Description of the contract
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End of Project Evaluation for the Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff Partnership Project.
Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff Partnership Project
The Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff (GNHAC) project works with schools, local organisations and individuals to help connect urban communities with local wildlife and empower them to act for nature.
From 2017-2022, this £500,000 project has been funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and is delivered in partnership with RSPB Cymru, Cardiff Council and Buglife Cymru.
1.0 BACKGROUND:
The RSPB is the largest conservation charity in the UK. Our vision is for a world richer in nature, in which all people live well and in harmony with nature in our towns and countryside. We have a moral duty to protect and restore our natural world. We aim to inspire, educate and empower people to take action for nature, to protect it and know that nature is fundamental to human health and wellbeing.
Project Vision
This project was born out of an urgent need to connect more children with nature. Cardiff has one of the largest percentages of greenspaces of any city in Europe and yet Wales has the lowest percentage of children connected to nature in the UK.
With funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, we carried out a pilot project between 2014 – 2017 with our initial aim being to connect 12,500 children with nature. The demand and interest in our pilot project was overwhelming and we actively engaged 18,500 children with nature and consulted with 1,532 members of Cardiff communities collecting data in various ways, at summer events, focus groups or online surveys and actively sought out audiences not already engaged with RSPB Cymru. The majority of feedback confirmed that teachers and families felt nature was important for children to be engaged with but did not find there were opportunities within Cardiff to connect with nature or did not have the confidence or awareness to make those connections or take action for it. Teachers also fed back that there was a huge gap across Cardiff for early years/KS1 engagement and a lack of quality bilingual resources making it more difficult for Welsh Language schools to engage children with nature.
We spoke to Cardiff University’s Wildlife Society and many students confirmed that they were unlikely to take action for nature as they did not have the confidence too. They were keen to find opportunities where they could use their knowledge and practical skills, develop their confidence and gain experience which would help them in building their CV and leadership skills.
We identified that many of the existing environmental outreach schemes working with Cardiff schools and volunteers were mainly focused on environmental issues such as waste management climate change and recycling.
There were limited volunteering opportunities across many sectors in Cardiff for 16 – 24 year olds, and only one opportunity offered structured development by way of a volunteering plan or internship.
Many focus groups expressed a desire for spending time in nature and volunteering but mentioned that one of the biggest barriers was time and that there was a gap in the Cardiff market for nature engagement that could fit around busy lives.
Cardiff City Council are a key partner to this project. The Outdoor Cardiff Team help to connect the project with existing community initiatives, and support many of our events and volunteer activities through its parks and greenspaces, enabling the Council to engage new audiences into its parks.
We partnered with Buglife to continue their Urban Buzz project which ran from 2015 and was due to cease in 2017. The project aimed to improve greenspaces for pollinators through community action, encouraging communities to plant pollinator friendly plants and improve knowledge about the importance of pollinators. Project volunteers were keen to continue the project to further develop their skills and knowledge as they didn’t quite have the confidence to continue to monitor the pollinator sites on their own. They were keen to increase the number of sites and events and work in partnership with other organisations.
Scientific research, city and government plans, community consultations and the response to our pilot project demonstrated a clear need for a project to engage more children, young people and families with local greenspaces in Cardiff, to get them excited by nature and hopefully spend more time outdoors and benefit from the mental, physical and developmental effects of spending time in and enjoying nature.
Current GNAH Project 2017 - 2022
The current Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff project commenced in April 2017 and was due to finish in spring 2022. In the first 3 years of the project, we delivered community engagement events in all 29 wards of Cardiff. More than 70% of primary schools had been engaged with over half being engaged in more than one outreach session in a financial year. 81 volunteers were recruited from 72% of wards in Cardiff with the majority being new to volunteering with RSPB Cymru. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, all project staff were furloughed from April 2020 to October 2020 and all face to face engagement was suspended. With the restrictions of the pandemic impacting on our delivery we agreed an extension of the project end date to September 2022. We adapted the project outcomes and shifted our focus from community engagement to community empowerment. New objectives were designed to enable us to engage flexibly and remotely with Cardiff residents and schools. Staff and volunteers learnt new skills creating a new brand and website, digital resources and online workshops.
Project Location
The project is located in municipal boundary of Cardiff City, and aims to provide access to nature to children, families and communities across the city. It aims to provide proportionally more access in wards with higher levels of deprivation.
2.0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF GIVING NATURE A HOME IN CARDIFF
The Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff project works with schools, local organisations and individuals to help connect urban communities with local wildlife and empower them to act for nature. It’s vision is “For children, families and communities across Cardiff to feel connected to the wildlife on their doorstep and enabled to take action for nature.
Further details on the project can be found on the project webpage, facebook page and youtube channel
A project team of six deliver the project outcomes. They consist of: Project Manager (1.0FTE); Events Officer (1.0FTE); Community and Volunteer Development Officer (0.8FTE); Education, Families and Youth Officer (0.6FTE), Communications Assistant (0.5FTE) and Conservation Officer (0.2FTE). They are employed by RSPB Cymru (and Buglife Cymru for the Conservation Officer). They are supported by staff from the Communications teams of RSPB Cymru and Cardiff Council, and the Outdoor Cardiff Team of Cardiff Council. There is a Project Board with RSPB Cymru as Project Executive, leading representatives from Cardiff Council and Buglife Cymru.
