What we can do - What we have done
	On this page we illustrate some of the elements of our work. Below you will find links to pages that describe areas where we have been successful. Further down the page is a  company biography of projects we have completed or are currently working on. Service pages include... Projects for Children & Young People Evaluation   Funding   Project Management   Enterprise

Evaluation Whether at the beginning of your project, as an interim report on progress or a summative evaluation - SmithMartin offer expertise at  appraisal and evaluation of a wide variety of projects and programmes. Visit our evaluation page here.

Enterprise Can a social business generate surpluses, yet hold true to high community and ethical values? Visit our enterprise page here.

Funding Funding is the building block of any project or community enterprise. Planning your bid or application? See our simple step by step philosophy. SmithMartin can help. Visit our funding page here.

Project Management Whether a small nascent community project, or a large programme driven enterprise, SmithMartin can offer expertise in supporting your activity. We use sound methodologies and imaginative, energetic  thinking to add development value to your project. Visit our project management page here.

Projects for Children & Young People NEW:    Working with a North London local authority to deliver a literacy event for children. Tapping into the energy of the local community, we are working with a range of partners to create a regular programme of book and reading events - designed to engage families and carers who are least consulted - delivering books and an interest in reading to children and young people, The project plan is to create a rolling programme of events, establish new children's book groups and to keep reading and great stories at the top of the agenda if we can. Using our community web and book retailing expertise to provide a dynamic, well resourced infrastructure to deliver durable outcomes. Watch our news pages for updates in the New Year. NEW:    Delivering two community consultations in partnership with a Berkshire Local Authority, 4Children and the DfES - designed to help children, parents and carers reach a community concensus about which services should be provided as part of their areas Exended Schools agenda. Part of the project is also to research, write and deliver to the client local authority a clear model of the consultation and background framework to help roll - out provision across the LA area in the future. Delivering a complex project around the development of a single Children's Centre in a North London Borough. The work involves project managing the capital spend and build elements, as well as transferring children and services from existing satellite locations into the new building when complete. This nine month project is delivered against a background of structural change within the Local Authority as Children's Services are further integrated and rationalised. Political sensitivity and support for teams during a time of change are an integral element of  the work. Working with a UK based client to establish childcare facilities in Ireland. Implementing partnership contacts, site arrangements and project planning. Helping the client to create best practice systems of work and reporting that are in advance of forthcoming Irish childcare regulation. Contracted to deliver development support to a cluster of second tier Children's Centres across a London Borough. Providing a flexible and practical partnership building programme of activities, to coagulate and transform the imminent delivery of innovative services for children and young people across a range of housing districts. Strong partnership engagement, with specialist expertise needed in the rollout of the Children's Centre agenda.  Meeting and agenda coordination, facilitating debate around options and help with implementation of the resultant planning. Engaged to plan, deliver and support the relocation of a complete children's Full Day Care Centre.   Doubling the provision to 100+ places. Providing professional expertise and management skills to achieve targets. Delivering staff recruitment and full spectrum best practice to expand and develop the services offered, on behalf of a major institutional partner. Involvement in the developing agenda and models for Children’s Trust arrangements whilst being a member of a Local Authority’s Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board working group. Meeting the needs of Children and Young People in an area of disadvantage from within a large government funded programme. Using needs and gap analysis, de-commissioning and new commissioning processes based on quantitative and qualitative measures. Working with minority groups in inner city areas to successfully enable sensitive projects to move forward and reach all members of the community. This led to increased involvement and participation through genuine desire to create an organisation matching the community’s richness and diversity. This was particularly effective when working with BME, refugee and asylum seeker groups where an atmosphere of misunderstanding and mistrust was ‘turned round’ to open up positive dialogue. Developing a programme of meaningful participation and involvement for children and young people, through the ‘Here By Rights Standards’ and the ‘ladder of participation’. This included strategic liaison with a Local Authority. Part of a team working on the Information Sharing and Assessment process to create partnership and professional trust for enabling sensitive information about vulnerable children