Arte Research networks with local consultancy companies and specialist freelance consultants, and brings together teams with exactly the right skills needed to deliver assignments across a range of thematic areas.

Chris Bonnard

Chris Bonnard has a great understanding of the strategic role of the sector at local, regional and national levels. He is familiar with the processes of community consultation and offers strong facilitation skills. He has a strong commitment to the role of the third sector in supporting civil society, to developing its appropriate service delivery role and to equality and diversity. He has an excellent understanding of the region’s ambitions for social, economic and environmental regeneration. Chris has significant experience of strategic planning and change management in voluntary organisations and working in both service delivery and policy environments.

Chris has served on the Boards of Directors for the West Midlands Regional Observatory, the West Midlands Regeneration Centre for Excellence and West Midlands European Network. He was also a founder member of the West Midlands Equality and Diversity Strategy Partnership. He served as the national representative of regional strategic networks on the Capacity Implementation Team set up by the Active Community Unit of the Home Office to establish ChangeUp. Most recently the director of Regional Action West Midlands, the West Midland’s region’s voluntary and community sector infrastructure organisation, prior to that Chris worked as Chief Executive of Wolverhampton Voluntary Sector Council (WVSC). He has held many trustee roles, for example, as Chair of his local Victim Support Scheme. Prior to this, he was a Principal Officer at Croydon Council, leading a team of specialist volunteer organisers of a thousand-strong volunteer force working in health and social services. He has also been Deputy Director of Resettlement for Ockenden Venture, working on the resettlement of Vietnamese refugees throughout England and Wales.

In Autumn 2006, Chris established chrisbonnardconsulting to support voluntary and community organisations and the public sector in strategic and change managing, mapping research, facilitation and mentoring. He well understands the importance of effective and focused consultancy work as an aid to cross sector decision-making. During this period Chris has been commissioned with Arte Research to undertake a range of assignments, including work for the Volunteering Hub, the Governance Hub, the Commission for the Compact and Capacitybuilders. For further information, email to chris.bonnard@btinternet.com



Greg Cox

Greg specialises in providing effective support to grassroots organisations, having secured funding and other resources for organiations in socially excluded black and minority ethnic communities as well as in disadvantaged white communities. He has extensive experience of capacity building within the voluntary and community sector. He focuses on establishing need, demand and potential added value, and on devising suitable management structures, funding arrangements and implementation mechanisms. He has also applied these skills to work on developing regeneration programmes and evaluations.

Greg's background is within further education and training and the voluntary and community sector. He worked for fifteen years in a range of capacities for a large voluntary sector organisation for people with learning difficulties. Since then he has worked as a consultant mainly within the voluntary and community sector, but also with other regeneration stakeholders. A full CV can be obtained from gccltd@yahoo.co.uk



Matthew Noden

Mat has worked as a senior consultant and as a research and development officer for a local authority. He has worked closely with third sector and public sector clients on strategy development and around the thematic areas of unemployment, crime, health, youth, housing and education and training issues. His consultancy experience is specialised in the areas of Neighbourhood Renewal, Neighbourhood Management, youth policy and practice, evaluation, delivery plan development, and community consultation. Until 2005, Matthew worked for CSR Partnership where he played a central role in managing the West Midlands Neighbourhood Management Network and evaluations of Neighbourhood Management pilots and initiatives in both the West Midlands and the North. Since then he has been working independently from his base in the North West. His CV can be obtained from mnodi76@hotmail.co.uk



Barbara Parkinson

Barbara Parkinson has been involved with the third sector in many capacities. She has a breadth of experience working at the grass roots level of community development and as a strategic leader of the sector locally and nationally. She has been involved with many organisations as a trustee. Previous roles include Vice Chair of the National Association of Voluntary and Community Action between 2002 and 2007. She is currently NAVCA’s representative on the national Rural Services Network.

Barbara also has wide experience of working in the pubic sector, especially in terms of rural regeneration in the West Midlands. Since becoming an independent consultant several years ago, she has specialised in relationships between the public and third sectors, and particularly those focused on organisational development, good governance and collaboration. Barbara is a member of the Chartered Management Institute, an I&DeA accredited peer (undertaking reviews of local strategic partnerships across the country), and a qualified yoga instructor. For more details, contact barbara@nashrockshouse.com