About Us

Real Ideas has been making positive change happen – for people, organisations and places – since 2007. We take real pride in tracking, recording and honing our impact in both words and numbers.

We think track record is important too and we can now evidence sustained impact in relation to our ‘communities of interest’ for the last 13 years. There is a timeline of our key developments and achievements across this period here.

As we have grown and developed, the impact we generate has of course become more diverse and complex. For example, working with young people over several years; with partner schools for more than a decade; and, through our buildings, events and programmes, in particular communities undergoing profound wider change. To keep a handle on this volume of change we currently track over 2000 data points each quarter for 16 (and counting) different public or partner bodies.

Given this complexity we think there may be better ways out there to track and build our social, environmental and economic impact and value in the places that matter to us and we are particularly interested in innovation and technology in relation to this challenge. Watch this space and get in touch if you have ideas or want to be involved.

We are innovators, change makers and risk takers. We believe that by providing our people with autonomy, space to grow and develop, and the freedom to create and innovate, we will deliver the best working environment for our team, who will in turn deliver the most engaging and effective work for our clients.

There’s nothing typical about the kind of people who work at Real Ideas. With experience in many different industries and cultures, our people have joined us from a wide range of sectors, all with a passion to make a positive difference in the world.

We are committed to doing business ethically. We report against a triple bottom line – people, planet and profit – and as a social enterprise ourselves we try and deliver social value through our supply chain too, from catering services to web hosting, utilities for our buildings and even HR support. To show our commitment, we have signed up to Plymouth’s COVID-19 economic recovery plan, the Resurgam Charter.

In addition to being a great organisation to work for, Real Ideas can offer you a great location to work in with offices in Bristol, Plymouth and three locations across Cornwall. You’ll get good benefits too including competitive salaries, a generous pension contribution, health insurance and flexible working. And of course, you will be part of an energetic, pioneering organisation, innovating every day to deliver real and lasting social change.

If any of this resonates and you want to find out more about opportunities to work with us check out our current vacancies or get in touch by emailing jobs@realideas.org

Real Ideas values diversity. We believe that by learning to work with people’s differences, visible or not, we can all work together effectively to anticipate and meet the needs of all our customers. We do this by recruiting, retaining and developing the best people within our workforce, acting responsibly in the communities of which we are a part; and by fulfilling our legal commitments.

We are committed to becoming an equal opportunity employer and to ensuring that all employees, volunteers, job applicants, customers, participants and other people with whom we deal are treated fairly and are not subjected to unfair or unlawful discrimination. We aim to make our services as accessible and responsive as possible to all existing and potential participants, and to provide a service which recognises and respects people’s differences.

We recognise that our ability to meet diverse needs is improved by having a diverse workforce which has the skills and understanding to achieve our service objectives.

We will not tolerate less favourable treatment on the grounds of race, nationality, ethnic origin, age, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, domestic circumstances, disability, pregnancy, gender reassignment, civil partnership, or any other characteristic which cannot be shown to be justified.

Anyone who feels they have been denied equality of opportunity whilst in receipt of our services will be encouraged to use the Complaints Procedure so that their concerns can be investigated and responded to.

We reserve the right to withdraw services to any participant if that person behaves in a discriminatory, disruptive or abusive manner to any member of staff, volunteer, participant or other person.