must volunteer more' and/or 'I must take up the free support to help my organisation to be more effective and efficient in 2015'

Please visit the webpage to find out more, or follow me on twitter (@FMcLeister) or LinkedIn (uk.linkedin.com/in/FelicityRoseMcLeister)