About BIG Assist

Are you an infrastructure organisation looking to meet the changing environment, and seeking to adapt the way you operate? BIG Assist can help. BIG Assist is a programme that puts you at the forefront of change, enabling you to reflect on your organisational needs through an online diagnostic; providing you with direct support to help successfully implement change; and providing you with online and offline opportunities to learn and network with other infrastructure organisations to support you in your development.

How can BIG Assist help you?

Begin by completing the online diagnostic. To date [Jan 2014] 245 infrastructure organisations have completed the BIG Assist diagnostic review and over 750,000 has been awarded to customers in vouchers. Many organisations who have taken part in the programme have indicated to us how valuable they find the review process. " being a small team can sometimes be an isolated experience so it was good to bounce back ideas and thoughts about the future direction and support needed for CHYPPS." Tony Armstrong In the majority of cases organisations are able to identify their areas of need but the BIG Assist consultant can often help with suggesting solutions, pointing in different directions or where there are a number of areas of need helping with prioritising. It is safe to say I was a sceptic when I saw the length of the diagnostic but having come through the other end, it was a great opportunity for me as a Chief Officer to take a step back and look at the whole organisation. Yes it is long and I had in my head some specifics I felt the organisation needed to focus on, and to an extent this is what the diagnostic told us, but it also made me think a little wider. We are now not only looking at the core area of sustainability, but are making good use of the increasing need to focus on other Big Assist areas such as marketing & relationship building. I remember seeing the phone ring knowing it was the Big Assist consultant ready to do the phone interview on the diagnostic and I really wanted to let it just ring off, but of course I didnt, and am

glad I didnt. He challenged me to consider different approaches and an hour later I had a page full of new things I wanted to explore. Persevere with it as you never know what new directions it might help you to explorewe did and have secured some funding as a result! Paul Roberts, Chief Officer, LGBT Consortium

Peer to peer learning

A large element of BIG Assist programme is the peer to peer support community; allowing infrastructure organisations to share and learn from one another. The BIG Assist peer-to-peer programme includes an events programme (face to face and online), an online sharing platform (forum) and free resources as well as a sponsored visit and mentoring programme. We came away with a very clear picture about elements we need to work on in order to move to charging for development support, including determining what services to charge for, pricing, publicity and managing relationships with donors and service users. We will share our learning with the rest of our staff team and trustees. We will produce a menu of services and publicity about the new approach. We will examine our systems (admin / finance) and update where necessary to support this new approach. Voluntary Action Lewisham This Meeting was a fantastic opportunity to meet with Dominic from HFVC group and it was good to discover some shared ground around best practice when delivering ESV Programmes. Very successful! Volunteer Centre Southwark

Contact Us
assist@ncvo.org.uk 0207 520 2418 The BIG Assist enquiries line is staffed Monday Friday, 9am-5pm.