CASE STUDY Communities Supporting Communities Background Communities Supporting Communities (CSC) is a charitable organisation based in West London that as the name suggests, concentrates on the local community. In recent years, more and more people are depending on foodbanks. The rise in the use of food banks is partly attributed to the 2008 recession, and partly to the austerity measures introduced afterwards. In 2014 there were close to 1000 foodbanks and in 2015 more than a million people in the UK benefited from a donation. Foodbanks are intended to provide emergency support to those who find themselves unable to feed themselves or their family. Recipients are referred by care professionals such as a doctor, health visitor or social worker and are issued with a voucher which they can exchange for a three day emergency pack of food to tide them over. Generally, people only make use of the service once or twice; foodbanks are not intended to replace the UK benefits system, but to supplement it. We can all think of people who are struggling to make ends meet – many are on low incomes or not able to work so are dependent on benefits; there are many reasons why people need this emergency support such as bereavement, illness, redundancy, or an unexpected high bill. However, it is not always those who are obviously 'poor' who need help. For example, some people may earn a very good salary, but also have very high outgoings e.g. a mortgage, car lease payments, mobile phone, TV and broadband contracts. If this income suddenly disappears e.g. the major wage earner loses their job and cannot immediately find another, they will still have to pay these bills as you normally have to give notice before you can terminate a contract, and once savings have been depleted, they may be temporarily unable to feed their family. In fact, despite the fact that you were yourself a well-paid IT project manage, you found yourself needing their help when all in the same week, your company went into receivership and you had to immediately return both your company car and your laptop, and an electrical fault resulted in your house burning down and the loss of the majority of your possessions. You moved into temporary rented accommodation and had to buy a replacement laptop and second hand car in order apply for jobs and attend interviews. Whilst the majority of the costs were covered by insurance, it took several weeks for the claims to be settled, resulting in severe cash flow problems, and you were very grateful for this support that allowed you to feed your family whilst waiting for the insurance settlement. This is very much a community project. The food is supplied by local shoppers who fill a trolley in their local supermarkets. The supermarkets deliver these to the foodbank warehouse facilities, which is provided by a local electrical wholesaler. Volunteers manage the stocks, sorting by food category e.g. soups, dried pasta, tinned vegetables, and identifying low stocks. Other volunteers distribute the food packs to the recipients when they turn up at the foodbank, which is run out of local community centre hall. Other volunteers offer other support, dependent on their skills. It is also possible to make a one off or a regular monetary donation via the CSC website. As well as charitable donations and fundraising efforts, there is also some central funding from organisations such as the local authority, and grants from the National Lottery fund to support both the day to day running and special projects. CSC does more than provide food to the recipients. Recipients would far rather be able to manage for themselves than depend on charity, and CSC support this by providing a range of services. This includes working closely with local debt and money management organisations. Recipients can be referred to organisations such as Citizens Advice and Advice UK who can provide support to deal with financial or debt difficulties. Additionally, CSC are working in partnership with the local university who provide free of charge cookery courses that teach people how to manage their food budget and cook cheap and nutritious meals. Very often, people who have previously been supported by the foodbank through a difficult time are eager to contribute to the initiative, not only by donating produce, but also by volunteering their services. CSC like to keep in touch with people they have previously supported, not only to check that they are still receiving the support they need, but also to invite them to join them as a volunteer. In fact, they contacted you only last week. You are now back on your feet, working for a West London organisation which incorporates a range of corporate social responsibility initiatives into their business strategy. You have proposed to your manager that you support CSC by providing project management services, and this has been agreed. CSC will fund all other costs of the project, but your time will be provided free of charge for one day a week. The problems CSC are aware that they do not have a sufficiently high profile in the local community and would to raise awareness of the organisation to both those who would benefit from their services, and those who could support their efforts. They would also like to highlight the additional services that they offer to their current clientele. To date, CSC have been managing member, donation and volunteer information making use of Microsoft Excel, Outlook and SharePoint, but as the organisation has grown and demand for its services has increased, this has become inefficient, with information often being held locally on individual computers, leading to inefficient workflow processes and repeated customer contacts which damage goodwill. As CRC have already invested heavily in the Microsoft infrastructure, they have decided that Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online would best suit their needs. At present, the CSC committee and the majority of their supporters are approaching retirement age and they would like to attract younger people into the organisation. They have heard of the term 'gamification' and feel that use of this approach, combined with the power of social media may attract a younger pool of supporters and protect the future of the organisation. The solution In order to address the above, CSC are funding a campaign which they call "We ♥ CSC!" There are a number of projects which contribute to this initiative. These are as follows: 1. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online will be implemented to replace their current system. 2. A website will be developed with the following functionality: foodbank locator, ability to register for support, ability to offer support (either time, particular skills, or make a financial donation). 3. An awareness campaign to raise the profile of CSC within the local community. This will be particularly targeted towards industry in the area with a view to soliciting financial and other support. Portfolio elements You should assume that you are programme managing all of the highlighted sub-projects. Your portfolio will include the following: 1. A Project Initiation Document (PID) to ensure that all participants and stakeholders are aware of the core attributes of the project. This should include, but is not limited to, all elements typically expected of a PID, as reflected in the lectures, examples given in the course and standard best practice from published examples. This document should also include a stakeholder analysis. Aim for between 1000 and 1500 words. [40%] 2. A comprehensive risk register including at least 10 detailed risk elements. This should be accompanied by a brief report of 500-800 words. [15%]