The Big Lottery Visit

In April this year we were contacted by The Big Lottery. They requested a visit to undertake a full investigation of the operation and management of our project for the severely affected that they are funding. Not surprisingly we were a little nervous - after several years of funding by The Big Lottery we had never been assessed in this way before. The normal route of providing regular written reports had always been received and our work on outcomes and achievements commended. Our appointed Grants Officer, together with the Regional Manager of The Reaching Communities Fund visited and met myself, Philip (Chair) and Lisa (Project Development Worker). We went through a rigorous interview and provided written evidence of our achievements and activities. We were able to provide detailed accounts on the project income and expenditure that met the budget headings we outlined in our original bid. We were delighted to be given a clean bill of health, we were deemed compliant with no issues regarding the delivery or management of the project. We did discuss how we could capture and report our success in some of the “softer” targets we achieved. Our visitors were very interested in how the people we support felt; relieved, less stressed, more hopeful, more positive and cared for - not easy to measure in “targets and milestones” which is the standard method of measuring success. Whilst understandably we felt “singled out” for such a gruelling investigation, we feel positively delighted we can categorically say we are doing a grand job! (and we’ve only just got started). We have subsequently submitted a mid-term written report and were able to evidence the softer targets to the satisfaction of our Grants Officer. We are on track with our achievements, and building on the knowledge and expertise we have gained we are confident we will deliver a first class service. Jennifer