Connecting with people requires communication that is focused, clear and targeted. We are experts in effective communication through a multitude of media and can help you effectively deliver your message to the widest possible audience.

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
Association of Children’s Hospices (ACH): profile raising strategy.
Aylesbury NDC: housing consultation
Bakers', Food and Allied Workers' Union (BFAWU): developing member communications
Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: youth engagement
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust: membership recruitment
Clapham Park Project (CPP): housing consultation
Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust: membership development
Communication Workers’ Union (CWU): improving communications
Community and District Nursing Association (CDNA): improving communications
Connexions: political profile
Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA): regeneration
East Somerset NHS Trust: membership recruitment
GMB: gambling campaign
Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust: membership recruitment
Lewisham Council: young citizens’ panel
Middlesborough Council: young mayor
New Cross NDC: board elections
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust: membership recruitment
Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: membership development
Northwest Development Agency (NWDA): improving communications
People’s History Museum: stakeholder management
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Trust: membership recruitment
Royal College of Midwives (RCM): bursary campaign
Shoreditch Trust NDC: young director elections
South Kilburn NDC: youth board
University of Central Lancashire (UCLan): internal communications
Wakefield Council: fastforward

ACT: voices for change
We worked with ACT (the 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. Our work included the production of a DVD of children and parents with palliative care needs and the organisation of a launch event at the House of Commons.

Association of Children’s Hospices (ACH): profile raising strategy
We worked with the Association of Children's Hospices to launch their new toolkit aimed at people who may be interested in opening children's hospices. This involved building on and consolidating relationships with key stakeholders, culminating in a parliamentary reception that we also organised for them.

Aylesbury NDC: housing consultation
We worked with Aylesbury NDC (New Deal for Communities) to consult local residents about the future of their housing stock. This involved creating relevant materials, available in a variety of languages.

Bakers', Food and Allied Workers' Union (BFAWU): developing member communications
This UMF-funded project focuses on improving communications and participation within the union. As well as looking at the internal administrative systems of the union, we are helping to redevelop their website to ensure it meets members’ needs and expectations.

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: youth engagement
Working with Barnsley Youth Council, we targeted young people in the area, to encourage them to participate in the hospital trust and educate them about local decision making and health issues.

Click here to read this case study.

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust: membership recruitment
We have supported the trust in its NHS Foundation Trust application by running targeted recruitment campaigns. This involved developing a membership strategy comprised of clear, key messages, aimed at clearly identifiable audiences.

Clapham Park Project (CPP): housing consultation
We worked with Clapham Park Project (CPP) – a New Deal for Communities regeneration partnership - to engage residents in the development of local housing strategies. We used targeted communications, qualitative research and peer-led engagement techniques across one of the most deprived areas of the country.

Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust: membership development
We are working with the Trust to support its NHS Foundation Trust application, by developing a membership strategy that allows it to communicate effectively with local people, businesses, community groups and other key stakeholders.

Communication Workers’ Union (CWU): improving communications
We conducted qualitative and quantitative research into members’ perceptions of CWU communications methods and materials. We then used this knowledge to help develop and roll out a communications strategy to support the role of CWU workplace representatives.

Community and District Nursing Association (CDNA): improving communications
The CDNA wanted to improve their communications with members. We ran a members’ survey and several focus groups to help assess current perceptions of communications. Building on the results, we created a new website, new recruitment materials and a substantial photograph library that the CDNA now owns the rights to. We also co-wrote their successful UMF bid to create a virtual union, which we are now involved in delivering.

Connexions: political profile
We have worked with both NACP (the National Association of Connexions Partnerships) and Connexions Partnerships in the Humber , West Yorkshire and North and North Yorkshire , to raise the profile of Connexions Partnerships amongst politicians. This work included organising a presentation and dinner with MPs and NACP representatives, and organising a parliamentary reception for young people to meet with their MPs and demonstrate how Connexions had benefited them.

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.