The team delivered the outcomes through a series of “indicators” from the project start to the pandemic. When the team were furloughed and were restricted to remote delivery, new objectives were formed (informed by a mid-project review in March 2020) and delivered from November 2020 onwards.
Outcome 1:
Connect: An increased number of young people and families across Cardiff regularly experiencing and enjoying nature outdoors in their local community.
Connect Indicators: pre-pandemic (April 2017- March 2020):
• 5,000 0-5 year olds engaged in the RSPB’s newly developed outreach sessions.
• 27,500 5-11 year olds engaging with GNaH Cardiff in educational settings (plus 7,500 hours of children participating in nature connection activities through the Summer Holiday Enrichment Programme).
• 18,500 children engaged in nature based family events & activities in their local community (Plus 3150 hours of children and families participating in Cardiff Wildlife Detectives.
Connect Objectives November 2020 onwards:
• Design a school's outreach programme in line with the national curriculum, initially one targeted session for each of nurseries and early years, and primary schools. From February half-term 2021, these sessions should be able to be facilitated remotely. By August 2022, engage with 1500 children, aged 3-16, through face-to-face or remote facilitation as appropriate. Sessions should have been delivered in all Cardiff wards, with higher representation in wards of deprivation compared to population size.
• By January 2021, design 3 combined 'action for' and 'connection to' nature template events which are inclusive and can be tailored to the audience, aged 3-16. Facilitate the delivery of these events from Jan 2021 in order to engage with at least 1000 children across all Cardiff wards by August 2022, through face-to-face or remote delivery as appropriate. Sessions should have been delivered in all Cardiff wards, with higher representation in wards of deprivation compared to population size.
Outcome 2:
Collaborate: An increased number of regular opportunities for young people and families to gain, develop & share new skills and knowledge enabling greater levels of community engagement and a deeper connection with nature.
Collaborate Indicators: pre-pandemic (April 2017- March 2020):
• A range of volunteer roles and an internship programme developed related to all aspects of GNaH Cardiff (50 volunteers each year and an increasing number of them progressing from assisting to leading engagement activities. 20% - 100% in the project lifetime).
• 100% of Volunteers report their experience as good and beneficial (Using RSPB volunteer evaluation methods).
• Schools and families independently complete 1000 Wild Challenges in their local community.
Collaborate Objectives November 2020 onwards:
• Design a training session for teachers and community engagement professionals to empower them to be able to deliver outdoor learning. Sessions to be facilitated from April 2021 and aim to engage with 200 Cardiff individuals before August 2022, through face-to-face or remote delivery as appropriate. Training sessions should have reached professionals in all Cardiff wards, with higher representation in wards of deprivation compared to population size.
• Support community-led conservation and help develop active citizens for the environment by designing and delivering workshops, from Feb 2021. The initial workshops will be themed around pollinators and swifts with the potential to develop additional workshops such as advocacy, urban planning and casework. We aim to deliver workshops to at least 125 people from Cardiff, by August 2022 through face-to-face or remote delivery as appropriate. Workshops should have reached people in all Cardiff wards, with higher representation in wards of deprivation compared to population size.
• By 31 March 2021 recruit and support a diverse team of volunteers to fill a range of flexible outreach, project support and micro-roles that help achieve project goals. By August 2022, at least 80% of volunteers asked will report having developed their own skills, confidence or employment opportunities; volunteers will have donated 300 hours and 80% of micro-volunteer tasks will have been completed satisfactorily.
Outcome 3:
Change: Local environments enhanced through sustained community action, increasing levels of community ownership and engagement, providing benefits for local biodiversity and empowering more young people and families to take independent and local action for nature.
Change Indicators: pre-pandemic (April 2017- March 2020):
• Family activities for environmental improvement occurring in areas of disadvantage.
• Families active and outdoors, taking action for nature through family volunteering days and donating 1,500 hours.
• Communities establishing, managing and maintaining pollinator friendly habitats across the city (An existing 10 site managed and maintained, and 20 more established)
Change Objectives November 2020 onwards:
• During summer 2021 and 2022, work in partnership to facilitate a Cardiff-wide citizen science survey enabling 400 participants, where the data contributes to a national database. E.g. the global City Nature Challenge.
• By 31 Aug 2022, work with partners to facilitate a diverse network to take independent action to help pollinators in line with the Wales Action plan for pollinators (prioritising improving the South Wales B-Line). By 1 Jan 2021, create an accessible set of pollinator-friendly pledges and supporting information, linked to an interactive online map. By 31 Aug 2022, at least 200 organisations, groups, households and individuals across all Cardiff wards will have pledged and mapped their action.
