Process evaluation

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Process Evaluation

At The Evaluator, we specialise in process evaluations that provide organisations with a clear understanding of how their work is being delivered and where it can be optimised. Our approach focuses on uncovering what’s working well, identifying challenges, and refining processes to maximise effectiveness. By examining implementation, decision-making, and operational dynamics, we help organisations strengthen their approach in real-time rather than waiting until a project’s end. Our evaluations are designed to be practical and insightful, offering clear recommendations that enhance efficiency, improve delivery, and ensure resources are being used to their full potential.

What makes our process evaluations stand out is our commitment to making them both reflective and action-driven. We don’t just map out workflows—we identify opportunities for streamlining, innovation, and growth. We work closely with organisations to ensure that their processes are not only effective but also sustainable and scalable. By embedding evaluation within delivery, we enable teams to adapt quickly, build resilience, and drive continuous improvement. Our evaluations turn operational insights into strategic advantages, helping organisations refine their work, strengthen their impact, and deliver with even greater confidence.

We know that setting up new teams can be tricky at first, and have developed tools which not only evaluate projects, but also help you during the project itself. We offer the following, in larger projects, to keep you on track:

Monitoring support and tools

Monitoring your activity is essential because it ensures that your efforts are making an impact and that you’re using your resources effectively. Without a clear way to track progress, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s working well and where adjustments are needed. That’s why we provide monitoring spreadsheets that offer a quick, at-a-glance overview of key metrics, making it simple to see trends, spot challenges, and identify opportunities for growth. These tools help you stay focused, prioritise your time and energy, and make informed decisions based on real data. Whether it’s tracking outputs, engagement, or project milestones, our monitoring systems empower you to stay on course, adapt when needed, and ultimately achieve greater success.

Innovative process measurement

The Reflex Survey system designed by The Evaluator is a brilliantly simple yet highly effective way to track team progress in real-time. By implementing regular self-assessment measures, the programme team can quickly reflect on their work, providing a gut-reaction assessment rather than an over-analysed response. This allows for a more accurate and honest snapshot of how the project is evolving. The inclusion of the Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing (FSNP) framework ensures that team dynamics and project challenges are recognised, allowing leadership to identify patterns, pinpoint challenges, and celebrate progress. By aligning these team insights with feedback from the board and steering group, the Reflex Survey ensures a balanced, multi-level perspective on the programme’s development.

One of the most powerful aspects of this system is its flexibility and responsiveness. Unlike traditional assessments that assume linear progress, the Reflex Survey acknowledges that teams may move back and forth between phases, adapting to new challenges as they arise. The data from the team’s assessments demonstrates this in action – here is an example “an initial dip in scores reflects the complexity of external challenges, while the sharp rise to ‘norming’ in January highlights the team’s resilience and adaptability.” This real-time insight allows for targeted support, proactive problem-solving, and a deeper understanding of team dynamics, making it an invaluable tool for monitoring project health and guiding strategic decisions.

 

 

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to strengthen an existing project, our process evaluation tools are designed to support you every step of the way. We bring clarity, insight, and momentum—helping your team stay aligned, adapt quickly, and deliver impact with confidence. If you’re ready to gain a deeper understanding of how your work is unfolding and how it can be even more effective, we’d love to talk. Get in touch with us today – info@theevaluator.co.uk or call 01756 532 538, to explore how we can tailor our approach to fit your needs and elevate your project from the inside out.

 

New Client: Eden Rivers Trust

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New Client: Eden Rivers Trust

The Evaluator is delighted to be working on a new project with the Eden Rivers Trust. Using the tagline “breaking barriers, building bridges”, this project is dedicated to reaching new communities and places access at the heart of all it has planned. It’s just the sort of work we love to do.

Eden Rivers Trust Explain:

“Access to Eden: breaking barriers, building bridges is a partnership project, led by Eden Rivers Trust that will remove the barriers that prevent people and wildlife from accessing the natural heritage of East Cumbria and ‘build the bridges’ needed so that they enjoy and thrive in, on and beside Eden’s rivers.

The project is split into two broad areas:

Greener spaces on your doorstep
This is about making improvements to the river environment at eight sites that are ‘on the doorstep’ of urban areas along the length of the river Eden – creating sustainable, healthy and thriving natural spaces. Many of these will be community-led/inspired practical conservation projects that will make the sites in Carlisle, Lower Eden, Penrith and Source of the Eden (Kirkby Stephen) better places for people and wildlife.

