The FLP wouldn’t exist or got to where we are without Jess’s help. She helped us immensely with funding, advised us on how to structure our approach. We began an unfunded, inexperienced group of locals who cared, and with Jericho Road’s support ended up raising £10k through Crowdfunder and won a start-up grant that funded the feasibility study to take forward our proposals!

Jess re-energised me. She told us in a day what might have taken us at least another year to work out for ourselves. Plus she has a network of top professionals we can tap into. But Jess gave us still more than that. She not only had the knowledge; she also came packed with wisdom, clarity and judgement. She is a very smart cookie indeed, and tough – but also a nice person to work with who lightens the load.

Jess has been able to support Clitterhouse Farm Project through her extensive knowledge of the funding sector, her vast experience of establishing a community business and more specifically her strong history of working on heritage community assets. Her presence as a consultant on our project adds significant credibility and instills confidence in developers and councils who have limited knowledge or understanding of saving, restoring heritage assets and working alongside grassroots community groups such as ours.

Jess supported Jericho Wharf Trust with our fundraising strategic plan. Like many community groups, we are doing this for the first time and we don’t have access to the expertise, lawyers and funds that developers do. The support from Jess was very timely and gave us the confidence we needed. She gave very good pointers on what was needed to plug gaps in our plan so we could move forward effectively.”

I know that with your drive and commitment you will find success in the future, and that you will be an asset to those local leaders who you end up working with. Thank you for all you have done in helping to establish the Meanwhile Foundation – we have learnt much from that journey here in Brent and I have very much enjoyed working with you in the brief time since we met.

I just wanted to write to say thank you for coming in and talking about your experiences and giving us specific advice about our own projects. I think the practical exercises we did in the session will prove very useful for our project. In our group check-out from the week, about half of the group chose your session as their favourite.

You were such a humble force of nature and we really respected that you were vulnerable and honest with us too about failure and picking yourself back up and carrying on. It resonated massively.

The workshop Jess delivered for us was extremely helpful, as Jess was one of the leaders in the campaign to save Hastings Pier. She helped us with how to initially shape and pitch our bid. She has specialist knowledge and expertise that was very important to us, without her help as a professional consultant we are simply a group of passionate amateurs. Without Jess Steele and Jericho Road we wouldn’t be where we are today.

We worked with Jess Steele in the early days of the former Bradford Odeon project, when we were trying to locate potential funders and develop a strategy that would engage and enthuse funders and the wider public. She helped us do this, and provided valuable introductions to essential decision-makers at funding bodies.

Jess offered vital support, not only in clarifying what funders expect to see, but also helping us, as an organisation, better understand what we wanted to achieve out of the project.

Projects such as the Bradford Odeon present steep learning curves to all those who attempt them: it is extremely valuable therefore to have the experience and wise counsel of Jess to guide and advise. Her track record of money raised and projects delivered speaks for itself.

It was extremely useful to have Jess’s external perspective. The nature of these projects is that it can be an uphill struggle, but working with Jess showed us that we’re not alone and that this is not a unique situation. She provided options for how we can move things forward despite difficulty and hope that we can succeed. She also supported us with thinking positively about what we wanted to happen to the pavilion and pub by facilitating discussions and developing plans for what we wanted the building to be.

Jess arrived on the dot, with well prepared materials and a big smile. She worked with the group sensitively and effectively, drawing out views, feeding back as we went along, and also providing a lot of information. We had a report from her 3 days later. We all felt heard and supported in our aims. Great session.

Our team at Islington Mill had dismissed Heritage Lottery Funding as an early enquiry had advised we were ineligible. With Jess's support that proved not to be the case - the our successful bid for HLF funding would not have happened without her personal grasp of what Islington Mill offers and her early support at a critical stage allowed us to understand and explain its heritage value.

We'd like to thank Jess for her unfailing support, words of wisdom and
undauntable spirit. Not sure if there is such a word as undauntable - but seems an appropriate one to me.

In just a short space of time, Jess provided me with a solid grasp on the core factors, drivers, challenges and innovations in civic participation in regeneration in the UK. The breadth and depth of her expertise on the subject go without saying, but her passion is truly infectious and comes across immediately. I felt our conversation feeling inspired, informed and upskilled.