Consultant Support for Bradford Environmental Action Trust

Woodlands Heritage Project

HLF Transition Fund

Specification for consultancy work

Background

Bradford Environmental Action Trust (BEAT) is a registered charity which has been successfully running community environmental projects since 1997. Our most notable success to date is the planting of half a million trees in the Bradford district with the help of local volunteers at over 250 sites. Due to the challenging funding environment, BEAT is at the point where changes need to be made to the organisational structure and income generation streams. Building on BEAT’s expertise and experience of two previous Heritage Lottery Projects we are at the stage where we can offer training and advice to other organisations, landowners and many others who work or who are interested in working in the region’s woodlands. The trees we have planted since 1997 are now ready to be thinned for selling as wood fuel. As a wood fuel supplier, we would be in a unique position of continually planting a new supply of trees.

BEAT staff and Board of Trustees are committed to taking advantage of this opportunity and recognise the need for support and training in this new venture with the help of the Heritage Lottery’s Transition Fund. We are therefore commissioning the piece of work specified below.

The work

BEAT would like to work closely with a mentor to help make the transition over the duration of the project as follows:

• Developing strategies for the planned income diversification
• Organisational development and planning
• Restructure to include setting up a new trading arm for example
• Business planning
• Enterprise development, exploring the scope of our organisation
• Bespoke training for staff and Trustees
• Market research and marketing of our new products and services
• IT, web and social media

Scope

We would like the mentor to take us from a charity that has been traditionally dependent on grant funding to an organisation that is sustainable and secure for the future through a new way of working. This will include, as mentioned above, setting up a training centre concentrating on heritage skills, offering a consultancy and advice service around woodland management and a wood fuel business. At the end of this project we would like to have improved skills on the staff and Board and remain true to our original charity aims.

Specification

We wish to commission a suitably qualified and experienced consultant to undertake this mentoring work with 2 members of staff and 4 Trustees on a regular, planned series of sessions throughout the duration of the project.

Your experience will include working with charities to see them through changes in organisational structure. Experience of working in the heritage sector would be an advantage.

It is expected that the consultant will arrange for suitable professionals to help to undertake this work where needed, e.g. legal, business professionals and this will be included in the budget of £7000 and not paid on top of this figure. The details of this will be discussed when interviews take place.

You will need to be willing to travel to Bradford on a regular basis and attend occasional evening board meetings.

Timescale

The mentoring would need to start in December 2014 and run until January 2016.

Applications : Please submit your application by 16^th December 2014 outlining your methodology for the project and enclosing a brief CV, detailing your relevant skills, knowledge and experience to:

Jen Miles

Jen.miles@beat.org.uk

01274 487270 option 5

Please also provide contact details for two referees.