Ryan Miemczyk
Accredited Researcher | Creator of imd2025.co.uk l Founder of theimpactlab |Director of Research at Trust Impact l Chair @ Manchester Young Lives | Trustee for YMCA
I help charities measure the important stuff
linktr.ee/ryanmiemczyk
- More and more charities I work with appear to be questioning whether delivery is still viable at scale 💭 As costs rise, influencing and systems change can feel like a more sustainable route 📉➡️📣 I have written a short piece reflecting on this. Curious if it resonates 🤔
- This is super cool (the infographic not the deprivation). ⬇️
- The recent release of the Index of Multiple Deprivation by UK Gov. allowed me to indulge my twin interests of psephology and demographics. The results a visualisation of the deprivation profiles of the 296 English local authorities. More info here www.opendatamanchester.org.uk/revisiting-p...
- Awesome day speaking at the Utilita Giving Conference today. Amazing amounts of energy on display to change the energy sector for the better. Let’s beat #FuelPoverty together. #Charity #ThirdSector #SocialImpact
- It’s #FuelPovertyAwarenessDay and too many households are still choosing between heat and essentials ❄️💷 Next Thursday (4th Dec) I’ll be speaking at the 'One Call That’s All' Conference about how data and early intervention can make a real difference 📊🤝 More details about what they are up to here:
- Still buzzing from last Tuesday’s #FutureofSocialImpact2025 Summit. I was incredibly lucky to be joined by some phenomenal guests to present on creating #MeasurementFrameworks that get used and #Data essentials for #SocialImpact. See you all again next year!
- Happy UK Budget Day. May your predictions be accurate and your surprises be mild 🤞📊💷 #BudgetDay #Budget2025 #UKEconomy #PolicyWatch
- Annual trip to the #YouthMattersAwards With the #YMCA. Always an honour to attend. #SocialImpact #LiveData
- Worth a quick read if you’re into your data or charity leader: Blog: Making Sense of Change - How Small Charities Can Use IMD 2025 to Target and Tell Their Impact: theimpactlab.co.uk/press/blogs/...
- Checked the postcode for Buckingham Palace on my new IMD2025.co.uk site Apparently, the neighbours could use a little “levelling up.” See how your area’s deprivation scores have changed between 2019 and 2025. 👑📉 #IMD2025 #DataForGood #LevellingUp #UKData #OpenData #Mapping
- 🇦🇺 A 14-year, 25k strong study found that hopeful adults had higher wellbeing, better health, stronger employment & faster recovery after shocks. 🌱 #Hope as measurable, predictive & essential for understanding #SocialImpact. 📈 #Wellbeing #Charity #Evaluation #Reporting #Impact
- 🚨 Big change for UK charities! SORP 2026 makes impact reporting part of the Trustees’ Report. You’ll need to show who you reached, what changed, and how you know. Get ready with our quick guide 👇 #SORP2026 #Charity #ImpactReporting
- After a long day of building, it’s live! 🎉 imd2025.co.uk gives you free tools to explore the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 — maps, lookups & insights for #researchers and small #charities tackling inequality. #IMD2025 #SocialImpact #DataForGood
- ITS OPEN SOURE DATA CHRISTMAS! www.gov.uk/government/s...
- 🧵 One of my favourite ideas: The Helsinki Bus Station Theory. It’s about creativity, originality, and the courage to stay on the bus — and it has everything to do with creating lasting social impact. #SocialImpact #Creativity 1/10
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View full threadWhen your results look like everyone else’s, remember: others might just be a few stops ahead on the same route. Stay on board until your learning becomes leadership and your work starts to shape the map. #Measurement #SocialChange 9/10
- The Helsinki Bus Station Theory reminds us: originality isn’t found by starting over. It’s earned by staying long enough to make your work unmistakably yours. 🚌✨ #SocialImpact #StayOnTheBus #Creativity 10/10
- It’s not about being stubborn. It’s about depth. Originality comes from persistence, from showing up, collecting feedback, and shaping practice until it reflects your distinct way of creating change. #Innovation #ImpactLeadership 7/10
- I see it often: organisations pivoting too soon, chasing trends before their data matures. The courage to persist through iteration and doubt is what separates the truly impactful from the merely active. #SocialImpact #Strategy 8/10
- The message: Stay on the bus. 🚌 If you stay long enough, the route diverges. The scenery changes. That’s when your work, your data, your model, your story, becomes truly your own. #StayOnTheBus #ImpactStrategy 5/10
- In social impact, that means sticking with an approach long enough to refine it, test assumptions, and generate evidence. Jump too early and you miss the deeper learning that drives systems change. #SocialImpact #Measurement 6/10
- After a few stops, you notice others doing similar work. Their reports look like yours. Their outcomes sound familiar. You wonder if you’re original enough. Maybe you should pivot, perhaps take a different bus. #Creativity #ImpactMeasurement 3/10
- So you jump off. Back to the station. New idea, new model, new approach. But before long, it feels familiar again. Why? Because every bus shares the same early stops. Everyone starts with the same logic. #Innovation #Learning 4/10
- Imagine a huge bus station. Each platform is a path: tackling poverty, youth opportunity, mental health, climate. You pick a platform and board your bus with your project, your mission, your theory of change. 🚍 #SocialImpact #Leadership 2/10
- Question for the Researchers and Data folks: Should companies be allowed to paywall ONS data (and not share the core results) despite access being granted on condition of 'benefiting the public?' 📊
- My take: ✅ Yes to selling the value add ✅ Free: core indicators plus a short method note. ✅ Paid: faster updates, UX, support, API, bespoke analysis. This keeps public benefit, and still rewards the work 💡
- Have you seen good models or bad ones? If you work with SRS or IDS UK, what do your approvals / data sharing agreements say about downstream use and public benefit? #ONS #SRS #ADRUK #OpenData #DataEthics #UKData #SocialImpact #GovTech #DataPolicy
- Buzzing to be leading a couple of breakouts at The Future of Social Impact 🙌 ⚡ How to design impact frameworks that actually get used ⚡ Data essentials for social impact 📅 Tues 18 Nov 🎟️ Tickets almost gone (<30 left) 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-future...
