Evaluation consultant

People’s History Museum (PHM) is seeking an evaluation consultant to devise and implement a robust evaluation strategy to measure the impact of the museum’s 2019 programme of exhibitions, events and learning sessions exploring the past, present and future of protest, including the headline exhibition Disrupt? Peterloo and Protest (23 March 2019 to 23 February 2020).

Overview and brief

PHM is the national museum of democracy, telling the story of its development in Britain, past, present and future.  The museum provides opportunities for people of all ages to learn about, be inspired by and get involved in ideas worth fighting for; ideas such as equality, social justice, co-operation, and a fair world for all.  2019 marks 200 years since the Peterloo Massacre, a major event in Manchester’s history, and a defining moment for Britain’s democracy.  To commemorate this monumental anniversary, PHM is exploring the changing face of protest through a year long programme of exhibitions, events and learning sessions exploring creative disobedience and its role in today’s ideas worth fighting for.  This programme of activity is being co-curated with marginalised and underrepresented communities in the spirit of those who gathered on St Peter’s Field on 16 August 1819.

PHM has developed a set of objectives for the 2019 programme:

• To raise the profile of PHM as the go to place to find out about Peterloo and its historical consequences
• To raise historical awareness of Peterloo and to provide our audiences with a clear understanding of what happened at St Peter’s Field on 16 August 1819, to explain the historical context as to why the massacre occurred, alongside discussing its legacy as a significant event along the road to democratic reform
• To demonstrate the significance and relevance of Peterloo today; how it links to ideas people are fighting for today and involving our visitors in this conversation through their interaction with exhibition
• To raise the profile of PHM as a campaigning museum; to support current and future activists
• To raise the profile of PHM as a platform for the sharing of radical ideas
• To ensure that our methods of interpretation are innovative and that the tone is reflective of the overall programme theme, yet accessible to a wide range of audiences
• To utilise and test new approaches to interpretation through the use of digital technologies

In addition, the museum’s Business Plan for 2018-2022 and Audience Engagement Plan (2018) look to an ambitious aim of 200,000 visits to the museum per year by 2025, and the programme for 2019 will contribute towards this goal, by increasing visitor numbers to the Disrupt? Peterloo and Protest exhibition and the number of participants at our events and learning sessions.

In pure numbers, success looks like:

• Total museum visitors up 10% from the same period in 2018-2019
• Engaging 600 participants with the development of the project
• Engaging 2,000 learners with the schools’ programme
• Engaging 600 people with the Protest Lab and public programme
• Engaging 1,000 participants with the Family Friendly programme
• Engaging 2,000 participants with the events programme

Outputs expected

We require an external evaluator to create an evaluation plan based on these metrics.  The plan will include formative and summative evaluation, allowing us to make changes during the course of the programme to ensure maximum impact.  We also require the generation of a final report to circulate to stakeholders.  Please note that participatory research will be embedded within the evaluation, and evaluation will be ongoing throughout the programme for 2019.

Key milestones:

• Evaluation plan to be delivered by Wednesday 15 May 2019
• Formative evaluation at regular intervals to be agreed during the project
• Summary of key evaluation findings to be made available by Wednesday 1 April 2020 to inform The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s (NLHF) end of project grant report writing process
• Full external evaluation report produced and submitted by Friday 1 May 2020

Fee

The total budget available for this work is £5,000; including all fees, travel expenses and materials.

Expressions of interest

If you would like to submit an expression of interest please return a PDF with the following information to Helen Thackray, Programme Manager on helen.thackray@phm.org.uk by 9.00am on Tuesday 16 April 2019:

• Full contact details
• Brief CV (maximum two side of A4)
• A statement outlining your suitability for this work and why you would like to undertake it
• Two testimonials/references

If you have any questions please email helen.thackray@phm.org.uk or phone 0161 838 9190.