3.0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES REQUIRED:
A consultant is required to review RSPB’s Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff Partnership project. They will need to be a “critical friend” and analyse how successfully the project has delivered against it’s outputs, objectives and outcomes with the resources and funding available. The findings are to be presented in an end of project evaluation report, and further summarised in a presentation to the Partnership Project Board. A digital and visual high level summary of project successes should also be produced to share with the public, community nature engagement sector and project beneficiaries.
The aims of the evaluation are to celebrate and share successes, and to give the organisations insights to inform their approaches for future inclusive people and nature projects.
4.0 OUTLINE PROGRAMME:
The consultant will be expected to:
• Attend a start-up meeting with key individuals involved in the project to discuss the project outcomes, objectives and impact.
• Review the project outputs (see section 2.0 for a list of outcomes, and objectives with outputs)
• Analyse the project monitoring documentation.
• Interview relevant partners, beneficiaries and stakeholders.
• Provide a short fortnightly update [to Project Manager] by e-mail, MS Teams/Zoom or telephone and attend at least one progress meeting (in addition to the start-up meeting).
• Submit a short bilingual (Welsh/English languages) visual summary of the project successes, to be shared with the public online.
• Submit an “end of project” evaluation report assessing the GNAHC project from initiation, through delivery to future outcomes.
• Deliver a presentation about the report findings to the Partnership Project Board (6 representatives from RSPB Cymru, Buglife Cymru and Cardiff Council).
• The report must:
• Critically review what the £500,000 project has achieved.
• Analyse the impact of the project on beneficiaries.
• Analyse the impact on the partner organisations.
• Provide the RSPB and partner organisations with key lessons for future inclusive nature focussed community empowerment projects.
• Have a bilingual executive summary. The remainder of the document will be English language only.
RSPB will provide you with:
• A Project Manager who will be your key contact.
• Collated GDPR compliant project monitoring data & documentation including: case studies; participant feedback surveys from activities; interview transcripts; a film showing project impacts; KPI tracking spreadsheets; project reports; project management documentation including the risk, issues, change and lessons logs.
• Access and introductions to key personnel & project beneficiaries.
• Signposting to translation services for your visual summary and executive summary.
Timescales:
• 9am 22 July 22 – Deadline for quote submissions.
• 26 July 22 - Invitation to a virtual interview
• w/c 1 August 22 - Interviews
• 5 August 22 - Contract awarded
• 8 August – 8 October 22 – Produce the end of project evaluation.
• 8 October 22 - Present findings to the Partnership Project Board (6 senior leaders from RSPB Cymru, Buglife Cymru and Cardiff Council).
• October 22 – Through October, the visual summary will published externally and shared with project beneficiaries, funders and other community project teams across Cardiff Council, Buglife UK and RSPB UK. There will be opportunities to publicise the findings within the natural environment sector. It will remain published on organisational websites. The report will be shared with funders, and other project teams across Cardiff Council, Buglife UK and RSPB UK, and remain in the learning libraries of each organisation.
Please note there is a fixed budget of £7,500 + VAT
The successful supplier will supply a service to which the following points will apply:
1. Provide a methodology of how the evaluation will be carried out, including a timeline and budget breakdown.
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2. Provide detailed examples of similar work.
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3. Provide proven track experience in “end of project” evaluations for National Lottery Community Fund Projects.
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4. Display an understanding of the different elements of the Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff partnership project (Section 2.0).
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5. Provide a description of methods to be used to ascertain what worked well/what could be improved, determining the main factors that impeded or contributed to the delivery of the project.
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6. Make recommendations for future work leading from the Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff Partnership project.
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7. Provide the organisations with key insights to support the organisation to learn.
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Your quote should be emailed to angela.munn@rspb.org.uk by Friday 22 July, 9am.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of this quote prior to submitting, please email angela.munn@rspb.org.uk
Yours faithfully,
Angela Munn
Project Manager
Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff Partnership Project
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Added Value
As well as any charity rate that you may be able to offer, the RSPB is always open to corporate partnerships that deliver benefit to your organisation, the RSPB and nature. Working as part of your CSR agenda we can provide opportunities for fundraising, secondments, interns and volunteering, offering your staff both personal and career development opportunities. We also welcome all forms of gifts in kind as valuable contributions to our work to Give Nature a Home.
Suppliers should provide details of any associated added value features/services/gifts in kind available to the RSPB under the terms of this Quote. (Attach separate document if needed).
Please note, added value donations will not be part of the criteria we use to decide on which supplier to choose.
Terms and Conditions
The basis of the contractual agreement between RSPB and the applicant is detailed in the RSPB Terms and Conditions – please click on this link to download. In applying for this work you are explicitly agreeing to be bound by these Terms and Conditions for the duration of the contract. If you require any alterations to these Terms and Conditions please state your issues below. (Attach separate document if needed)
The RSPB expects that all suppliers it works with to adhere to certain ethical and environmental standards. Please download the RSPB Ethical and Environmental Procurement Policy and tick this box if you agree to be bound by its terms and conditions 0
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