Assessing people’s views quickly and effectively using a wide range of intelligence gathering methods is critical to developing effective messages and strategies. The ability to detect and manage changes in public opinion is one of our key strengths.

Below is a list of projects we have worked on in this area. They are presented in more detail further down the page.

ACT: voices for change
AMICUS: researching member awareness
Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL): stakeholder and consultation
Brighton and Hove City Council: housing consultation
Communication Workers’ Union (CWU): members’ perceptions
Community and District Nursing Association (CDNA): members’ perceptions
Connexions South Yorkshire: young people's services
Croydon Council: neighbourhood partnerships
Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA): regeneration
EC1 NDC: community recycling
Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: public perceptions
National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE): cultural sector engagement
Newham Council: community forum development
North Cumbria mental health trust: Cumbria consults!
North West Development Agency: improving communications
South East Regional Assembly (SERA): videoqube
TSSA - Researching members views on lay representation
University of Central Lancashire (UCLan): investigating staff perceptions
Wakefield Council: LDF consultation
Wakefield Council: liveability consultation

ACT: voices for change
We worked with ACT (Association for Children with life-threatening or terminal conditions and their Families) to launch their Voices for Change report. This leading research outlined the current perception of users of services for children with palliative care and their families, culminating in a launch event at the House of Commons.

AMICUS: researching member awareness
Amicus, one of the largest trade unions in the UK, commissioned us to conduct quantitative and qualitative research to gauge their members’ attitudes to the union and awareness of the forthcoming political fund ballot. The research was used to inform the development of the campaign message and narrative for Amicus to use for their campaign for a yes vote. This campaign was won.

Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL): stakeholder consultation
We are conducting a stakeholder consultation exercise to support ATL in accessing external funding and ensure ATL's priorities have wider stakeholder support.

Brighton and Hove City Council: housing consultation
We conducted an intensive piece of research for the Brighton and Hove City council, which involved a postal survey to 1,000 residents and four focus groups. This work was conducted within a three week time scale over the Christmas period and culminated in a presentation to a key council committee.

Communication Workers’ Union (CWU): members’ perceptions
We have worked with the Communication Workers’ Union, which represents workers in the postal and telecoms industries, to research members’ perceptions of the union as a basis for developing communication strategies. We have also conducted opinion polling amongst their members on industrial issues.

Community and District Nursing Association (CDNA): members’ perceptions
To help the CDNA improve its communications with members, we investigated members’ perceptions through a programme of surveys and focus groups.

Connexions South Yorkshire: young people's services
We are working with a range of young people as part of a research project to evaluate the impact of objective one funding on services for young people in South Yorkshire.

Croydon Council: neighbourhood partnerships
Our 2003 council tax and service level consultation formed a significant element of Croydon’s consultative process. We designed the system and carried out ten consultative events which included a total of 60 workshops. The central challenge of the work was to communicate complex issues in clear terms that could enable residents to participate actively in discussion.

Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA): regeneration
At a time of extensive regeneration in Croydon, we worked with CVA, the umbrella organisation for community and voluntary organisations locally, to ensure that their sector could effectively contribute to the health and well-being of the town. We worked with CVA to develop a business case to demonstrate the benefits (such as social cohesion and corporate responsibility) of durable partnerships with the social sector. This involved conducting quantitative research with key stakeholders, facilitating a consultative event and producing publicity materials to support their case.

EC1 NDC: community recycling
We worked with EC1 NDC (New Deal for Communities) to deliver a community recycling project to its extensive network of high density social housing. This involved gathering residents’ opinions as to the current problems and priority areas for improvement.

Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: public perceptions
We have conducted research on behalf of the Trust, to assess the attitudes of it public membership towards its democratic processes.

National Institute for Adult Continuing Education: cultural sector engagement
We are working with both NIACE and Culture South East on a feasibility study to review mechanisms of engagement in the cultural sector, to enable the implementation of the Action for Communities model in the south east. This involves a range of research techniques, ranging from desk research to depth interviews.

Newham Council: community forum development
We have worked for Newham Council on a range of projects designed to improve the profile and effectiveness of the borough’s community forums. We have designed and executed engagement activities from street surveys to exercises in visioning. We have also worked with community forums to define and enhance their neighbourhood action plans.

North Cumbria mental health trust: cumbria consults!
We devised and facilitated a 12-week consultation for North Cumbria’s application for foundation trust status, which went beyond the traditional meeting. We established a consultation website www.cumbriaconsults.com which, together with the consultation document, allowed service users, staff and voluntary groups to have their say at any point during the 12-week period. This was supported by road shows, public meetings and focus groups. We also filmed vox pops in the town centres and showed a rough edit of the day’s filming at each of the public meetings. We undertook a series of stakeholder interviews after this period to explore in depth the opinions of those with a close connection to the trust, including staff, service users and voluntary groups.

North West Development Agency: improving communications
We carried out a qualitative survey of politicians in the North West to establish perceptions of the agency’s communications. This comprised depth interviews with MPs, focus groups with selected staff and a telephone and postal survey of staff based in the region and in Westminster.

South East Regional Assembly (SERA): videoqube
The South East Regional Assembly commissioned the VideoQube as their contribution to the annual session of the UK Youth Parliament to capture young people’s views on the assembly’s ten year plan.

TSSA - Researching members views on lay representation
We worked with the TSSA to assist them in research to underpin their Union Modernisation Fund (UMF) project. The project is looking to develop the role and diversity of lay representatives within the union and we were asked to undertake detailed qualitative research, through focus groups and depth interviews, to ensure the views of all members of the union could be taken into account in changes to be made.

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan): investigating staff perceptions
We are working with UCLan to review their internal staff communications, with particular emphasis on embedding corporate objectives throughout the university. The work involves internal research to assess the current situation, followed by benchmarking against other organisations. Both qualitative and quantitative research with key stakeholders is planned, to help develop an internal communications strategy and improved communication tools.

Wakefield Council: LDF consultation
The government has introduced the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 which requires all local authorities to produce new local planning frameworks – known as local development frameworks (LDFs) - by Summer 2007. These will provide the planning strategy for delivering and promoting sustainable development. Engaging with local communities and groups forms an important part of preparing the LDF. On behalf of Wakefield District Council, we conducted qualitative research with citizens, businesses and special interest groups (eg faith groups, minority ethnic groups, disability groups and other community organisations) to inform the development of the LDF.

Wakefield Council: liveability consultation
Wakefield District Council undertook a performance review of their liveability services in 2005, which assessed key, core quality of life issues from the perspective of the citizen and their experience of neighbourhood services – particularly those concerning the environment and community safety. We conducted qualitative research with citizens/service users and members of frontline staff to explore their perceptions and expectations of liveability services. This research helped to inform the development of options to improve service delivery.