Members of the Urban Forum network tend to be small, locally based voluntary and community groups, concentrated in areas of high deprivation. Our services for groups wanting to bid to run public service are designed with this part of the sector in mind. Running through all aspects of our services is our commitment to equality and inclusion and to meaningful service user involvement. We can help you with . .

Our services support organisations to make the most of what they have to offer and provide the information needed for a successful bid to run a service. We can tailor services to meet specific needs, but the sorts of support we can provide include:

Needs analysis - why is the service you propose needed
All bids will need to include an assessment of resident/service user needs. We can work with you to locate existing relevant data, design community research and help develop your skills to gather new evidence and develop an inclusive analysis of service user /resident needs.

Social value - what difference you could make to the community
Public sector commissioners will need to consider the social value of all bids to run pubic services. We can help you to quantify and demonstrate the community benefit (social value) of your proposals - both in a competitive tendering process and to make the case for small contracts not to be subject to open competition - by carrying out a social value assessment, provide training on the Social Value Act, and increase your skills in measuring social value.

Outcomes - what difference you could make to individuals using the service
All bids will need to show what difference the service will make to the individuals using it. We can work with you to identify the outcomes you expect to achieve from the services you are proposing develop, develop your theory of change, and identify realistic outcome measures.

Contact us for more information