Bottom Up Feedback

During a William Grant Foundation visit at the Girvan Quay Zone, a bright and modern community centre in South Ayrshire, together with Sir Tom Hunter of the Hunter Foundation we met young people from the town. Girvan Academy pupils, accompanied by their Headmistress and local Third Sector leaders, shared their ideas on how to make their town ‘the best place to grow up’?.

The bottom up feedback from the children included messages such as improving outdoor facilities for sport and encouraging opportunities to participate in music and cultural events. Developing their leadership skills, through programmes such as Columba 1400, was another important enabler for the pupils.

Listening to the voices of beneficiaries and end consumers helps us to understand where social value lies. Armed with user feedback and knowledge of local circumstances we have information with which to enhance the effectiveness of our grant making.

We all know that feedback matters. Through engaging at grassroots level in our communities, including active dialogue with beneficiaries, we can have the confidence to support programmes that will build social capital and create more opportunities for people to thrive.