Tag Archive for: project evaluation

New Client: Heritage Crafts

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The Evaluator is delighted to be working with a new client, Heritage Crafts.

Heritage Crafts is the national charity for traditional heritage crafts in the UK. Working in partnership with the government and key agencies, they provide a focus for craftspeople, groups, societies and guilds – as well as individuals who care about the loss of traditional crafts skills. They work towards a healthy and sustainable framework for the future.

Heritage Craft’s charitable purpose is to advance public knowledge and appreciation of traditional and heritage crafts in particular, but not exclusively, through education, advice and training.

They describe themselves as:

“Heritage Crafts is the national charity for traditional heritage crafts. Working in partnership with Government and key agencies, we provide a focus for craftspeople, groups, societies and guilds, as well as individuals who care about the loss of traditional crafts skills, and work towards a healthy and sustainable framework for the future.

We are a UNESCO accredited NGO for Intangible Cultural Heritage and advocated for UK ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention of the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which was announced by the UK Government in December 2023.”

Shaping a Resilient Future for Heritage Crafts is a project designed to build the resilience of the organisation. Heritage Crafts has grown rapidly over the last four years and is also at the end of a period of change – moving from trustee led to having paid staff.

This project will run for two years and is funded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It will focus on governance, fundraising and broadening the offer of support to a wider range of people, including under-represented communities.

The Evaluator is looking forward to working with and evaluating the Shaping a Resilient Future for Heritage Crafts project.

You can find out more about the organisation here https://www.heritagecrafts.org.uk/

Capturing impact in people’s own words

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At The Evaluator we recognise the value of collecting qualitative information for our evaluations. We take pride in capturing the genuine impact our projects or organisations have on individuals through hearing about their experiences in their own words.

The questions we ask are often simple and open to encourage individuals to speak honestly and let their stories unfold naturally. We feel privileged to get to hear about the amazing feedback and stories from people, and we love to share these stories with our clients.

We would also like to share some genuine quotes with you, spoken by real people who have experienced the impact from some of our clients:

We have heard from volunteers

“I truly appreciate everything the team does throughout the year to keep things moving forward. Thank you for helping to make so many people feel empowered, and seeing all of the work being done leaves me feeling so much hope for the future. Thank you for shining a light on all that can be done to make live music more accessible and equitable!” – Volunteer

“That was the biggest opportunity I’ve been given and that changed my life” – Volunteer

“It is such a joy and has made a really positive impact on my life. It has even changed the direction of my career” – Volunteer

 

We have also heard from participants

 

“For my general health I consider [client] more important than the NHS” – Participant of a wellbeing service

“[Client] has just been a godsend for me. Absolute Godsend” – Participant of a wellbeing service

“I really enjoyed the course as I love art and it also gave me a push to get out of the home and socialise more thus contributing to my wellbeing. Thank you”  – Participant of an Arts project

Thank you for the opportunity. Since starting with [project] I’m growing in self confidence and feel like I’m getting my life in order again. I’m putting plans in place and I’m more optimistic for my future.” – Participant of an Arts project

 

If you’re interested in learning more about our evaluation processes or exploring how we can help your organisation measure its impact, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’d love to chat!

Successful Client: The £1.6 million Climate FORTH project gets the go ahead

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Earlier this year, The Evaluator worked with Climate FORTH (Furthering Our Resilience Through Heritage) on their application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, where we developed an evaluation framework for the whole project. They have just announced they were successful. That’s always a lovely day, sharing in the success of our clients.
The details are below:
A new £1.6million project in the Inner Forth has been granted just over £1million by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to boost the area’s climate resilience through the promotion and enhancement of local heritage.
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Climate FORTH is the latest project from Inner Forth Futures, a landscape-scale partnership which has been operating across the coastal areas of Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Falkirk and Fife since 2012. Since the partnership’s inception, it has delivered both the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative (IFLI) and Wanderings and Windings projects, enhancing and celebrating the local area’s heritage while improving access through a series of waymarked walking and cycling trails.

The new Climate FORTH project will build on these successes by piloting methods of increasing resilience to climate and other changes in the local area’s natural and built heritage, and in its most at-risk communities.

