Undertaking an Independent Review of the We Love Manchester Fund

In May 2017, the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund was established to distribute funds donated by the public to the victims of the Manchester Arena terrorist attack. In May 2018, the Trustees of the fund commissioned Steer Economic Development to undertake an independent review of their work to capture lessons for the future benefit of others discharging similar duties.

The review, published in October 2018, presents an account of the 12 months following the establishment of the Fund, providing an overview of the immediate actions and decisions of Trustees and activities up to end of May 2018.  It was not within the scope of the review to assess the impact of the Fund, rather to consider the process through which Trustees administered and distributed donations.  As such, the review presents a detailed set of reflections on the work of the Trustees and lessons from the management of other disaster funds, considering what worked well and whether there were any aspects that could have been done differently.

The review was completed using an independent and impartial process, including a desk-based review of board minutes and relevant accompanying papers and data produced by or for the Fund, as well as interviews with:

• Trustees of the Fund; 
• operational staff of the Fund;
• advisers; and
• individuals with experience of the management, administration and operation of other, similar emergency/ disaster funds.

Councillor Sue Murphy CBE, Chair of the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund from May 2017-August 2018 said:

“We were delighted to secure Steer Economic Development…They have worked closely with Trustees, with stakeholders, partners and officers who have been most closely involved in our activities. We are hugely grateful to them for this report and to Jenny Watson CBE, who agreed to act as an independent commissioner to provide challenge to and scrutiny of the review process. We have learned lessons, and with hindsight, we see that we might have done some things differently, but the review shows we have much to be proud of.”

The review can be found on the Manchester Emergency Fund website.