East Somerset NHS Trust: membership recruitment
We have supported the Trust with its NHS Foundation Trust application by running targeted campaigns to recruit 3,000 members. This involved developing a membership strategy comprised of clear, key messages, aimed at clearly identifiable audiences.

GMB: gambling campaign
The GMB trade union, which represents workers in the services industries, was concerned about jobs in the gambling industry following proposed deregulation. We worked with GMB officers, and their counterparts in the USA who represent casino workers, to research the issue and then lobby key decision makers, in order to ensure that the framework put forward by the government was sympathetic to good employers and good employment practices.

Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust: membership recruitment
We are supporting the trust with its NHS Foundation Trust application, by running targeted campaigns to recruit 10,000 members to the Trust. This involved developing a membership strategy comprised of clear, key messages, aimed at clearly identifiable audiences.

Lewisham Council: young citizens’ panel
We have worked with the London Borough of Lewisham to support its Young Citizens Panel of 300 11-18 year olds living or being educated in the borough. This involved consulting with young people at the onset to gauge support for a young person’s panel; recruiting members to the panel; maintaining the panel and communicating with panel members. We have also conducted quantitative research with panel members on behalf of Lewisham’s partner agencies (including the police and primary care trust).

Middlesborough Council: young mayor
We first designed and implemented the idea of a directly-elected Young Mayor in Middlesborough in 2002. This scheme was subsequently shortlisted in the innovation category of the 2002 Local Government Chronicle best practice awards.

Click here to read this case study.

New Cross NDC: board elections
We worked with New Cross NDC (New Deal for Communities) to increase public participation in their decision making process, with particular emphasis on reaching socially excluded groups. This involved creating publicity materials and seeking imaginative ways of dramatizing the election process.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust: membership recruitment
We have worked with the trust to develop a membership strategy which enables it to engage with its diverse and geographically widespread community. This also involved recruiting 10,000 members to the trust.

Northwest Development Agency (NWDA): improving communications
The NWDA commissioned us to gauge MPs’ perceptions of NWDA communications and to provide recommendations as to how these could be improved. We undertook a research programme involving depth interviews with a cross section of the region’s MPs and delivered a report that has since been implemented by the NWDA.

Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: membership development
We have worked with Papworth Hospital throughout, and since, its application for Foundation Trust status. The work initially involved recruiting members to the trust to ensure a balanced and representative membership community. It also included a pioneering pilot project to establish and support a group of membership champions for the trust, who act as advocates to increase membership in a sustainable and cost-effective way.

Click here to read this case study.

People’s History Museum: stakeholder management
We work with the museum to improve its profile with key stakeholders in government and beyond. This has involved developing key messages and implementing a relationship management and communications campaign.

Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Trust: membership recruitment
We have supported the Trust with its NHS Foundation Trust application by running targeted campaigns to recruit 8,000 members. This involved developing a membership strategy comprised of clear, key messages, aimed at clearly identifiable audiences.

Royal College of Midwives (RCM): bursary campaign
The RCM commissioned us to create awareness among midwifery students of their campaign to institute a non-means tested bursary of £10,000 for all midwifery students. This work included research, developing campaign messages and creating campaign tools.

Shoreditch Trust NDC: young director elections
We have worked with Shoreditch Trust NDC (New Deal for Communities) to assist in the running of the trust’s first directly elected youth representatives to the Shoreditch Trust board. This involved training the candidates to run their campaigns and working with local youth service providers and schools to give five to 21 year olds in the NDC area the opportunity to vote for their youth reps.

South Kilburn NDC: youth board
We worked with South Kilburn NDC (New Deal for Communities) to establish the area’s first elected youth board. We worked with local youth service providers and schools to promote the election process, and supported 21 candidates to run their election campaigns.

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan): internal communications
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: fastforward
We helped Wakefield Council devise and implement their community strategy visioning exercise, and relaunched the community strategy as FastForward 2028. This process involved encouraging young people to film responses, and was praised by the Audit Commission.

Click here to read this case study.