Learning Partner - Step Change Consortium
Learning partner to the Greater Manchester Refugee Step Change Consortium, collaborating with eleven organisations and Experts by Experience to facilitate, support and gather reflection, learning and evidence on best practice as the consortium works towards becoming a joined-up and collaborative ecosystem of support for refugees and people seeking asylum.
The Step Change Consortium, led by Refugee Action and funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, wanted a learning partner to support with monitoring, evaluation and learning from September 2022 to October 2028. We are currently working with them to:
Collaboratively develop consortium-wide learning questions which align to the consortium’s Theory of Change.
Facilitate a process to gather feedback on the MEL toolkit and provide recommendations for adaptations.
Support the consortium coordinator with data analysis for bi-annual reporting to the National Lottery Community Fund.
Facilitate and support consortium members to reflect on practice and capture learning in four evaluative learning reports.
Support the development of four learning products that illustrate and highlight the key learning and reflection from the consortium.
Provide one to one MEL mentoring to consortium partners.
The Task
MEL support:
Supported the consortium to develop consortium-wide learning questions to guide the learning and reflection process over the next two years.
Collaboratively reviewed the consortium MEL toolkit.
Supported the Consortium Coordinator with MEL activities including qualitative data analysis for the annual reports and adjusting programme indicators to the National Lottery Community Fund.
Acted as a critical friend and sounding board for the consortium coordinator.
Provided one to one mentoring support online and face to face and group training for consortium members.
Produced four learning products for wider learning across the sector:
Co-produced a blog developing four key learning points on engaging lived-experience experts to guide consortium work.
Developed a blog with visuals to describe the hub-based model
Developed a learning report on the consortium providing a joined-up and collaborative ecosystem of support for refugees and people seeking asylum across the region.
Co-produced a Vlog on the ecosystem of support for refugees and people seeking asylum across Greater Manchester.
Learning and reflection:
Facilitated annual learning and reflection workshops with the consortium and EBE group.
Produced the 2023 mid-point learning report and presentation.
Produced the 2024 final learning report and presentation.
From 2022-2024 we have worked closely with the consortium to provide:
Project Lead: Joanna Knight
Project team: Anna Beesley, Tandy Nicole (until Oct 2023)
Themes: learning together; strategize together; equality and rights for people forced to move; social justice
We will continue to work with the Step Change Consortium over the next 4 years to support their use of evidence to inform and adapt their work, facilitate annual reflection workshops and programme adaptation processes.