As part of their ongoing support of Hackney Lunch Clubs, Forge facilitated a social value workshop in May to help their long-standing charity partner better promote their inspiring work and attract greater funding. As Forge’s sustainability partner, Not Sustainable, was delighted to support, holding the bespoke workshop for coordinators of the Hackney Lunch Clubs network. Specifically, the workshop examined the business language and frameworks to describe and quantify social impact and how the network can use these to increase corporate fundraising.
The Hackney Lunch Clubs network is an association of eleven community organisations providing heavily subsidised hot meals and spaces for community connection for those aged 55 and over in the London borough of Hackney. With the history of some Clubs stretching back decades, they have long served as a lifeline for the elder members of many communities across Hackney, supporting mental, physical and financial health through nutrition, exercise, connection, advice and support that may not be available elsewhere.
And while the network has traditionally relied heavily on council funding to support the subsidised lunches and the other culturally-relevant activities it lays on, this funding has dwindled over the past decade and is currently under extreme threat. This perilous situation has heightened the need for the Clubs to pivot towards corporate fundraising, something that they have limited experience in and little time to dedicate towards.
Forge, also based in Hackney, have been working with the network over the past two years, offering design work, fundraising advice and a new website build. The company is committed to supporting the Lunch Clubs network as they navigate some exceedingly difficult circumstances regarding their funding. Having looked at how they can use their expert knowledge and skills to have the biggest impact, they will soon be launching a brand-new Lunch Clubs website. This gives the network a recognised online presence, owned by them, for the very first time. This two-hour workshop by Not Sustainable was part of Forge’s continued assistance with guidance and strategic input to support Hackney Lunch Club’s corporate fundraising.
The workshop, led by Not Sustainable’s Annie Beavis and Nicki Chennells, began with a primer on the pressures businesses are facing to transform their operations, integrate sustainability and, as part of this, deliver positive social impact in their communities. Examples were explored to illustrate why and how companies of all sizes are now supporting projects such as the Lunch Clubs network when this previously may not have been the case.
Following on from this discussion, attention turned to how the Lunch Clubs themselves can best position themselves in this new landscape. To do this, we used the framework of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to benchmark the social value created by the Lunch Clubs. Frameworks such as these are commonly used by businesses to assess the impact of the projects they support. By thinking about their Clubs’ activities from this perspective, the coordinators could gain a greater understanding of how best to promote the inspiring work they do in their communities.
A group exercise mapped the social value created by the Lunch Clubs onto three of these goals that best presented the social value the Clubs provide – no poverty, zero hunger, good health and wellbeing. The coordinators were pleased to find that within a few minutes they had demonstrated that the activities of the Clubs and their impact on the local community were closely applicable to the UN SDGs – for example support provided to gain benefits and other financial assistance and to reduce unnecessary expenditure contribute towards the goal of zero hunger. Finally, the session focused on the reporting methods and metrics the Clubs can use to quantify the social value they create and strengthen communications and funding applications; and how commonly used frameworks in the corporate world could transform the network’s ability to convey its impact financially and statistically.
The workshop was well received by the Lunch Club coordinators, providing them with new tools and greater confidence to communicate to businesses based in Hackney the social value produced by the Clubs. These skills will play an important role in future efforts to secure financial support from and develop community ties with corporate partners – through strengthened funding applications, stronger narratives around social value and a range of supporting metrics to back up fundraising efforts.
Forge’s Digital Marketing Manager Jack Chatterton, who has been leading the agency’s work with the Lunch Clubs network, said: “I greatly enjoyed observing and participating in this workshop on the language of business relating to social value. I am certain the learnings from this session will be of immense benefit to the Hackney Lunch Club network in their efforts to secure funding from new corporate partners. Great thanks must go to Annie and Nicki for generously donating their time, effort and attention to such a worthy project.”
Not Sustainable co-founder Nicki Chennells said: “It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with the Hackney Lunch Club coordinators and wider team to learn more about the amazing work they do, to help them get the recognition they deserve and funding they need, and to be able to support our close partner Forge in their community work.”
Rachel King, the Lunch Clubs Development Coordinator at Hackney CVS, added: “The session with Annie and Nicki from Not Sustainable gave our lunch clubs a real lift. It helped us see our work in a new way — not just as local support, but as part of something bigger. I was especially struck by how clearly our clubs contribute to the top three UN Sustainable Development Goals: No Poverty, Zero Hunger, and Good Health & Wellbeing. We’ve always known we make a difference, but now we have a better understanding of how to explain that to funders. With funding so uncertain right now, this could really help us open doors to new support.”
The workshop marked another milestone in the relationship between Forge and Not Sustainable, which stretches back many years. Not Sustainable continues to support Forge on their sustainability journey; meanwhile Forge are assisting Not Sustainable with their digital marketing efforts. Most notably, this includes a major rebranding and new website project completed in 2023.