An Eden for everyone
This is a programme of activities, often connected to the doorstep sites above but also covering the whole of the Eden catchment area, that will create opportunities for people to enjoy Eden’s rivers and nature. This will include improvements to selected walks and trails, coupled with better information plus opportunities including volunteering, training and events for all ages and abilities to get closer to nature, so that more people can explore, enjoy and care for Eden’s rivers.

Core to our project is the desire to create an organic community conservation network for the Eden. We see this operating across organisational boundaries where ideas, knowledge, and opportunities flow from one site to the next, across the Eden, and take our beneficiaries with them, ensuring they have the maximum opportunity to experience the natural heritage of the Eden on their own terms.”

View more about the project here:

Eden Rivers Trust – Access to Eden: Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges

If you have questions or want to explore how The Evaluator can help your organisation drive impact, feel free to get in touch! Email us now on info@theevaluator.co.uk or call 01756 532 538.

Illuminate changes FOR NPO’s

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Illuminate Changes for NPOs

Early in 2025, Arts Council England announced some significant changes to their reporting system, Illuminate.

To paraphrase – they have announced that although Illuminate has been widely adopted, with over 500,000 survey responses collected since its launch, there is no longer the same requirement to meet audience targets for data collection in detail.

All NPOs and IPSOs must continue using Illuminate to report on funded activity and audience or participant numbers every quarter, as this data contributes to official statistics. While organisations are still encouraged to gather insights on their audiences, they will not be required to use Illuminate audience surveys in 2025/26.

What This Means for Organisations

You can now choose how to collect data and determine what works best for you. This also means you can ask things in a different order, reword questions, and make your data collection truly work for your organisation.

You might be wondering what to do now. Well, we would always recommend collecting audience data – and then using that data to make decisions. In fact, if you are unsure, we’d say collect less information but use it more. The worst outcome for everyone is collecting lots of information and then not doing anything with it.

Below are some pros and cons of collecting audience data to help you decide. And remember – we’re more than happy to help with this. Our full National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) package, which provides annual support to collect data, complete the annual return, manage quarterly uploads to Illuminate, and then analyze and present that information back to you, starts at just £2,400 (+VAT) per annum. It’s very good value for money, as we do this for a number of organisations and it is surprisingly affordable.

Pros of Collecting Audience Data

✔️ Powerful Insights: It’s a great way to understand who is engaging with your work, what they enjoy, and who might be missing from your reach.

✔️ Informed Decisions: Gathering this insight helps you pinpoint where to improve and where to focus your energy for the greatest impact.

✔️ Relevance & Engagement: It ensures your work remains relevant, accessible, and engaging to the widest possible audiences.

✔️ Audience Connection: People appreciate the opportunity to share their thoughts and feel they have a voice in shaping the future of your organisation.

✔️ Building Inclusivity: Acting on audience feedback strengthens relationships and helps build a more inclusive, successful organisation.

Cons of Collecting Audience Data

⚠️ Time Commitment: Collecting data takes time – for staff to gather it, for teams to analyze it, and for audiences to complete surveys.

⚠️ Survey Fatigue: People are often asked for feedback in many areas of life, so they’re more likely to respond positively if they see their input genuinely valued and acted upon.

⚠️ Meaningful Use: Data should shape decisions and improve experiences rather than becoming a tick-box exercise. When purposeful, data collection feels less like a task and more like a tool for growth and connection.

Our mantra is simple: collect less, but use it more. There’s nothing worse than gathering huge amounts of data only to discover there’s no capacity to make practical use of it. Focusing on meaningful, targeted information means every piece of data serves a purpose and drives real impact.

You’re not alone in this our NPO data return package includes dedicated analysis time, so you can make the most of the insights you collect without feeling overwhelmed. We’re here to help you turn data into action.

If you have any questions or want more information, contact us at info@theevaluator.co.uk or call 01756 532 538 and we’ll be delighted to see how we can help.

Recent Client Feedback: Full Project Evaluation

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Recent Client Feedback: Full Project Evaluation

The Evaluator takes pride in delivering insightful, formative evaluations that not only assess progress but also foster learning and reflection. We recently had the pleasure of working with David Coughlin, Programme Manager at the Urban Forest Accelerator, National Trust, who shared his thoughts on our evaluation process:

“Working with The Evaluator was a joy.”

