Projects and what clients say


SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND AND THEN BE UNDERSTOOD.
STEPHEN COVEY

I provide branding, communication and partnership support to a wide range of organisations. I also help facilitate meaningful conversations at strategic days and conferences. Each piece of work is crafted to suit the needs and circumstances of the client.

Previous clients include: British Red Cross, Christian Aid, LifeMosaic, Take One Action Film Festivals, Friends of the Earth Scotland, GalGael Trust, Nourish Scotland, The University of Edinburgh/NSPCC Child Protection Research Centre, Simon Community Scotland, SCVO, The Iona Community, Victim Support Scotland and Zero Tolerance.

A selection of projects is listed below – followed by more detailed information. See the overview section for details of my approach and the values that underpin this work.

  • TAKE ONE ACTION FILM FESTIVALS: Charter development and partnership support
    “Wendy brought great insight and clarity to reveal a story that was fundamentally ours.”
  • BRITISH RED CROSS: Facilitation and event design for conferences and senior level strategy days, including a European Conference on migration
    “…Your visual and creative approach was also refreshing and helped us think and work differently.” 
  • NHS LOTHIAN (HEALTHY RESPECT): Brand coordination, partnerships and communication management
    “…Wendy’s negotiation skills were essential in order to get over 15 partners working together all under the one banner.”
  • ZERO TOLERANCE: Strategic input and facilitation
    “…extremely focused… asked probing questions… really got under the skin of the organisation, which was a big help in moving us forward with a new strategic plan.” 
  • MARS/SCCPN: Conference facilitation and event design
    “…I really appreciated your focus, calmness and organisation on the day.” 

DETAILED INFORMATION ON SELECTED PROJECTS AND CLIENTS

CLIENT: Take One Action Film Festivals
ROLE: Brand and Partnerships Consultant
SUMMARY: This work helped a young organisation clarify its values, approach and partnership mechanisms to enhance its profile, communication and relationships. It included a brand review to support the formation of the festival’s charter. The charter was developed alongside a partnership review which informed tools and approaches for ensuring clear expectations and mechanisms for mutually beneficial partnership relationships.

“Wendy brought great insight and clarity to reveal a story that was fundamentally ours, helping to shape it and make it accessible to a much wider clientele and in the process helping us refocus who we are, what we offer, how so, and why. Moreover, at each stage she ensured that the right people were asked the right questions in the right way, leaving us confident of ownership and buy-in. As a result, our team, partners and funders are on the same page: not only in terms of where we are going but – just as importantly – in terms of what the journey is about. I’d heartily recommend her.”
Simon Bateson, Artistic Director, Take One Action Film Festivals

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CLIENT: British Red Cross
ROLE: Facilitation and event design for conferences and senior level strategy days.
SUMMARY: Between 2010 and 2012 I worked alongside different teams at the British Red Cross (BRC) to help deliver conferences and strategy days. In addition to hosting discussions, much of this work has involved helping to shape the programme, designing activities to generate ideas as well as foster positive relationships and engagement, and introducing creative ways of capturing the conversations. For some of the strategy days, participants are were involved by email/phone prior to the event to help shape a meaningful and collectively owned agenda. Group sizes have varied from eight to 120 and included European-wide conference on Migration held in Budapest, a UK conference on Safeguarding as well as strategy days with the BRC Senior Management Team and the Communication Management Team.

“Thanks again for your fantastic contribution to our vision camp. We really appreciated the time you took to understand our business and the context in which we operate. Your visual and creative approach was also refreshing and helped us think and work differently. The two days were well structured to achieve robust but respectful conversations, meaningful actions and helped us think creatively. Thank you for your input and flexibility. You kept us focussed on actions and outcomes, and helped nurture an environment which was energetic and creative.”
Phil Talbot, Director of Communications, British Red Cross

“I just wanted to let you know that your facilitation of the conference was excellent and really helped in bringing it all together. We had a lot of comments informally as well as emails since of congratulations and a sense that the conference was a very positive experience for all those involved. “
Myrtha Waite, Positive Images Project Coordinator, British Red Cross (reflecting on European Positive Images Conference on Migration, Budapest)

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CLIENT: NHS Lothian (Healthy Respect)
ROLE: Brand Co-ordinator and Communications Manager
SUMMARY: This Scottish Government funded National Health Demonstration Project adopted a partnership brand approach as part of how it delivered work to improve the sexual health and relationships of young people. My work with Healthy Respect included leading the development of a common framework – the charter – to articulate the values, purpose and guiding principles; liaising with partners to distil insights for improving partnership working; developing a social marketing campaign to promote awareness and behaviour change; and involving partners in the delivery of an integrated communications strategy.

“Wendy set the tone for the Healthy Respect brand from the very early days of the project and worked hard to ensure it was fresh and relevant to young people in Lothian. Wendy’s negotiation skills were essential in order to get over 15 partners working together all under the one banner.”
Dona Milne, Project Manager, Healthy Respect

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CLIENT: Zero Tolerance (a charity committed to ending violence against women)
ROLE: Strategic input and facilitation
SUMMARY: This work involved gathering insights from staff and trustees prior to a strategy day. The day was designed to help build the team and ensure that pertinent issues relating to the identity and distinctiveness of the organisation were discussed in a manner that could inform future development and funding applications.

“I really enjoyed working with Wendy when we contracted with her to assist us with our strategic planning. She was extremely focused, asked probing questions, provided useful analytical tools to help us understand emerging opportunities and how we were using our time. She really got under the skin of the organisation, which was a big help in moving us forward with a new strategic plan. She was also cheerful, positive and extremely professional – always punctual in responding to queries and diligent about delivering the work she had promised on time, on budget and to a high standard. I’d have no hesitation in recommending her as a very thoughtful, analytical and professional consultant who is also very personable. I am sure we will work with her again in future.”
Jenny Kemp, Coordinator, Zero Tolerance

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CLIENT: MARS/SCCPN (network supporting professionals working in child protection)
ROLE: Conference facilitation and event design
SUMMARY: Support for this conference included contributing to the planning meetings and developing an activity to promote and capture discussion between 180 delegates during one of the sessions. On-the-day support included being the key liaison between MARS/SCCPN, the venue and contributors, and facilitating the roundtable discussions.

“Thank you for all your help in the delivery of our conference. I think the day was a huge success and I really appreciated your focus, calmness and organisation on the day. Great to work with you.”
Beth Smith, Director, MARS

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