What do people value about working with me?

Catherine’s approach to the project combined creativity, research rigour and an eye for detail. Unfazed by challenges and with a seemingly endless capacity for problem solving, working with Catherine was not only productive and hugely valuable to the Centre but always inspiring and enjoyable.
Professor Richard Sandell, Director, Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, University of Leicester  

Catherine brings a fantastic mix of creativity, thorough research, gentle challenge, strong ethics, thoughtfulness and a great intellect. I was really impressed with her style and approach and the quality of her work.
Katherine Lynch, Director of Heritage, Port Sunlight Village Trust

Catherine’s research is an important piece of research to help us think about our work as an institution. From start to finish, Catherine worked closely with the research team to devise methodologies and ensure that at all stages, not only were the needs of the research met, but that participants were comfortable and reassured – a number of participants commented on how useful they found the conversation with Catherine to be. Importantly, she suggested ways to adapt how the data was presented so it could be used more creatively in our ongoing work. It was, as always, a pleasure working with Catherine on this piece of work.
Chris Whitby, Senior Audience Researcher, Science Museum Group

Working with Catherine has been a delight for us. We thought we knew what our project was but needed someone to help us shape it. Catherine has taken our initial thoughts, and challenged and questioned them in a creative and engaging way so the project that has taken shape is one that will really deliver genuine exploration and imaginative interpretation for the museums taking part. We’ve retained Catherine for the phase two delivery of the programme and now can’t wait to get started on it with her!
Lynsey Jones, Museum Development Officer, Museum Development North West

All of this is just marvellous! We all got so much out of the day, you have really inspired us all, gave us great insights and set us up for some brilliant engagement! You should be proud of the effect your training has had on the team – they are actively thinking about the audience and working with each other on this. Totally brilliant.
Claire Tunstall, Head of Art, Archives and Records Management, Unilever

Catherine joined us for our creative consultation day, where we had set ourselves the challenge of thinking up new ways to ‘make new Chippendale fans’. Catherine had such a fresh approach- responding in a very sensitive and personal way to the county house setting, not just appreciating the collection,  but really picking up on the layers of history, the patina of stories that fill a house like ours. In our creative sessions in the afternoon Catherine’s interpretation ideas went beyond the visual or the written word and inspired us to explore sound, smell, light and the fleeting reflections in mirrors. A wonderful, refreshing contribution, thanks.
Christine Blackburn,  Creative Project Curator – Transform Nostell, National Trust

The ‘Fighting for our Rights’ project was rich and complex, with multiple partners and an array of outcomes. It was evident from conversations had throughout the project that huge amounts of learning were taking place, and Catherine’s interviews with the key stakeholders were invaluable at capturing this. This report is going to prove incredibly useful for advocating for collaborative practice for everyone involved.
Jen Kavanagh, Oral History Project Manager, Kingston Centre for Independent Living

It has been a pleasure to work with you. Thank you for putting together such a comprehensive, clear and genuinely useful document which we can use going forward to create even more engaging and creative projects.
Flora Cranmer-Perrier, Curator, Compton Verney Art Gallery & Park

It’s been great working with Catherine on this. The Medicine Galleries Participation: Internal Stakeholder Review was well received. We did some training for the team based on the findings, and actions have been put in place for future participation planning. [X] asked me to pass on that she felt it was an excellent piece of work.
Lauren Souter, Senior Audience Researcher, Science Museum

The qualitative research Catherine produced was outstanding. She elicited and captured feedback from participants that we would never have been able to ourselves. The report she produced was well written and structured the findings to provide a clear overview of the programme. Working with Catherine throughout the process was incredibly straightforward; she worked to the brief and was adaptable to our changing needs. I’d definitely recommend her as an independent evaluator for any engagement project.
Tom MacAndrew, Education Manager, The Poetry Society

Catherine’s work on bringing together the expertise, opinions and suggestions of a range of freelance practitioners and artists across the creative sector has been invaluable to Children & the Arts. The organisation now has some clear steps to take to begin aiding the development of, and support available to, those who are delivering our programmes to teachers, young people and their families across the UK.
Eibhlish Fleming, Senior Project Manager, Children & the Arts

It was an absolute delight to work with Catherine. She was evaluating a storytelling project for which I was the storyteller. She did not do this by observation alone but by fully immersing herself into the workshop. She had a wonderful way of communicating easily and instantly with the pupils with empathy and sensitivity which meant they could really open up to her and talk in detail about their experiences of the project. Catherine has a real and rare gift as a communicator with all ages. I felt so lucky that she had been assigned to the project. I also thoroughly enjoyed reading her immaculately written completed evaluation which captured details of the project which would otherwise have been overlooked. I whole-heartedly recommend her.
Olivia Armstrong, Storyteller, Great Art Quest project, Children & the Arts

I’ll think more about the audience / who’s reading it when writing labels etc. In the past I’ve only really considered putting in as much detail as possible, rather than what someone is looking to get out of it. The different exercises helped me think differently about how I write things for people and about our collection. I wouldn’t have considered so many different perspectives could be drawn from one object. It was a really great day, I learned so much!!
Unilever Art, Archives and Records Management team member

