ABOUT

Birch Network works to create welcoming communities for refugees and asylum seekers in Birmingham. By connecting newly arrived individuals with local people, Birch offers friendship, practical support, and a sense of belonging in what can be an isolating and overwhelming transition.

From befriending programmes to hosting initiatives and emergency responses, Birch operates across several workstreams, each reliant on careful coordination and human connection.

THE CHALLENGE

As Birch’s impact and reach grew, so did the complexity of its operations. With several active programmes and hundreds of individuals being supported, the team faced familiar nonprofit headaches:

• Multiple spreadsheets holding scattered information
• Difficulty tracking support activities across different workstreams
• Limited visibility into overall impact — how many people helped, in what ways, and when
• No easy way to log or report on distributions (e.g. mobile phones, housing placements, food deliveries)

What Birch needed was a single system that could hold all its participant information, track its many types of support, and help tell the story of its impact.

THE SOLUTION

Birch Network adopted Makerble Workflow, bringing together the full functionality of CRM, impact tracking, and flexible process management in one intuitive platform.

• All-in-One CRM: Every refugee and asylum seeker supported by Birch is now managed in a secure, unified database. With Makerble, the team can quickly find individuals, view case histories, and update records in real time.
• Custom Workflows for Different Programmes: Whether it’s befriending, hosting, or urgent material support, each service has its own workflow — tailored forms, filters, and stages — all accessible from the project’s navigation toolbar.
• Impact Logging Made Easy: From logging a phone handover to tracking family reunifications, Birch can now quantify and qualify the support it provides — turning activity into insight.
• Automation and Flexibility: The platform helps Birch automate reminders and workflows, while being flexible enough to evolve with their work.

THE IMPACT

With Makerble Workflow, Birch has moved from fragmented systems to a single source of truth.

• Greater efficiency: The team spends less time searching for information and more time providing support.
• Clearer insight: Birch can now generate real-time dashboards showing the number and type of interventions delivered.
• Improved safeguarding and coordination: Notes, files, and timelines for each participant ensure that no one falls through the cracks — even with a growing caseload.
• Stronger case for funding: With structured data and compelling stories, Birch is better equipped to demonstrate its impact to funders and partners.

For Birch Network, Makerble isn’t just a tool — it’s infrastructure that strengthens their mission of building communities of welcome.

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