When we started sharing the Upshot system and our Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) approach in 2012, we believed that our solutions would speak to organisations far beyond our original sector (football) and geography (England). 

The extent to which this has proven true continues to inspire us every day! We now work with a vast variety of charities, non-profit and public sector organisations across the United Kingdom and beyond. 

Every other month you will find one of our team boarding the train up to Scotland - one of the nations where we have seen the largest growth. Upshot is now used by more than 70 Scottish organisations and here we share just a few of their experiences. 

Understanding a participant's journey through a vast array of services...

Glasgow Life is one of Scotland's largest charities with more than 2,000 staff and hundreds of volunteers. They deliver the city's arts, music, sports, events, festivals, libraries and learning programmes on behalf of Glasgow City Council. 

"Since 2017, Upshot has been used in the Libraries and Communities team to capture valuable information on programmes ranging from youth engagement to adult learning and digital courses. Over the last three years, we have been rolling the system out to all of our service areas. This will allow us to use a single platofrm to track participant journeys, analyse our engagement with target audiences and report against shared outcomes and strategic pillars."

Andrew Ferguson - Senior Business Analyst

With no limit to the number of users or participants that can be created within one Upshot account, Glasgow Life's vision is to have all of their diverse community projects reporting through a single database and therefore follow a person's journey through their services. This is a complex and interesting challenge and we are excited to be a part of it. 

Collecting data on the go and managing access... 

The cultural sector makes a huge contribution to our communities and we are receiving more and more enquiries from the likes of theatres, dance studios, galleries, concert halls and museums. Perth Theatre and Concert Hall, combining a historic theatre space and state of the art music venue with inspiring community initiatives, started using Upshot only last year but they are already seeing the benefits. 

"We use Upshot to capture, monitor and evidence our Learning and Engagement work with the local community. Our facilitators have really benefited from having an easy-to-use tool that they can access on mobile or laptop to take participant information and complete session registers. We are also able to restrict access to more sensitive personal details, which is super important when we work with children and young people."

Jasmine Munns - Learning and Engagement Creative Coordinator

Providing, recording and valuing volunteers...

Volunteering plays a huge role in the dynamic charity sector in Scotland - according to research from Volunteer Scotland, 48% of adults in Scotland have volunteered - that's over 2.17 million people! Recording volunteer engagement is a key Upshot feature, used by many of the organisations we work with. 

Dundee Volunteer and Voluntary Action (DVVA) is an independant charity that aims to ensure charities, social enterprises, community and voluntary groups are robust and resilient. With expertise available to the community on a wide range of topics including governance, funding, legislation, policy, planning and problem-solving, DVVA play a leading role in maintaining and developing Dundee's vibrant third sector. 

"At DVVA, we have been using Upshot for 3 years now and it has enabled us to have an overall picture of of the work we do and it's reach, so that reporting can be done with confidence, and we have access to data to better adapt our work in accordance with those we serve in the community. 

As we provide support to individuals and also opportunities to volunteer, time and regularity can be measured in Upshot, so that we can record and recognise engagement effectively. As well as recording attendance consistently, we connect with users, participants and/or volunteers through easy-to-use Upshot surveys, and we are also able to record achievements and changes with each individual through Upshot timeline events, in a secure and sensitive way." 

Lali Tudela - DVVA Communities Team Manager 

Going beyond demographics and attendance... 

Spartans Community Foundation is the charitable arm of Spartans Football Club and one of the most influential "sport for good" charities in Scotland. Their delivery now extends far beyond the football pitch; from youth and school-based activities to alternative education and Pilates. In their own words: 

"Our focus is to change lives in North Edinburgh through the power of sport and people. While we always had a great impact on and off the pitch, we struggled to effectively evidence this until we started using Upshot. Now we have a shared tool to capture all of our education, health and wellbeing and youth work. We can go beyond demographics and attendance numbers - Upshot allows us to collect survey responses and record individual notes and milestones (we've recorded almost 15,000 timeline events to date!)" 

Catriona Morrison - Business Development Manager

Spartans, along with many other Scottish football club community trusts, are members of the European Football Development Network (EFDN). EFDN brings together professional football clubs, leagues and football associations from across the continent to promote the power of football as a tool for social development. As EFDN's chosen MEL partner, Upshot enables the network to collectively monitor programmes including the Walking Football League (physical activity for people over the age of 50), Community Champions League (a local, social street football competition based on fair play) and Welcome Through Football (promoting integration and inclusion for refugees and asylum seekers through football).