LynchPin Support

LynchPin Support was established in 2015 by Nicola Lynch. That’s me.

I am still the lead consultant within LynchPin but I now work within a network of other consultants and experienced professionals to ensure every client gets the best service I can deliver. I am also the National Lead on Civil Society for Social Value UK (www.socialvalueuk.org)

I am a long-experienced people, project and partnership manager with a wide range of skills in evaluation techniques, bid writing, grant monitoring & stakeholder management. For more than 20 years I’ve worked across the private, public, Social Enterprise and charitable sectors in the business of creating social impact.

16 of those years have been spent here in Cumbria and I have also held the Directorship of several West Cumbrian Social Enterprises.

After a long ‘apprenticeship’ spent creating social impact I am now trained and active in the evaluation of that impact and the calculation of its social value. I work across private and public sector boundaries, using a range of tools and methods, to support organisations in monitoring and evaluating their work for maximum impact for all stakeholders. My work continues to span strategic and operational activities that include practical project and programme delivery. I also work as a Social Impact Associate with the North East based sustainability consultancy gaiacene and am a member of HiveMind

I am based in West Cumbria but work far and wide making the best of digital technology to ‘roam.’ I am a member of Social Value UK, Social Value International, Social Enterprise UK and the UK Evaluation Society.

I speak regularly on social impact and social value at local and regional events and I hosted a round table discussion at a recent Social Value International Conference (November 2017, Manchester.) I also co-hosted an ‘Inspiring Impact’ roadshow with Social Value UK in Cumbria in December 2019.

I have completed training across a range of relevant subjects from project and people management to building CRM systems, fundraising and safeguarding. I am currently working towards Accredited Practitioner status with Social Value International and will be completing training in the Qualitative Impact Protocol plus Causal App in June 2020. Recent clients are listed on the following pages and range from large corporate bodies (Sellafield Ltd) to countywide charities (Cumbria CVS) educational institutions (UCLan) and small social enterprises (Calderwood House.)

I have volunteered within the governance structures of many local charities over the years and am currently Chair of the West Cumbria Community Action Trust.

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LynchPin provided insightful consultancy support into the Social Impact Framework for one of the UK’s largest public-sector contracts (£1.5Bn, over 10 years). Nicola contributed to the development of a comprehensive evaluation framework that captured critical outcomes and enabled the robust evaluation of an extensive programme of concurrent and multi-stakeholder activities over a 5 year timescale. The Social Impact Framework operated within a complex and diverse stakeholder environment, to which, Nicola, was adapt at challenging, demonstrating, communicating and evidencing how evaluation contributes to successful programme implementation. This initially involved identifying and capturing stakeholder values and attributing appropriate and efficient evaluation methods. This revealed critical impact data and more importantly valuable learning outcomes to assist in partnership maturation and subsequent programme optimisation.

Craig White

Sustainability Director
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Gaiacene

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Nicola has been amazing, she talked the management team through the process of working out our 'social return value' then set to work. Several focus groups, questionnaires and a lot of honest and challenging reflection later we have a report that confirms we do 'what is says on the tin' and provides us with direction for the future. Nicola provided a professional service with regular updates on progress and opportunity to challenge her reporting. We were thrilled to hear that we currently provide more than triple the value of our current income but more importantly our beneficiaries really supported and appreciated what we do which for us was the most valuable outcome of the process. Thank you Nicola for being easy to work with and leading us through a complex but worthwhile piece of work.

Lorraine

Managing Director
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Works 4 You Ltd

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Nicola was fundamental in stabilising the organisation and providing us with real vision for the future. She has brought a unique set of skills and proficiencies to support Mountain View Childcare in so many different areas. She is highly proficient, trustworthy and professional in all her work, while always maintaining the required confidentiality of an educational setting. Nicola is not driven by financial gain, but by the need to provide support and guidance. The grant funding that she has sourced for us has been invaluable in terms of delivering a number of our strategic objectives.

Clare Child

Director
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Mountain View Childcare

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Nicola has extensive experience of working across Cumbria, sectors and communities. She has an ability to ‘think big’ connecting projects and plans in a single framework, as well as an ability to plan detail. Nicola has a varied methodology and a range of measurement tools that she can employ to suit the need of the work. Nicola can also translate complex ideas and plans into a simple, user friendly approach.

Kate W

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Ewanrigg Local Trust

Social Impact evaluation · Social Return on Investment analyses · Project needs analyses · Corporate Social Responsibility · Project development & delivery · Monitoring & Evaluation · Grant fund applications · Legal structures for charities and social enterprises · Social Enterprise business planning · Partnership Development · Stakeholder analysis & management