People Powered Places is London Borough of Newham's flagship programme of participatory budgeting and is a beacon of best practice in participatory democracy. The programme has become one of the largest participatory budgeting initiatives in the UK, delivering lasting transformation with more than 300 projects funded that have had real impact on the borough.
The current cycle of People Powered Places launched in April 2023, with £1.6million available for resident-funded projects, and Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector-funded projects.
The team has a collection of qualitative and quantitative data about the progress and impact of 115 projects funded through the programme. Projects can range from fitness activities for young people to digital skills for older people and improving community facilities and green spaces to provision of food banks. The team is looking to analyse this data to better understand the impact of these projects (i.e. what the projects have achieved and benefited the community) and the reach of the projects (how many stakeholders did the project serve, what are the demographics of the stakeholders served and how does this compare to wider demographics of the borough of Newham). This data will feed into the evaluation of the programme and inform decision makers on sustaining the programme's future.
Data includes:
- Initial applications with details about plans and aims of projects
- Two project monitoring forms with details about project updates and successes during delivery
- Final evaluation forms that include a summary of project outcomes and reports of numbers of stakeholders and demographics of stakeholders
London Borough of Newham census data
Join the team shaping the future of participatory budgeting in Newham. Your research will directly contribute to a critical report showcasing the programme's value to decision-makers and influencing its future.
Volunteers will work in a team of 2-4 other student researchers through a 7 week period. The project will conclude on 10 March 2024.
Tasks include:
- Data cleaning – gathering, sorting and cleaning data from surveys, monitoring spreadsheets and applications
- Analysing qualitative survey data – gathering key themes and insights from the qualitative responses from surveys monitoring spreadsheets and applications
- Analysing quantitative and demographic data - conducting light data analysis to produce figures and graphs to show the number of individuals reached through the projects and to examine the demographic make up of the individuals. Comparing demographics of the individuals reached to the demographic makeup of the borough of Newham
- Creating a summary of key insights and themes – writing a summary of key insights and themes found in both the qualitative data and the. The information from this summary will be used in a larger report on the results of the People Power Places project
- Create figures and graphs to represent the data – Create clear and accurate graphs or figures to represent the reach of these projects and the demographic make up of the individuals the projects have involved. These graphics will be used in a larger report on the results of the People Power Places project
- Optional additional involvement: You may have the opportunity to contribute to a report that will be shared across the borough and with wider stakeholders. You may be included in the acknowledgements of the report for your professional development.
Time commitment
Check in with Anna Kasmir and Team for an additional hour on a fortnightly basis.