Activities & Audience Development Consultant: Plas Gunter Mansion Trust

The Trust wishes to appoint an experienced consultant team who can deliver the audience development work and produce an Activity Plan during the Development Phase of the Restoration of Plas Gunter Mansion funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This phase will inform and support the submission of a Delivery Phase application.A consultant or team of consultants is required with experience of audience development and activity planning in a heritage context. Experience of activity delivery and evaluation of the outcomes will be advantageous, as will a good understanding of the abilities and limitations of small organisations. The team must understand the imperatives of audience development and activity planning and be experienced in team-working with other disciplines. The activities developed must meet the needs of developing audiences and provide an infrastructure for volunteer activity and community projects.The attached Feasibility Study sets out initial ideas and defines the target audiences and summarises consultation already undertaken. The next stage of work will build on this work already undertaken.The consultant team must have experience of National Lottery Heritage Funding funded project development and have a clear understanding of the Heritage Fund’s priorities.The objectives of the Activity Plan are:- To clearly identify target audiences, carry out consultation and develop strategies for overcoming barriers to access.- To create a deliverable plan for how, where and when activities will be delivered – including what the outcomes will be, how many people will be reached and how success will be measured.- To identify the resources required for delivery and to confirm that the proposals are sustainable in the short to medium term.- To establish a framework within which volunteers can be confidently recruited and managed and within which they can make a contribution which is also rewarding and beneficial for themselves.- To provide creative proposals that will make the heritage more accessible to a wide range of audiences.- To create a fully costed plan that meets National Lottery Heritage Fund guidelines on audience development, and activity planning.The critical tasks in this brief will be:1. Assess previous consultation undertaken for the development phase bid.2. Undertake additional audience research including working with the project team to test the success and feasibility of activities proposed in the outline Activity Plan.3. Work with the Business Planning consultants to identify the potential market size and demographic breakdowns of existing and new audiences.4. Confirm priority audiences for the project to target.5. Identify and analyse barriers to access for all target audiences and develop ways to mitigate these barriers.6. Produce a detailed report on the findings of the consultation and audience research to feed into the Activity Plan.7. Support the client team to produce detailed costs for activities within the Activity Plan alongside a comprehensive Action Plan8. Develop the final three-year Activity Plan in detail to ensure audience needs are met. This should conform to current National Lottery Heritage Fund guidance.9. Identify resources required for the training of volunteers and for the continuing professional development of existing staff.10. Produce a training plan for staff and volunteers.11. Assist with consultation on the final designs.12. Analyse data following consultation and prepare a report to inform the development of the Activity Plan.13. Support the project team to provide updates for the Heritage Fund and at the mid-term review meeting.This role will be part of the Project Team which will comprise key volunteers, trustees and other consultants. The consultant will have full access to the whole project team and any information gathered in preparation for our various applications. Specifically, they will need to work closely with our Architect, Interpretation Consultant, Fundraiser and Business Planning Consultant, so that all aspects of the project and its future are fully integrated.A proposal for undertaking the work should include:- An outline of relevant experience of work on NLHF-funded projects.- A summary of experience of delivering activity plans and audience development.- A detailed programme including key milestones.- A statement on your understanding and proposed approach to completing the work, including a methodology. This should set out you approach to ensuring that the work is delivered on time, within budget and to the quality required.- Your Environmental Policy including details on reducing carbon footprint.- A proposed fee structure with a breakdown of day rates, expenses and other costs.- CVs for key team members.- References of at least two referees for work of a similar nature.