As part of our commitment towards helping aid organisations work more effectively, we run a pro-bono workshop for one organisation every year. This year, we facilitated a strategic planning workshop for UK registered charity Sircer Pasha Welfare Trust (SPWT). SPWT cares for the poor in rural village areas of Bangladesh, reaching over 230,000 patients through their medical health centre and mobile health clinics since 2005, with over 70% of those attending living in extreme poverty. Alongside this, SPWT has an established primary school and runs vocational training for women. SPWT are using this combination of health and education programmes to tackle poverty in the village areas of Sarishabari and Jamalpur.

Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone areas of the world, with floods and frequent cyclones affecting its population of around 150 million people. UNICEF (2012) estimates that 43% of the population of Bangladesh lives below the poverty line, with over 40% of children under five suffering from stunting due to malnutrition. SPWT has an adaptive and holistic approach towards tackling poverty in this area.

SPWT operations are expanding and the organisation needed help with reviewing its activities and deciding how to steer the charity forward. To achieve this, Aid Works ran an interactive workshop with the charity’s directors and associates. The workshop provided space to share successes from the different strands of the organisation and to review its mission, vision and mandate. With group activities, well placed questions and lots of energisers from Aid Works, SPWT’s leaders reviewed their organisational structure and together created an exciting plan for the next three years.

In a thriving and busy organisation such as SPWT, it can be very difficult to find the time to stop and review the great work you’ve been doing - but providing the space to do just that can bring about innovative plans for the future. Aid Works is excited to see how SPWT will realise their new strategic goals – head over to their website if you would like to read more about what they do.

If you, your team or your organisation would benefit from some space to think about your current impact and future direction, Aid Works can facilitate a workshop to suit you. Please get in touch to find out how we can help.