“As promised, the evaluation was really formative, giving us regular feedback on how things were going, and how our wider team saw progress. Our regular check-ins were invaluable in terms of creating a space to be reflective and helped us develop a culture of honest learning in the project.”

— David Coughlin, Programme Manager, Urban Forest Accelerator, National Trust

By providing structured feedback and facilitating regular check-ins, we help project teams develop a culture of continuous learning, honest reflection, and informed decision-making. This approach ensures that every project we support has the tools and insights needed to maximize its impact.

💬 Interested in an evaluation that creates real change? Email us now on info@theevaluator.co.uk or call 01756 532 538.

Evaluation in Action: Empowering Recovery Stories and Insights

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The Evaluator was invited to present at an event for those working with the drug and alcohol service programmes, funded by Birmingham City Council. Taking place at the University of Birmingham, the event included talks from past service users (now volunteers), talking about their experiences and evaluation results and had a strong focus on service-user voices.

To start there was an inspirational talk from a current recovery worker, who had experience of service use. She shared how life was for her, seven years into recovery. It was heart warming to hear her story about how Change Grow Live (CGL) had changed her life for the better, especially the intuitive thinking programme which led her to be able to have her first Christmas, sober, many years ago. Hearing about how her recovery not only impacted her life, but also her children’s lives, truly showed the impact CGL has had on the wider community as a whole. She explained how seeing his mum ‘get clean’ inspired her son to work towards becoming a PT and changed her younger daughter’s life for the better.

The next speech was from a current volunteer and previous service user, sharing her recovery story. Her journey started two years ago when she sadly lost her brother to addiction and decided she needed to get some help. She attended a CGL coffee group where she met staff who reached out to her and offered her the support she needed. With help, she created a recovery plan and ‘got clean’. Noting that the intuitive thinking course was also transformative in helping her change her mindset, she began to volunteer, which has given her structure and purpose. She finished off her speech explaining that she is currently enrolled at college, learning how to help others with their recovery.

Following these inspiring personal experiences, three different companies shared their findings from three different evaluations.

The evaluation team, who investigated children and young people’s engagement with the drug and alcohol service, shared some key findings. Some young people felt that they couldn’t access these services with 38% citing family as the reason, 30% due to peer pressure and the acceptance of drugs as a coping mechanism and 23% due to travel. The presentation showed that more needs to be done to help young people earlier on with 90% of young people saying drug education needs to start at around Year 6.

Kirsty Rose Parker, Director of The Evaluator stands next to a white board at the University of Birmingham, to present our findings on Service User voice.

Kirsty Rose Parker, Director of The Evaluator, shared our evaluation presentation, focussed around our findings and sharing Service User Voice. We offered an incentive to encourage service users to take part in our research and we were able to publicly hand over the prize (an iPad) on the day. Our evaluation here reached almost 400 different service users and we were able to share many quotes, which helped those attending, to understand the voices of those actively engaged in drug and alcohol services.

Image of Kirsty Rose Parker, director of The Evaluator holding an ipad uo above her head. Kirsty is wearing a brightly patterned shirt and blue trousers.

Some of those comments were practical and relevant, some were funny, some heart-warming and some heart-breaking. There was value in taking some time to listen to their experiences and needs.

New Client: Nature Calling

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The Evaluator is delighted to be working with a new client, National Landscapes, on their exciting national project, Nature Calling.

National Landscapes are the new name for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Nature Calling is a £2 million national project that celebrates the natural beauty of England’s National Landscapes, formerly known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs).

The project aims to:

– Listen to communities

– Ensure landscapes are inclusive

– Engage new audiences

– Inspire the National Landscape’s family

– Address the climate crisis

The project is a partnership between: The National Landscape Association, Activate Performing Arts, Poetry School, and Six regional National Landscapes hubs.

National Landscapes explain:

“Co-delivered with Activate Performing Arts as executive creative producers and working with writers, musicians, visual artists, and theatre-makers, Nature Calling aims to inspire new communities across England to connect with National Landscapes, increasing people’s access to nature, improving their wellbeing, and inspiring a sense of belonging in these special places.

