Sharing the Evolve Annual Report Year 3

Written by Ruth Hislop-Gill, Senior Project Manager – Evolve

ELBA’s Evolve Project came to the end of its third year in December 2023. We are delighted to be able to share the 2023 Annual Report which showcases the amazing impact this programme has had over the year. Read the full report here.

Evolve is a collaborative partnership between Linklaters, UBS, Societe Generale and the Societe Generale UK Foundation which aims to flexibly respond to the changing needs of community organisations and charities across Hackney, Haringey and Tower Hamlets. Throughout 2023 Evolve was able to support 75 community organisations and engage over 160 employee volunteers. A big thank you to all volunteers who took part in the variety of projects and activities over the past year, it’s only with this continued energy and dedication that we are able to continue working with such a large number of community partners.

Evolve activity:

In 2023 Evolve delivered 22 sessions focusing on seven different activities.
Compass: Teams of volunteers collaborate with community organisations to navigate a key business challenge through three months of high impact, intensive volunteer support.
Digital Compass: Developed from the well established Compass programme, this digitally focused activity saw groups of volunteers working with community organisations over three months on a specific IT/ digital challenge.
Leaders in Partnership (LiP): Pairing current community leaders with senior volunteers for a 10-month, coaching-style partnership. Full report here.
Emerging Leaders: A new programme in 2023, Emerging Leaders is adapted from LiP. It is designed to support individuals emerging as leaders in the not-for-profit sector, to develop and build leadership and confidence skills.
Digital Inclusion: A series of training sessions and capacity building workshops and networking events focused on enhancing community organisations’ digital capabilities.
Learning from Leaders: A series of workshops, training sessions and networking events, providing corporate and community leaders the opportunity to share challenges, learnings and solutions.
Priority planning: Teams of volunteers work through an organisation health-check assessment with community organisations, identifying priority areas for capacity building, and creating an action plan to tackle gaps.
Remote Review: Volunteers collaborate with community organisations to enhance key business documents such as funding applications and resources relating to project management, business planning and finance.
Strategic Solutions: Teams of volunteers work with community organisations to overcome specific strategic challenges relating to business planning, finance, income strategy, and project management.

2023 saw massive pressure placed upon organisations as the cost of living crisis increased demand on services and staff, and shrinking funds have meant lots of organisations have been ‘making do with less’. Evolve has paid close attention to these changing priorities and worked hard at connecting with community umbrella organisations across the boroughs, building on programmes of support these organisations already offer.

ELBA is pleased to announce a continuation commitment from the Evolve partners (UBS, Linklaters, Societe Generale and the Societe Generale UK Foundation) for another two years from 2024. While 2024 looks set to be another challenging year for community organisations across east London, Evolve hopes to continue supporting organisations and responding to some of these key challenges.

Long-standing partnerships, commitment to collaboration and local impact will continue to sit at the heart of everything Evolve delivers in 2024.

If you have any questions, would like to partake in an Evolve activity, or discuss a particular area of need, please get in touch with Ruth Hislop-Gill, Evolve Project Manager: ruth.hislop-gill@elba-1.org.uk.

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