Minstead Trust Stakeholder Engagement Research
The Minstead Trust wanted to undertake extensive stakeholder and audience research in order to better position their organisation within the care sector and inform a rebranding exercise. R4C worked with the Trust from July 2023 until February 2024 to plan and deliver a stakeholder and audience engagement exercise, summarised as ‘plan’, ‘listen’, ‘review’ and ‘do’.
During the ‘plan’ phase, R4C facilitated the development of a sector-wide theory of change with Minstead Trust staff, senior management and trustees coupled with stakeholder mapping which resulted in clear frameworks within which to plan engagement. This was achieved through a series of 1.5 hour online sessions, resulting in clear diagrammatic summaries, a costed stakeholder engagement plan and 10 research questions to frame the research.
We then delivered that plan as part of the ‘listen’ phase, delivering a combination of manned consultation stalls at the Trust’s public locations in and around the New Forest and Portsmouth, conducted a range of interviews and focus groups with commissioners, funders, supporters, staff, businesses and peer organisers. We also supported staff to conduct similar sessions with those they support – those with learning disabilities – to ensure we obtained a multifaceted view.
From that work, we conducted extensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of the findings – the ‘analysis’ phase – resulting in 12 conclusions, 6 actionable recommendations and updated Theory of Change to underpin strategic planning Our work is now the foundation for rebranding work now being taken forward by a design agency.
At our close out meeting, the client praised our pragmatic approach citing our ability to listen and respond flexibly whilst also offering constructive challenge throughout.
“We have really enjoyed working with R4C.
Scott and Neil listened to what we wanted to achieve and took time to make sure they fully understood our organisation and future plans, in order to design a programme of work which met our end goals for the project, but also added value, through gently challenging and guiding our thinking as well.
The facilitation to develop a new Theory of Change was superb – providing clarity in a complex sector, and engaging trustees and senior staff. Their analysis of all the stakeholder information, gathered through various engagement techniques, was comprehensive and insightful, leading to clear recommendations that we can now move forward with.
Thank you.”
Dawn Wood – Director of Development, Minstead Trust