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The project will soon begin work on the delivery of several new initiatives, including green skill training for young people and community groups, enhancement of sustainable travel options around the local area, and capital works at four locations across the project area. The works will improve the climate resilience of greenspaces at Glendevon Drive in Stirling and Rannoch Park in Falkirk, as well as an important community building, Cochrane Hall in Alva, Clackmannanshire and the Gardener’s Cottage ruin at Valleyfield Estate in Fife.
One of the first activities to get underway will be a rebranding of sections of the National Cycle Network which pass through the Inner Forth. Supported by Sustrans, this work will encourage more people to make use of the network and help establish the landscape as a destination for sustainable tourism.
A key aim of Climate FORTH is to pilot new techniques that can be shared with other initiatives and policymakers to inspire further action. The pioneering work of the project will be closely monitored so the knowledge obtained can support Scotland’s aim of achieving net zero emissions by 2045 and help communities move towards a just transition.
Four communities in particular have been identified as being key to the project’s goals, with members playing an active role in decisions involving their local area through the co-design of local resilience plans. They are Hawkhill in Clackmannanshire, Fallin in Stirling, Bainsford & Langlees in Falkirk and Kincardine in Fife.
Climate FORTH Project Manager, Kate Fuller, said, “We’re delighted to have been awarded this Heritage Fund support that will allow us to show how the diverse natural and cultural assets of the Inner Forth can be adapted to tackle the threats of climate change. We’ve seen through our previous work just how special this part of Scotland is. Thanks to National Lottery players, Climate FORTH will enable us to re-invigorate our work with the amazing communities that live here and support them to lead by example as Scotland moves towards achieving net-zero.”
Dave Beaumont, Operations Director for RSPB Scotland said, “We are in a nature and climate emergency and the only way we can meet this challenge is by facing it together. Estuaries such as the Forth are where we are seeing impacts from climate change right now – as sea levels rise, storm intensities increase and rivers flowing into our seas are carrying floodwaters much more frequently. The communities and the incredible wildlife found in and around our estuaries are more fragile than ever and this project will continue our efforts to make them more resilient to the changes ahead.”
Cosmo Blake, Network Engagement Manager for Sustrans Scotland, said, “We are delighted to work with Inner Forth Futures to create a new brand identity and better signage along sections of The National Cycle Network. As well as creating a new brand identity, we are also developing eight new day trips with maps, directional signage and additional bike parking and maintenance stations at local heritage sites and transport hubs. We hope this will encourage more people to walk, wheel and cycle and make sustainable choices when visiting the Inner Forth.”
Heather Macnaughton, Strategic Partnerships Manager at Historic Environment Scotland said, “This funding will build on the exciting work our partnership has already undertaken in the area to help protect this heritage rich estuary from the impact of climate change. Working with the local community, Climate FORTH will shine a light on the area’s natural and built heritage and the important part it can play in improving climate resilience and biodiversity. By working closely with our partners and communities, Historic Environment Scotland looks forward to developing solutions for future resilience and moving together towards a just transition.”
Caroline Clark, Director for Scotland, The National Lottery Heritage Fund said, “This is such an important project for our times – Climate FORTH will enable communities to take the lead in developing their own local responses to the challenges of climate change and Net Zero. What makes this project even more significant is that it will then create templates that can be adapted for use by other communities across Scotland and beyond.”
Inner Forth Futures is a partnership between RSPB Scotland, Clackmannanshire Council, Falkirk Council, Fife Council, Green Action Trust, Historic Environment Scotland, NatureScot, Stirling Council and Sustrans. Climate FORTH is partly funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with additional funding from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, the Crown Estate, IFF members and the Scottish Government through Sustrans Scotland’s Network Engagement Programme. The project will be running from August 2023 – July 2026.
For more information, visit innerforthlandscape.co.uk.

New Project: Urban Forest Accelerator

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The Evaluator is delighted to be starting a new project with National Trust, the Urban Forest Accelerator. We are excited to be working on measuring concepts of urban tree cover, tree equity, environmental justice and developing a new approach to measuring connections. Just as joined up canopies can be more that the sum of their parts, we believe our work relationships can also mirror this and aim to develop a new way to track this over time.

