NLHF Business Support Programme Extension - Evaluation

Descriptions

The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF)-funded Business Support Programme ‘Surviving to Thriving’ (StT) was developed by MGS, Built Environment Forum Scotland (BEFS) and greenspace Scotland in late 2020. This comprehensive resilience and leadership training programme was launched in April 2021 and has supported heritage organisations across Scotland to develop sustainable business models. Additional funding has now been awarded in order to extend the programme by another year. A contractor is being sought separately to this tender (via Public Contracts Scotland) to deliver a training programme for approximately 20 heritage organisations (approx. 40 individuals) across Scotland. Target participants will be trustees, senior managers, and future leaders in the heritage sector. The additional programme will commence in March 2023 and run for nine months, with the expectation that participating organisations will attend 14 - 18 days of training within that period. Eligible organisations will be awarded a community grant to enable them to fully participate in the programme. Delivery of the training programme will be fully remote, using online learning tools and facilitation software. It is expected that all participating organisations will undertake training in four core strands: leadership, governance, business planning, and community engagement. More details on this can be found in the invitation to tender for the training element of the programme. Tenders are invited for the summative evaluation of the one-year extension to the StT programme. MGS particularly welcomes innovative approaches to capturing the social and economic impacts of the programme extension, including value for money. The evaluation must take account of and reflect the diverse requirements of the population in Scotland. It must recognise that different groups and communities face particular inequalities and difficulties, including external and internal barriers. MGS welcomes submissions from individuals and organisations with an understanding of the heritage sector in Scotland, a willingness to adopt an innovative and creative approach to the evaluation of the programme extension’s impact on participating organisations and individuals, previous experience of evaluating similar skills projects, and an ability to display findings in an engaging and visual manner.