Age Concern Northern Ireland
Evaluation of Actively Ageing Well
2002-2007

Actively Ageing Well (AAW) was a five-year regional initiative by Age Concern Northern Ireland in partnership with the Health Promotion Agency. Funded by the Big Lottery programme, it aimed to increase the number, range and quality of physical activity programmes available to older people.

Programme managers and staff wanted to ensure that monitoring and evaluation systems were established to track progress against original objectives and targets, and to ensure that learning emerging from the work could be used to help develop the initiative. CENI’s approach ensured that the Programme’s needs were met through a tailored and flexible process. We initially worked in conjunction with staff to develop an evaluation framework which identified ‘indicators of success’; in turn, staff were able to collect appropriate evidence to allow for ongoing review. We supplemented this with exercises which looked at specific aspects of AAW during its lifetime - for example, surveys of participants and other external stakeholders.

The final evaluation helped to assess the overall benefits and impact of the Programme and provided recommendations for moving the work with older people forward at both strategic and operational levels. It also provided valuable data for reporting to the funder.

These pieces of work have been very important in examining the development, implementation and impact of the AAW initiative. We have been very pleased with the rigorous analysis, professional approach and challenges that CENI has presented to us …. we have also really appreciated the time and effort made by CENI to understand and work alongside older people and the AAW partners … we felt that, for them, all the participants mattered.

Department for Social Development
Evaluation of Active Community Initiative
2001-2004

Active Community Initiative (ACI) was a UK-wide initiative which aimed to help build a sense of community through supporting all forms of community involvement. In Northern Ireland, the initiative was funded from 2001-2004 by the Department for Social Development. It included a funding programme to support voluntary and community groups to change attitudes towards volunteering, increase numbers and broaden the base of volunteers.

CENI’s evaluation of ACI assessed its effectiveness, looking at issues such as promotion of the funding programme, targeting of resources and achievement of objectives. Our unique approach involved working with the funder to help build evaluation into the Programme from the outset. The work emphasised the importance not only of accountability, but also of learning about ‘active community’. Together with the ACI Monitoring Group, we designed an evaluation framework to help identify the types of quantitative and qualitative information required for the evaluation. Unlike traditional evaluation approaches, we worked closely with the funded projects themselves, providing training and support to enable them to gather the information needed. Case studies were used to provide evidence of practice in volunteering across a broad range of target groups and themes.

The final evaluation report, produced in 2005, included a number of key lessons in relation to active citizenship and volunteering, which were intended to inform future developments in this field.

Leonard Cheshire Disability
Get Going
2005-2007

Get Going was a new project based in Omagh which aimed to support people with physical disabilities, including head injuries and sensory impairment, through a range of activities and courses in partnership with local agencies and service providers. The project was a partnership between Leonard Cheshire and the (then) Sperrin and Lakeland Health and Social Services Trust. Additional funding was provided through Peace 2, The Big Lottery, and EGSA.

Leonard Cheshire required an evaluation to show the extent to which the project achieved its aims and objectives, and intended outcomes. CENI assisted the project in identifying terms of reference for the evaluation and indicators in relation to these. Being a pilot project, it was also important to adopt an approach to the evaluation that captured unintended outcomes, as well as looking at operational issues in relation to the development of the initiative. We agreed a number of value-for-money indicators that were used to inform potential funders of the future viability of this, or similar projects. This was done taking into account CENI’s social capital model for capturing the added value of voluntary and community activity. We worked closely with project and Leonard Cheshire personnel to ensure that the evaluation, in addition to providing accountability to the funders, would meet the developmental needs of the project and the commissioner, within the wider strategic policy context that this initiative was operating.

An interim report helped to identify the project’s progress in meeting its aims and objectives. The final evaluation, complemented this with an assessment of the benefits and outcomes derived from Get Going, its impact on people living with disability in the Omagh area, and its implications for strengthening service provision to its targeted population. It also provided a number of recommendations for the future development of the initiative.

There was open discussion with staff and service users (and) a thorough analysis of data provided and extra information was sourced if it was required to validate the arguments/issues. All the key evaluation issues were identified, accurate, and relevant. (The evaluator) was easy to talk to and had a keen interest in understanding the aims and objectives of the project. We have been able to make use of the evaluation for funders, commissioners, staff, and service users.