About Fiveways

Fiveways is dedicated to maximising the positive difference charities and non-profit organisations make to society.

Our mission is to provide organisations with the insight they need to make effective decisions, improve their service delivery, get closer to their audiences and maximise their impact.

Richard Donaldson

I started Fiveways in 2013, since then we have worked alongside over 50 charities and local authorities to deliver effective and compelling research and evaluation projects.

I am inspired by the fantastic work our clients do to improve people’s lives, and their drive to discover how they can be even more effective.

Before Fiveways I had leadership roles in charities including Chief Executive of ORBIS UK and Executive Director at Asthma UK.

Richard Donaldson
Director – Fiveways

The team

We are a network of experienced research and charity professionals that can bring the right mix of skills and experience for our clients.

  • Dr Alison Lyon specialist in researching sensitive topics, vulnerable audiences and in online research.
  • Afra Acquah expert in research with children and young people using a range of participatory qualitative methodologies.
  • Justin Irwin expert in charity leadership, stakeholder engagement and running effective services.
Team
Why work?

Why work with Fiveways?

  • We share your values. We only work with non profit organisations and are motivated by making them even more effective.
  • We are part of your team. We are an experienced research team who understand what it takes to increase your organisation’s impact.
  • Our work is guaranteed to your satisfaction. If you do not consider our work to be of high enough quality, we offer additional time at no charge to address the issue. [We have not yet had to do this!].

Our clients testify to what we can bring as a partner:

Fiveways went above and beyond what could have been expected of them. They were proactive and available, understood the task at hand, suggested ideas, and were really flexible with us considering the complexity of the programme. I would strongly recommend working with Fiveways - they are very professional and easy to work with.

Mariona Garcia Edo

City & Hackney CAMHS Alliance Programme Manager

We were very impressed with the research methods Fiveways used. The insight they generated will help us plan our services and seek funding to expand our delivery. Instead of speculating which services families would like we now have the comprehensive research from families, including those who have not used our services previously, on what they need and potential barriers to access.

Kate Holmes

Head of Support and Information, The Lullaby Trust

I would absolutely recommend Fiveways to other charities who want to understand their audiences and develop new projects. Rather than just responding to a research brief, Fiveways used their experience to work with us to create the most appropriate research questions and methods for our budget. They provide an excellent service, communicating well and clearly presenting findings.

Sidonie Sakula-Barry

World Cancer Research Fund