Manchester City of Literature (MCOL) wishes to appoint a consultant to work with Reece Williams, MCOL Community Engagement Manager, to develop and embed a Theory of Change evaluation methodology in its Community Champions programme 2020-21 in order to measure social impact.

The Community Champions programme will seek to engage communities which are not accessing literature on their terms. These are communities where educational attainment is low, there are few extra-curricular programmes for literature, and people are not engaging with literature for leisure. The reasons for this are thought to be:

•  Where literature programmes have taken place, they may have been ‘parachuted in’ with relatively little involvement from local people to design programmes ‘in their terms’;
• People in these communities may not see themselves reflected in the literary activity and literature they see;
• There are high levels of inequality and deprivation in these communities.

MCOL has designed the Community Champions programme, drawing on examples from other parts of the cultural sector including The Agency (Battersea Arts Centre, Contact Theatre and other partners) and participatory arts practice. In this initial year, there will be three Champions working in Rusholme, Harpurhey/ Moston; and a third community in Manchester, to be confirmed. Champions will be recruited who are based in those communities and/or have a strong relationship with the particular communities. They will act as a bridge between the communities and literature in its broadest sense, and will seek to co-design programmes with communities.

You can download the full brief below. Please submit an expression of interest by Friday 26 February to Reece Williams, reece.williams[@]manchester.gov.uk.