youth moves our impact journey. the story of our impact journey how has our evidence and impact...

Youth Moves Our Impact Journey

The story of our impact journey

How has our evidence and impact measurement changed over the last 14 years?

Alistair Dale

Youth Moves Manager

alistair.dale@youthmoves.org.uk

0773 664 0936

Twitter @InfoYouthmoves

Facebook Youth Moves Youth Moves Community Space Challenge

Youth Moves background

Youth Work organisation

Based at The Park, former secondary school for Knowle West

Work with young people aged 8-25 years old

Provide services across South Bristol

Youth Moves in numbers

Work with approx 1100 young people every year

Turnover approx £250k per year

Core staff team of10 (7 FTE)

Regular casual pool of 10 staff

Plus adult volunteers, student youth workers, and young people on leadership training

Services we deliver

Youth Opinions – Youth Voice

Positive Activities – Urban Escape, Music Recording Studio, Sports

Education Support Programmes – SBY Consortium

Leadership/ Social Action and NCS

Youth Clubs

Targeted Support Work

Breakthrough Mentoring

So we deliver lots, so what…..?

How do we know we are making a difference?

What can we measure?

Lies, damn lies and statistics

Whose impact is it anyway?

What can we claim credit for/ be attributed to the work we deliver?

Can you provide the Rainbow?

Initial challenges in 2001

How do you measure a relationship strategy?

How do you measure things that haven’t happened?

What best practice is out there that we can learn from other youth work projects?

How do we collect the evidence?

What difference does it make?

The Positive Futures years

Part of a family of over 100 projects nationally

Overseen by Catch 22

Substance research agency & Views platform

Training provided, best practice shared

Bench-marking provided (RAG+)

Framework for evaluation provided

The Positive Futures years

Annual Report (cost saving to society of £2.5m!)

Qualitative and Quantitative measures

Use of local statistics

Identification of target groups

Partner feedback

Case studies

The economic crisis and austerity

Reduction in main grants and traditional funding Local Authority Central Govt Home Office to PCC

Difficulty in funding core costs particularly

Need for creative approaches

The plate-spinning years!

Our new impact challenges

Negotiating the maze – where to start?

Sesame Street or what do all these mean?! Outcomes Star

Theory of Change

Logic Model

Randomised Control Trial or RCT

SDQ/ CES/ JET/ ARSE

Answers can be found at the Inspiring Impact Hub

Measuring Up tool

Do we make our own luck?

Financial squeeze increasing (“Treading water whilst putting on clothes”)

Struggling to cover core costs from myriad smaller funding streams, using reserves

Adapting and innovating (Wallace & Gromit the Wrong Trousers)

Banksy artwork in Bristol – wrong youth club for us!

Contact from NPC re funding opportunity

The Impact/ Evidence virtuous circle

Our Current Position

Developing a Theory Of Change

Looking for partnerships and new opportunities for research and evidence-based approaches

Using our evidence to build supporters/ champions

Working with data rich partners (e.g. schools)

Building more time into measuring our impact

The use of Social Media?

Closing thoughts…

Start now and do something!

Use a range of methods

Make it as easy as possible for your staff team

Value the process and make time for it

Embrace all results both positive and negative

Look out for unexpected results, they may be your best

Use national tools and share your findings

Love a data geek!

Any Questions?

Urban Escape

Our RoundhouseForest School and Arts Trails

ParkourOur Parkour arena!

Leadership and Social ActionSnow Camp with Jenny Jones Social Action

Celebrating SuccessAmbition National Volunteer of the Year

Schools work involving the community