Along the way, we are lucky enough to get to work with inspirational people who want to transform and green our urban areas. We get to have discussions around who should decide what is best for urban trees, to look at tree cover metric developmental work and to use words like arboriculture career pathways and knowledge. Plus, we love trees!

The Urban Forest Accelerator is part of the Future Parks Accelerator and aims to address concepts including; partnership, urban forest capacity, sustainable finance, tree equity, community engagement and learning and scaling.

 

 

Recent Client Feedback

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At The Evaluator, we are committed to learning and improving our work over time. To make sure we achieve this we do evaluate ourselves and ask our clients to give us feedback. Here are some recent results.

 

And let’s end on a detailed client testimonial, from when The Evaluator worked in partnership with Simon Lees from Countryside Training Partnership to create an evaluation framework.

“Kirsty from The Evaluator and Simon from Countryside Training Partnership have challenged and encouraged the Climate FORTH project team and Board to think about monitoring and evaluation in a holistic way, right from this project development stage. The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework created will support our application to NLHF for delivery phase funding and show how we wish to go beyond monitoring outputs to considering the wider impact of National Lottery and other investment through our project. Communication was excellent throughout this contract and an extension was kindly accommodated when our timelines were delayed. The final report is clear, concise and well considered – spot on – we hope that we get an opportunity to enact it! The Evaluator & Countryside Training Partnership have proposed workable and proportional monitoring and evaluation methods to follow in a project delivery phase, identified suitable baseline data and provided friendly advice as we move through our project development phase. I would be pleased to recommend both parties to other organisations and partnerships looking for a personalised professional approach to this type of work.” Kate Fuller, Climate FORTH Project Manager, Inner Forth Futures.

New Client; Attitude is Everything

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We are delighted to be working with a new client, Attitude is Everything, evaluating Beyond the Music. Beyond the Music is an ambitious programme, funded by Reaching Communities from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to encourage more Deaf and disabled people to work in the music industry.

Here is an extract from the Attitude is Everything website. You can see the website directly by clicking here. 

“Attitude is Everything is pleased to announce Beyond the Music, a new three-year programme that aims to boost employment opportunities for Deaf and disabled people in the commercial music sector.

Findings from Arts Council England show just 4% of staff at National Portfolio Organisations, and just 1.8% of staff at music industry organisations, consider themselves to be disabled. This is a significant disparity from the UK’s general population, where 19% of working adults are considered disabled under the Equality Act.

Such a disconnect may be the result of barriers and discrimination, but our own research suggests that many Deaf and disabled people in the industry may also lack confidence to make their impairment known. Last year we revealed that that 70% of disabled musicians hid details of their impairment for fear of losing opportunities, and that two-thirds had compromised their health to perform in inaccessible conditions.

Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, Beyond The Music will look to explore these issues and employment gaps, while taking a two-pronged approach to identify solutions: supporting Deaf and disabled people to gain the necessary skills, experience, support and contacts they require to work or volunteer in the music industry, while providing training, resources and guidance to help music businesses build a truly inclusive work environment.

The project launches with a new survey, open to any Deaf or disabled person who works or is aspiring to work in the industry. Their responses will play a key part in shaping the programme over the next three years.

Over that period, we are aiming to create:

  1. A Beyond The Music Network – a place for Deaf and disabled people working or seeking to work in the industry to meet, network, share ideas and find support around navigating the industry.
  2. Structured opportunities for Deaf and disabled people to develop their skills through training, mentoring, shadowing and skilled employment and volunteering opportunities.
  3. Accessible Creative Environments training – a new training course tailored to support companies within in the industry to create a truly inclusive workplace culture.
  4. An Accessible Employment and Volunteering Toolkit
  5. A Future Leaders programme – a year long skills development programme designed to help talented Deaf and disabled people develop the skills to lead the industry in the future.

Head of Volunteering and Skills Development for Attitude is Everything Paul Hawkins said

“This is a challenging time for everyone in the music business, especially within live events. The industry’s #LetTheMusicPlay campaign has highlighted the gravity of the situation, but, as we plot a pathway back from coronavirus, Attitude is Everything believes it is crucial that Deaf and disabled people have full and equal access to any employment opportunities on offer.”

