Introduction

The Listening Place provides support for those who feel life is no longer worth living. For anyone who needs their help, their experienced team of volunteers offers face-to-face listening services in a welcoming and cosy listening centre in London. The goal of the charity is to save lives and lead a change in attitudes towards suicide prevention methods by quantitatively demonstrating the efficacy of their approach.

Scope

Having grown rapidly since inception in 2016, the CEO and Chair of The Listening Place had become concerned that in their current location they would struggle to meet the demand for their services. To assist, we were asked to analyse the future demand for their services across London, detail the current barriers to expansion, and to suggest options for expansion and fundraising.

Impact

Following the workshops and analyses we did, the management team was able to identify a number of short-term solutions that would increase capacity. However, our work made it clear that a bigger centre for their listening services would be required within two years. We quantified the increase in the number of full-time staff required to support the charity’s growth ambitions. With our support, the board was able to adjust their fundraising targets to incorporate both additional wages and preparations for opening a new listening centre.