Thanks so much for the report, it was really helpful and very clear. We jumped straight on it to make what changes we needed to make. I was also really pleased with the depth of engagement from people who stuck with it, they really seemed to be living it!
Ellen Tait, Interpretation Developer – Exhibitions and Design, National Railway Museum

It was fantastic to work with Catherine. She took time to develop a really detailed knowledge of our venues and collections, and facilitated creative and engaging workshops for staff and stakeholders. As a result, she has produced plans for communications and curatorial projects based on shared themes and stories which are strategic and innovative. Her work has sparked a lot of enthusiasm amongst members, and its impact can already be seen in our new website and development strategy.
Kate Rodenhurst, Project Manager, Museums of Cheshire 

This has been excellent. Catherine’s work has been exciting and inspiring. It has made me appreciate the wider heritage of Cheshire in a whole new light as well as getting me buzzing with ideas of how to develop stories and narratives for our own museum.
Delegate, Museums of Cheshire Conference 2016

It’s been a real pleasure working with Catherine on this project. She was able to take my initial, half-formed ideas about how to go about it and fashion them into something much more creative in order to achieve what we wanted to achieve. She worked well with other less experienced members of the team to encourage and support them in their role providing really valuable professional development at the same time as getting the project done. I know that she works over and above what can reasonably be expected and have really appreciated her commitment to a small project. The resulting report will be really useful to help the academics I work with understand the audiences they are working with.
Amy Ryall, External Engagement Projects Manager, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Sheffield

Working with Catherine over the past two years on The Great Art Quest project has been wonderful. First and foremost, she cares about the level of impact the project has on its participants, and as such the advice and feedback she offers in her evaluations is very well-thought-out and helpful. Catherine’s evaluations have helped to shape the development of Great Art Quest and make it a better or more effective project.
Katherine Hannon, Project Manager, Children & the Arts

It was a real pleasure working with Catherine; she was professional and easy to work with I hope that we can work together in the future. The Sound Schools evaluation report is really interesting and I think it will be very useful as we move forward into planning for the Interactive gallery and adapting the sessions for regular use in the schools programme. It is always good to hear what the pupils and teachers think about what we do and I’m pleased that most of it was positive.  I think the recommendations for improvement were spot on and definitely will be influencing how we plan sessions and events in the future.
Elaine Richmond, Explainer Team Leader, National Media Museum

I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with Catherine on the Dance for Parkinson’s Symposium in October 2015. An event not short of its complexities, Catherine kept the project on track with her patient and meticulous methods of project management, open and assertive communication skills, and her kind and generous spirit. She is lovely to work with and I hope we work together again soon.
Emma Abbey, Senior Engagement Producer, English National Ballet

Working with Catherine was absolutely fantastic – really open to RNCM ideas and supportive.
We worked in a mutual way, keeping in mind what was important for both of us.
Richard Collins, Programming Manager, Royal Northern College of Music

Thank you so much for the Parallel Tracks report. Firstly let me say it’s one of the best-looking qualitative reports I’ve ever seen. I love your use of imagery and the selection of quotations used alongside the illustrations. On one level it’s amusing, but on another it’s a really illuminating illustration of the people we engage. I also very much appreciate the balance between your own conclusions and the volume of direct quotes from respondents. But more importantly than any of that, the meat of the report is very interesting and does, like you say, give us valuable feedback on where Parallel Tracks did or didn’t succeed in its aims. I was really delighted with how engaging the report was (sometimes when you open a document and see “page 1 of 40+ pages” your heart sinks, but this was a genuine page-turner!).
Tim Neal, Senior Visitor Insight Executive, Science Museum Group

Delighted with the Playing Trains report – very thorough and very engagingly presented, thank you. I love it (again).
Tim Neal, Senior Visitor Insight Executive, Science Museum Group

Catherine’s input into this project was invaluable and without her we wouldn’t have achieved so much in such a short space of time. She followed up contacts, made new contacts, organised numerous events for a variety of audiences, got involved in the marketing and engaged with visitors both on and off site. Her organisation and attention to detail was of the highest standard. Catherine also helped us review our procedures and see our spaces in new ways. I would have no hesitation in recommending Catherine as a project co-ordinator and hope to work with her again in the future.
Laura Travis, Visitor Engagement Manager, Museums Sheffield

I’m so delighted for all parties involved that the two performances were such a success. I have to commend your superb attention to detail in making this event run so well; your precision in planning and its execution on the day was a nod to the military, appropriately enough, delivered with a kind, responsive and calm manner. It has been a joy to work with you and your team.
Louise Shand-Brown, Associate Producer, English National Ballet

The report is very clear. It raises some really interesting points and things we hadn’t considered. It is really helpful to see what support we might need to provide.
Melanie Donnelly, Project Manager of Lives of the First World War, IWM

Catherine is excellent at distilling the key requirements of a brief and working to achieve a solution in the most creative and innovative way possible. She is adept at identifying the core themes of a project and can get up to speed extremely quickly – a skill which is absolutely key when working to tight deadlines.
Marge Ainsley, Director Marge Ainsley Marketing