Beyond The Music will allow us to try and identify why Deaf and disabled workers are so underrepresented in the sector, and to take positive action to implement change. The first step towards that goal is the survey we are launching today. We are enormously grateful to the National Lottery for funding this project, and also for support we’ve received from venues and others in the business. More will be needed on the road ahead as we strive for equality and inclusivity.

A number of music industry organisations are already backing Beyond The Music, with The Barbican, the Brighton Centre, Manchester Arena, the SEC, the South Bank Centre and Norwich Arts Centre all offering expertise to a Venues Advisory Group that will help formulate a strategy around the survey findings. Further support has been confirmed by Sony Music and Youth Music.

Industry umbrella body UK Music have also invited Attitude is Everything to join their Diversity Taskforce to help ensure access for Deaf and disabled people is high on their agenda. UK Music Acting CEO Tom Kiehl said:

“For a number of years UK Music has been a proud supporter of Attitude is Everything’s great work to improve access to music and the music industry for Deaf and disabled people. Beyond The Music is an exciting new initiative that everyone must now get behind. We look forward to working with Attitude is Everything on this and welcoming them to the UK Music Diversity Taskforce.”

Alongside the initiative, we are pleased to announce a new role within the Attitude is Everything team. The Skills Development Manager will lead on our work with Deaf and disabled people aspiring to work in music by helping them to access training, advice and guidance and brokering placements with music industry partners.

To find out more about Beyond the Music and how you can support it, please contact Paul Hawkins via paul@attitudeiseverything.org.uk.

The Evaluator is looking forward to helping this organisation to measure the impact of it’s work, on individuals and on the music industry too. As part of this project we are looking into concepts including ambition, what holds people back, and how industry can change attitudes over time.

Recommissioned for Positive Progressions

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We announce new partnerships here, and share some evaluation examples, but we rarely share the details of the project we complete. It’s time to rectify this.

Positive Progressions is one of our earliest clients and we are still working together. Positive Progressions is run by Craven College, who are based in Yorkshire and is all about getting families who are far away from the labour market back into work. They are co-financed by the National Lottery Community Fund and the European Social Fund and are a Building Better Opportunities (BBO) project.

As their evaluation provider, in the beginning we worked with them to understand the work they were doing and what happened day to day in their project. We looked at the data they had to collect for funders, and spoke to the staff.  The project itself is a 1:1 keyworker support model, which is incredibly flexible. Because staff work so intensively with participants, they get to know them really well. We use that, and get the staff to carry out keyworker assessments.

Overall we have created measurement tools which capture changes in; wellbeing, confidence, resilience and ‘work-readiness’ over time. We chose this list, as these are the aims of the project. We regularly analyse all the data and present it to the wider team at partnership meetings. We can show the project is making an impact. We even can predict when people are nearing the end of their time in the project.

Our numerical information has uncovered unknown issues, for example, that people with disabilities are less likely to cross the final hurdle and get a job. This has helped the project team to focus their time and understanding on supporting disabled participants more.

We have provided bespoke quantitative measurement tools including ‘The Journey Back to Work Road Map’ and the ‘Rose Parker Resilience Scale’ which are very quick and easy for the team to implement and require no additional staff time.

Positive Progressions have consistently been identified as one of the leading examples of good practice in evaluation for all BBO projects across the North of England.

We presented the bespoke findings for this project at a high-profile seminar of good evaluation practice at Newcastle Football Club in May 2019. We were the only project selected to share evaluation good practice!

In September 2019 we were recommissioned to continue to provide their evaluation for the next two years. Working together again, we uncovered what they wanted out of a future evaluation. We decided to continue to use the existing methods and monitor the disability situation and to develop a new arm for evaluation to measure longer term impact. We are currently carrying out a ‘six months later’ impact analysis for this project and as part of that work we are starting to financially proxy the lifetime savings of the project in terms of a public purse.

“The Evaluator has been integral; supporting Craven College to really demonstrate  the impact of Positive Progressions to funders both current and future. From the outset they have developed and adapted methods of collecting data and evidencing impact throughout, this has ensured we can really showcase the success of the project but also to help us constantly improve our practice.” Pippa Syers, Community and Projects Manager.

Hopefully, that will have explained a bit more about what an evaluation partnership can look like. As a firm trying to transform evaluation; we are really trying to make sure it enhances our clients work, and helps them to make data-driven-decisions.