to be used. Voluntary Sector - Charity Development - Mentoring New: During November and December of 2007 partners have been involved in the take up of training to develop business coaching skills. Tim Smith of SmithMartin LLP has attended an ESF funded business coach development course run by Social Enterprise East of England. Tim says '...I was delighted to develop my skills in this way - as an ethical practice, honing coaching skills for the Social Enterprise sector, allows us to transmit our ethical business development knowledge into this growing sector. Sharing experiences and having an objective and supportive coach can be critical in managing change and growth for small organisations'. Donating time and partnership resources,  with a variety of  other professional practices, to develop an Imagination Centre in East Anglia. SmithMartin sponsor the ImagineNewmarket website  and provide community development, community consultation and funding expertise to the project. In concert withother commercial partners, architectural and child care, partners donate their time to transfer skill and  growth into the community to begin the building of a major regional education facility. Donating time for mentoring a chief operating officer of a London based  charity for women. Advising and supporting on issues of governance, management and service user development. Donating time and partnership resources to a growing East Anglian environmental charity.  Providing the charity with a professional web presence and contributing to governance and marketing issues. Social Enterprise - Funding and Business Development Delivering suppport to an East Midlands Local Authority - assisting both council and community projects to develop full capital bids into the ERDF Urban II Programme. Working to tight deadlines ensuring maximum take up of funds and successful approval processes to secure tight N+2 and financial year end targets. Using business plan development and technical ERDF skills to support a diverse range of clients. Delivering project value to the board of £6.7m in three months. Contracted to deliver two substantial bodies of work around bid appraisal and recommendation for the ESF/LSC Olympic Infrastructure investment programme. One contract to deliver bid appraisal for a pan-London workforce development programme, begining in August 2006. The second to deliver appraisal for bids around company relocation, economic development and workforce skill increments in the Olympic build zone in East London. Deliberating on contract proposals, in excess of £1 million, with analysis turnround and delivery to very tight deadlines. Contracted to a South London Local Authority, a lead body for a regional ESF funded Social Enterprise development project. Tasked to deliver a full spectrum summative evaluation of the Thames Gateway Development Partnership EQUAL project. An international, regional initiative to deliver cross-cutting and innovative Social Enterprise capacity building and development, through the medium of the region's Third Sector. A highly complex, transnational research exercise, delivering an evaluation of overall programme effectiveness and measures of added value, whilst assessing highly complex programme management issues. Delivering a diverse, politically sensitive judgement to very tight deadlines. A paper on the research methodology can be obtained from SmithMartin Partnership. Developing a time critical business plan for a Community Warden scheme. This work involved both a review of existing  policy and practice, coupled to a strategic review of management and information systems. Implementation of changes in operational practice, with the development of new social enterprise activity - in exchange for external earnings. A programme of work dedicated to establishing an enduring social business in a highly charged political and economic environment. Development of  rural community centre and nascent social enterprise.The work involved base line assessment of centre use, scoping of potential development opportunities and advising the board on project implementation. Developing earned income potential for the site, as well as capitalising on the energy within the Healthy Living Centre and Community ICT Centre. Involvement in developing new reporting systems for the centre management, as well as streamlining and making more effective and detailed reporting to a wide variety of existing funders - NOF, Heritage Lottery, EEDA, ESF Objective 2, Children's Fund etc. Working with a delivery agent for New Deal for Communities - preparing a large number of very diverse projects for the long journey from grant-aided project to self sustaining community business. Working with the trust senior management team to improve customer service, resident engagement, as well as project review and evaluation mechanisms. Advising and supporting the delivery of Neighbourhood Management - helping to develop the commissioning agenda for the Trust and working across the organisation on a variety of tasks to support organisational change in pursuit of a revised set of corporate objectives. Tasked to support the embedding of community development, equality of opportunity, individual development and cross theme, cross discipline working throughout the organisation. Working with a London based SRB board  to deliver social enterprise solutions to a range of projects engaged with their local Primary Care Trusts. Working with local authority and VCS partners, to offer help with business plans for sustainability, fund raising, governance and project guidance. Promoting the health agenda for projects - delivering enterprise as an exit strategy.