Tyfu Powys Evaluation

Tender description

Introduction and Background Social Farms and Gardens is a UK wide charity supporting communities to farm, garden and grow together. Our vision: ‘People and communities reaching their full potential through nature-based activities as a part of everyday life’. Tyfu Powys Project Overview Tyfu Powys will provide capacity building support to community growing sites and social enterprises across Powys, creating: - Resilient, sustainable and accessible sites - Embedding responsibility for, and pride in, place - Supporting the creation of beautiful spaces across Powys towns and rural areas for all to enjoy and get involved in Support no matter where you are on your development journey to create those beautiful spaces, better soils and habitats and more connected people. Delivered through network/s, tailored mentoring development support, Have A Grow participation support, event support, mapping and orchard leader training. Each site we work with is embedded in its own community, empowering local people, including those who are: hard to reach; economically inactive; in food & fuel poverty; single parents; aging - keeping them active, healthy and continuous learners. The specific activities Tyfu Powys will deliver are: 1. Powys Community Growing Network/s: asset-based community development model to share knowledge and experience, increasing skills of local people through training sessions and gatherings for community growers in Powys. Anticipated number of participants: 75. 2. Development Support for established and new groups: to encourage development of new community growing projects and sustain existing, including some capital infrastructure expenditure. 60 days support. 3. Have A Grow days 2024: supporting 20 community gardens to open their gates and welcome those who haven’t previously participated in growing, widening prospective volunteering opportunities. An SF&G national initiative designed to bring in new visitors and volunteers and create opportunities to raise funds through sales, donations and new supporters. 4. Low Carbon Grow Local: encouraging positive behaviour change from individuals and groups to reduce their carbon output by working with Powys groups on low carbon growing knowledge sharing events, with those attending delivering further low carbon community activities. 10 sites. 5. Grow, Buy, Eat Local: changing habits to seasonal food, with beneficiaries gaining connection with community growing sites and introducing capabilities to create resilience against cost of living. 10 sites. 6. Mapping: working with our Powys Community Growing Network/s to enable self-use of our GIS mapping, developed with Digital Commons, compatible with LA, Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales. 10 sites. 7. Orchards: Orchard Leader programme for 10 orchard leaders and establishment of localised Powys Productive Community Orchard networks to make use of the fruit from the new and established community orchards. Increasing the use of Welsh language throughout the course of the project and evaluating Tyfu Powys are key project outcomes. Tyfu Powys Evaluation: Key Aims 1. Present robust, transparent evidence of the impacts of the project activities Evidence of project aims, outputs, outcomes, plus any unexpected outcomes, challenges and changes that are robust and engaging (photos, videos, video diaries). 2. Reveal and document how project impacts and aims are achieved Illustrate what key mechanisms were needed across the project for the aims, outputs and outcomes to be achieved – plus identifying any unexpected outcomes, challenges and changes. A clear path/timeline of what occurred to achieve the project aims, outputs and outcomes and how the unexpected outcomes, challenges and changes happened, giving specific examples where appropriate. 3. Advise on evidence gathering and presenting our outputs and outcomes Tyfu Powys has a variety of outputs and outcomes to report upon and