Project Management

A project is a focused piece of work that your organisation is currently doing or planning to do. This guide contains questions to help you think through each aspect of planning and developing a community safety project from the beginning to the end.

• Step 1- What is the current situation?
• Step 2 - What do we want to change?
• Step 3 - How do we do it?
• Step 4 - How do we know that we have made a difference?

Step 1 - What is the current situation?

Knowing your community/target group

Consider doing a community profile (demographics, housing stock, transport, employment, poverty indicators, schools, shops, businesses, facilities, the physical environment) 

Borough crime audits and strategies will provide useful information.

For more information on doing a community profile contact CSAS. 

Who are the key players in the community?

• community activists
• residents groups
• voluntary/community/faith group
• other agencies e.g. Youth Offending Team, probation service, youth service, housing departments, community development/regeneration, social services, neighbourhood wardens etc.

What are the key crime reduction issues for the community? 

Which of these can be addressed by a partnership working / problem solving approach?

Bring together a group of interested parties

• consider the issue of representation i.e. are all people's interests represented? Is anyone excluded?

Explore a range of possible interventions.

Step 2 - What do we want to change?

Decide on an intervention

Is your idea a social or situational solution to crime?

How do you know that there is a need for this service? (What evidence have you got? i.e. anecdotal evidence, evidence of a gap in services, statistical evidence)

What are the aims (outcomes) of your project?

Objectives (outputs) of the project?

Step 3 - How do we do it?

What will the project delivery look like?

• What is your project going to do on a daily/weekly basis?
• How many people are you targeting?
• How many sessions will your project deliver?

Beneficiaries

• How have you identified the beneficiaries of your project?
• How will you recruit people to your project?
• How will you advertise/market your project?

Project Management

• How will you manage the project?
• If your project is a partnership what are the roles and responsibilities of each of the partners?

Funding

• Who are the possible funders who could fund your project?
• How does your project meet with the funders criteria?
• Make sure the voluntary or community organisation has the following in place:
  • Set up for 'charitable purposes'
  • Has a constitutional document
  • A management committee comprising at least three members
  • A bank or building society account in the organisation's own name which needs at  least two signatures on each cheque or withdrawal
  • A copy of the most recent approved accounts.
  • Policies i.e. equal opportunities, health and safety, child protection
• Apply for Funding

Networking/Unique Selling Point

• Who are you networking with?
• What other agencies or groups work with your target group?
• Does any other agency in the area provide similar services/ functions?
• If so have you considered working in partnership with them?
• If not how does your project idea differ or add to existing services?
• How does your project idea fit with your borough's crime audit and strategy and Local Area Agreement

Step 4 - How do we know if we have made a difference?

Monitoring and Evaluation

• How will you know if your project is successful?
• How will you record/evidence your outputs?
• How will you develop the project? - (draw a chronological plan and identify milestones.)
• Is your project idea SMART - (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound)
• What are the 'signs' or 'indicators' that you would expect to see if the project was working?
• How will you monitor your project? - Consider equal opportunities, uptake, outputs etc.
• How will you evaluate your project? - Consider staff/volunteers, participants, the wider community.