Testimonials

Working with Barrie has been a great experience.  He has gently and kindly opened our eyes to what compliance with the new Standards meant for us.  Barrie looked at the work that we prepared for our meetings, and in discussion, helped us to consider what the standard would be for our setting and how we could show compliance.

Barrie respected the fact that we were always busy juggling different issues within the organisation but his meetings with us helped to keep us to task.  He was warm and understanding about our resources as a small charity but firm in his resolve to give us constructive feedback about our progress towards compliance.

We are most grateful for his knowledge, skills and for the considerate and fun way that he had with us.

Andy Rozwadowski – Chair of Trustees, Building Circles in Gloucestershire

Barrie has patiently worked with us towards our PQASSO accreditation, despite changes of our staff and the updated PQASSO.  Barrie has calmly and kindly helped us to understand the process and explain how best to meet the criteria in a practical and appropriate way, so that the process is positive rather than onerous. His approach is positive, focussing on our strengths and supporting our weaker areas, so that we emerge a stronger organisation. Many thanks Barrie!

Indigo Redfern – Manager, GL11 Community Hub

Barrie structured his Organisational Strengths Review to our requirements whilst using the PQASSO framework as a benchmark.

Barrie’s facilitation skills and final report have been exceptional. The process celebrated our recent achievements but also highlighted areas for improvement. His detailed observations have helped the Senior Management Team to prioritise our work plan and give balanced and well informed information to our Board of Trustees.

We would highly recommend Barrie Wyatt and nVision Consulting.

Grahame Flynn – CEO, Devon in Sight

Barrie provided a great combination of insight, analysis and personability in delivering an ‘end of grant’ independent audit for a Comic Relief grant for 2 of our Ethiopian partner NGOs.
It was a reasonably complex assignment and Barrie was able to assimilate complex information, formulate an appropriate assessment process, and swiftly produce analysis and reports that not only met the project brief but clearly exceeded it.
All of this was done in such a way that participants felt heard and understood, regardless of cultural boundaries. Barrie seems to relish not only the challenge of understanding and processing organisational issues, but also the opportunity to strengthen and empower organisations and the individuals within them.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Barrie and nVision Consulting for grant audits, monitoring and evaluation, and organisational capacity building in general.

Simon Paylor – CEO, CRED.

Barrie has convinced me that there is real value in the PQASSO kitemark, because to achieve it we have made one or two very positive changes to the way our charity operates.

Jenny Hopkins – CEO, Gloucestershire Deaf Association.

Barrie’s facilitation of our discussion and helping us to delve deeper in to the meaning of our work, what is important and what is measurable was really valuable and provided a turning point for our organisation. We couldn’t have done this without a fresh pair of eyes and expertise.
Off the back of this work we have been successful with a grant from Children in Need which will fund our summer schemes for 3 years and is worth £75,000. This is the biggest single grant we have ever achieved.

Joy Blundell – Director, Alive Trust.

Barrie has been an excellent mentor as we’ve gone through the Level 1 PQASSO self-assessment process with him. He is sympathetic and understanding of the voluntary and community sector’s realities and peculiarities; he has quickly got his head around our own organisation’s uniqueness; and he has sensitively made sure that our self-analysis has been thorough. He asks questions to help our thinking, not to catch us out. We have found the process very helpful in recognising where we are as an organisation, in acknowledging that we are actually doing okay, and in establishing what else we need to do to make ourselves even better.

Philip and Jane Douch – Directors, Active Impact.

Barrie has been invaluable in supporting Allsorts through a time of significant growth and change. Initially he came in to the organisation to guide us through a PQASSO level 2 self assessment, and subsequently made an independent evaluation for the end of a Big Lottery grant term, and an organisational strength review for the beginning of the next Big Lottery term.
All three pieces of work were detailed and thorough. He was able to pinpoint very accurately our strengths and weaknesses, and give clear suggestions for improvements. He gave us a wealth of insights which we just would not have gained without him.
Allsorts is a user-led charity that has grown organically over the years. Barrie has enabled us to step up to the next level, putting into place systems and procedures that mean we are operating more efficiently, with better safeguards in place and with more confidence and resilience for the future. I would happily recommend him to any organisation that wants to achieve the same.

Rachel Levay – Chief Executive, Allsorts.

Forest Pulse first used the Services of Barrie Wyatt from nVision Consulting to advise and support us in relation to the charity applying for PQASSO (Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations). The charity commissioned Barrie following very positive feedback from a closely linked organisation with a very similar remit to ourselves who also used the services of nVision Consulting for the same purpose. I found Barrie to be very knowledgeable, and lead us through the process in a very positive way, enabling us recognise our own strengths and weaknesses rather than ‘directing us’. He was empathetic, and although the world of disability was not an area he was familiar with he had the skills to give us the direction we needed.

Following our very positive relationship with Barrie when working on PQASSO, the trustees unanimously agreed to commission him on a second occasion, this time to produce an Organisational Strengths Review, funding by the Building Capabilities element of a Big Lottery Grant. Again Barrie was insightful and had a way of drawing our knowledge from us. We were very pleased with the finished report, and I feel it was a very true reflection of the operations of the charity which has proved to be a very successful tool.
I would certainly be happy to recommend Barrie to other organisations, and particularly to small charities such as ourselves as Barrie clearly understood the peculiarities of our position, and the different challenges we face both as a small organisation and as a charity with limited funding and resources.

Pam Jones – Charity Manager, Forest Pulse