Wayforward

About the partnership

Wayforward is a purpose-led consultancy based in Brighton, helping charities, local authorities and government bodies achieve their goals through strategy, engagement, fundraising and brand. It’s run by two directors. Rob Alcroft, the founder, is a former Head of Fundraising Strategy at the NSPCC. Diana Alcroft brings more than 15 years in marketing and communications and specialises in stakeholder engagement for nature recovery. Between them they’ve worked with more than 100 organisations.

Much of Wayforward’s recent work sits where nature, land and people meet. It led stakeholder engagement for the Local Nature Recovery Strategies across East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove. That work included around 150 conversations with people from 80 organisations, a webinar for landowners and land managers, and workshops with local Farmer Clusters. Wayforward has also worked with Sussex Wildlife Trust, Blue Marine Foundation, Western Sussex Rivers Trust and the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project. It’s currently developing a youth employment pilot that creates jobs on UK farms.

Always Possible and Wayforward first teamed up on Building Participation for Sussex Bay, an initiative restoring nature across 100 miles of coastline from Selsey to Camber Sands. Wayforward had already developed Sussex Bay’s brand ahead of its 2024 public launch, so we bid for the engagement work together that autumn.

Wayforward led the first phase, a comprehensive mapping and analysis of Sussex Bay’s stakeholders. Between March and June 2025 we built on that foundation with a public engagement programme. We ran a public survey that drew 101 responses, held 15 focus groups including a public pop-up, carried out in-depth interviews, and convened an eight-member reference group from across Sussex that met four times. Our findings and recommendations were designed to shape Sussex Bay’s ongoing priorities and how it engages coastal communities.