- I’m speaking at the @dsc-charity.bsky.social #GrantsUnlocked2025 conference this Thursday 🎤🚀 I’ll be sharing how to measure & report impact in ways people actually care about. Cool tools + practical tips for charities 🙌 👉 dsc.org.uk/event/grants-unlocked-2025
- I am speaking at the next @dsc-charity.bsky.social online conference on 'Measuring and Reporting Impact'. I'm going to try and make it as practical as possible so people walk away with some actionable insights. Pre-questions also welcome! Details here: www.dsc.org.uk/event/grants...
- I’m currently looking for a panel member for a session I’m hosting at our conference on the 18th November. I’m looking for an org that actively uses its impact framework as their North Star. If you are or know someone, give me a shout!
- 👋 Charity friends 👋 One of the top GDPR questions I get is "Can we collect postcodes?" The answer: sometimes ✅ sometimes ⚠️ And the risks are bigger than most people think (especially in rural areas)
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View full threadWhy does “in the browser” matter? 🧐 Think of it like checking someone’s ID in their own house 🔑 You see it, take the info you need, and hand it straight back, nothing leaves with you.
- If your charity wants to use postcode data without the GDPR headaches, I’m happy to share how this works or help you build your own version ⚙️ DM me 📩 or reply 💬 #DataForGood #CharityTech #GDPR
- On average, a postcode covers ~15 homes 🏠 But there are: 🏡 Rural postcodes with just 2–3 houses 📮 55,000+ single-address postcodes in England & Wales 📦 Large-user postcodes for just one org or PO Box In these cases, a full postcode can be identifiable data 🎯
- Keep the insights but ditch the risk by building a browser-based tool that: 🔍 Looks up the postcode locally on the user’s device 📤 Only returns postcode sector + LSOA name + LSOA code 🌍 Links straight to area-level stats like deprivation, health, education ✅ Ensuring no postcode leaves the device
- 🧵Impact Report Best Practices ⬇️ Just finished reading the latest @dofe.org Impact Report and their Technical Report, and wow, the level of transparency and rigour in their measurement framework is impressive. 📊👏 impctlab.uk/DoEImpactReport impctlab.uk/DoETechnicalReport (1/7)
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View full threadImagine the power of being able to say, “Young people from high deprivation areas experienced this level of improved wellbeing compared to their peers from lower deprivation areas.” That’s where the real story lies. 💡 (6/7)
- Overall, I’m super impressed. DoE is showing that rigorous, transparent, and well-communicated impact measurement is possible at scale. They’re already doing so much right, but with sharper segmentation, they could lead the field even further. 🚀 (7/7)
- However, there’s a challenge that stood out. More than 50% of participants come from areas of low deprivation (IMD 8-10: likely affluent areas). While that isn’t inherently a bad thing, it raises questions about whether the programme is reaching those who might benefit the most? 🏙️↔️🏞️ (4/7)
- A key opportunity for improvement would be stronger segmentation of their impact data. For example, we need to see how outcomes differ by demographics like deprivation level, ethnicity, or region this is critical to understanding equity of access and impact. 🔧 (5/7)
- They’re using validated questions (like those from ONS wellbeing measures), which is such a refreshing change from the vague and untested indicators we often see in the charity sector. ✅ This means their data has both credibility and comparability. (2/7)
- I also love how upfront they are about the sample, both in terms of who responded and how representative it is. Too many reports hide this detail in footnotes or ignore it entirely. The Duke of Edinburgh Award is setting a standard here. 🏅 (3/7)
- 🚨📊 The English #IndicesOfDeprivation2025 will be released in Oct/Nov this year. This is huge! 🔥 #IMD underpins funding decisions, #research, #policy targeting, and #impact #measurement across England. If you use #postcode #data, map #disadvantage, or care about place-based work, get ready. 🗺️
- 🧵 I was a panelist at the #Charity #AI #Conference yesterday, hosted by the @dsc-charity.bsky.social. One recurring question: What’s the true environmental cost of all this AI? ⚡️ (1/7)
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View full threadEspecially if we want AI in the social sector to be part of the solution and not another source of extraction and harm. 🚩 Currently, we don't need to pick between ethics, climate, and innovation but we do need to ask questions about what our tech is doing to people and to the planet 🌍 (6/7)
- Maybe the future of AI isn't just silicon 🤖. Maybe it's squishier than we thought... 🧠💧 (7/7)
- A Swiss company called #FinalSpark is already renting out these brain organoids for around $500/month.💰 They use less energy and could be a low-carbon future for AI if the tech develops further. 🌿 Of course, there are big ethical questions 🚨 (4/7)
- Could these organoids ever develop consciousness? 🧘♂️ What are the limits of using human tissue for computing? 🧬 Who owns a piece of lab-grown brain that's doing your data processing? 🧫 But it’s worth sitting with the idea that biological computing might be a path to more sustainable AI. (5/7)
- Turns out, running large language models requires a staggering amount of energy. 🔌 We’re talking data centres, water cooling, power-hungry GPUs. So we need to talk about sustainability. And maybe even… brains? 🧠 (2/7)
- Because weirdly, there’s a growing field exploring the use of brain organoids as a form of biological computing. 🧬 Yes, you read that right: miniature brain-like clusters of human cells (nicknamed “wetware”) that can be used as a processor for things like AI. This isn’t sci-fi 👽 (3/7)