Nature Calling marks the first time Defra has invested in the arts on a national scale and it is the first time National Landscapes teams have come together in such numbers to deliver an arts programme.”

The project invites artists and writers to respond to a brief and ultimately to co-create artworks inspired by the landscapes. The artworks will be shared with the public in a Season of Art from May to October 2025.

The project is funded by: Arts Council England, Defra (Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs), and National Landscapes in England.

National Landscapes add:

“The programme will bring together the 34 National Landscapes in England, local arts organisations, and community groups from within a 30-minute journey time of their nearby National Landscape.

They will work together to co-create artworks inspired by these iconic places and the results will then be shared with the public in a Season of Art from May to October 2025, reaching an audience of tens of thousands.

National Landscapes are the UK’s nearby countryside.”

– 66% of people in England (44 million) live within 30 minutes of a National Landscape

– Over 1 million people live within them

– At least 170 million people visit every year

– Nature Calling aims to encourage even more communities to feel welcome to enjoy these special places on their own terms

The Evaluator is supporting the project to collect evaluation materials and really focus in on monitoring all the activity which will be taking place.

Cheers to a Festive Break

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We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our wonderful clients from this year, it is a pleasure to work with such outstanding people and provide meaningful evaluation services and data analysis. We look forward to working with new and existing clients next year.

In the spirit of the festive season, the Evaluator team will be taking a break to refresh and recharge during Christmas. Therefore, we would like to inform you that our office will be closed for the holiday period starting from Monday 23rd of December and will resume operations on Monday 6th of January.

We appreciate your understanding, and we assure you that we will return in the new year fully revitalised and ready to continue delivering our exceptional service.

Evaluation in action: Making Data Collection Simple and Effective for Our Clients

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At The Evaluator, we are committed to doing the best job we can for our clients. That means helping them to use data and making sure that they feel confident using data and collect enough. Small amounts of data can be helpful indicators of information, but having larger amounts means that you can trust your information.

Therefore, a big part of our work is carefully planning and supporting clients to maximise their ability to collect data.

Look for all opportunities to collect data as easily as possible

Consider all angles – where is a good place to get people to write something? Are there times in your programme where people will be waiting? Are there natural opportunities to ask questions and record answers?

Sometimes you might want a record of a change, and a photograph might be the best way. Data can be in the form of words, pictures, numbers, and more.

We do usually use at least one survey in each project, but we think carefully about the best place to use it.

How can your evaluation team help you to collect data?

We know all evaluators have slightly different approaches, but this is how we do it at The Evaluator:

– Weekly tracking of information, to help clients out, if we see things start to stall

– Spotting opportunities to visit in person

– Making visits in person as useful as possible – maximising our time

– Encouraging use by demonstrating how valuable the information can be – dashboards, data-driven decisions, etc.

And you know what, it works! In 2024/25, since July 2024 (which is the start of our year), we have supported our clients to collect over 750,000 pieces of data ready for our analysis. Analysis happens at different planned times in the year, but collecting data whilst it is fresh in people’s minds (and their experiences are still memorable) is a vital part of our organisation. We call it our company ‘rock’, as we all stand on that.

Blue graphic image with rocks, which says company rock - data collected in 2024/25 - since July 2024 The Evaluator has collected over 750,000 pieces of data for it's clients.

Evaluation In Action: Working With Volunteers

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The National Festival of Making took place on 6th and 7th July across Blackburn town centre and was supported by a wonderful team of volunteers, including an evaluation team of volunteers.

Volunteers

Each volunteer brought different skills to the festival, with some speaking multiple languages, helping the diverse audience with finding venues across the festival and being a friendly face to converse with. In fact, the team spoke the following languages; Persian, Urdu, French, Polish, Zulu, Bengali and more. What a skilled bunch!

The volunteers were a valuable support to our evaluation team. Over the festival weekend, they helped us to conduct surveys with festival attendees and gather valuable data and feedback, which supports funding for future events and helps the festival to make improvements year on year.

 

Artwork in church - festival of making

Photograph, above, reproduced from the National Festival of Making website. You can see more about the festival by clicking here.

At The Evaluator we enjoy working with volunteers to make the most of our clients resources.

 

Why not keep in touch if you want to know more about how volunteers could be included in your evaluation? Sign up for our mailing list below.

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