Paul Courtney, CCRI, University of Gloucestershire - An overview of impact evidence gathered through the Gloucestershire POV project involving three small SPOs - An introduction to the Social Return Assessment (SRA) tool that was developed over the course of the project through action research and the challenges revealed in developing it - A discussion around implications for small VCS organisations with respect to measuring impact and the associated support and systems required to achieve it

1. In Pursuit of Happiness:
Understanding the impact
of community projects
Lessons from the Gloucestershire Action POV
research project

2. The plan..
Brief introduction to the Gloucestershire POV
project
Evidence of impact - What we found in terms
of impacts and social value
The SRA tool we developed and the
associated challenges
Measuring impact and the systems and
resources to achieve it – A discussion

3. What we set out to do in
the project
Establish and value the economic contribution
of 3 SPO’s in Gloucestershire:
To skill the SPOs in the identification an
valuation of their activities
To assist them in planning future activities in
light of revealed impacts (And process)
To produce a guidance pack to assist the VCS
in Gloucestershire to assess their impact

4. The Gloucestershire POV
Partnership
CCRI
GAVCA
GCCCP GL11 Fairshares

5. A game of two halves..
Broadly speaking, all case work was
undertaken in two stages:
Year 1: Seeking to measure socio-
economic outcomes using the principles
from a tool originally designed for RCCs
Year 2: Based on these experiences,
piloting and sequentially developing a
new set of impact guidance for the VCS,
which has resulted in the SRA tool

6. Gloucester City Centre
Partnership
Y1 Project Orienteer (SRA Stages B&C) - led
by Barry using CCRIs initial Economic
Outcomes tool
Y1 Greyfriars Bowling Green (SRA Stage A)-
led by Paul using an SROI ‘Theory of Change’
Y2 Fielding and Platt SRA (SRA Stages A, B
and C)- Led by Ollie Taylor and Barry, with
Paul advising as the SRA was also developed
and refined

7. Greyfriars Impact map for Young People and
community
Activities Short term
Outcomes
Medium term
Outcomes
Long-term
OutcomesRange of
training/educational/rec
reational activities
Representation in
community
Exposure to
substance mis-use
programmes and
information
Off street meetings
and gatherings as
opposed to on street
Reduced contact
with street drinkers
Increased Local
democracy/group
participation/social
networking
Increase in youth
volunteering
Greater inter-generational
activity
Improved relationships
between youth and police
Improved safety and
security
Increased
trust, community
cohesion & well
being
Improved confidence
and self esteem
Improved
employment and
FE/HE prospects
Reduction in juvenile
crime
Improved physical
health
Improved mental
health
Reduction in alcohol
abuse
Reduction in crime
levels through
cultural shift
Reduced pressure
on health service
and criminal justice
system
in welfare payments
and increase in tax
receipts Reduction
Facilities for
formal/informal youth
provision

8. The Fielding and Platt
SRA
Heritage Lottery funded about the memories of
F&P, managed by Ollie Taylor
Stages A, B and C of the SRA tool
Undertaken by Ollie with support from Barry
and Paul taking an advisory / mentoring role.
In tandem the tool and workbook was
developed, tested and refined by the CCRI
team.
Stage C still in process. Findings reported in
the POV Final Report, early Nov.

9. Stakeholder group Medium-longer term Outcomes
Previous employees of
F&P
Increased resilience and self
esteem
Increase in supportive relationships
Increase in sense of trust and
belonging
Relatives of F&P
employees
Legacy to leave future generations
Volunteers Increased competence,
engagement and purpose
Increased resilience and self
esteem
Supportive relationships
Increased sense of trust and
belonging
VCS Increased vibrancy and efficiency
of VCS
Increased public support for VCS
Local Community Increased volunteering in the
communitySubjective well being - Happiness

10. Summary of GCCCP
outcomes
GCCCP
Greyfriars Bowling Green Improved mental health
Improved confidence and self-esteem
Increased trust and community cohesion
Increase in youth volunteering and
intergeneration activity
Reduction in juvenile crime
Project Orienteer Improved physical health and weight loss
Increased social interaction
Local income generation through
contracting
Training in the sport of orienteering
Fielding and Platt – Three main outcome
groups:
-Health and well being
-Skills development (especially IT)
-Community
Increased resilience and self esteem
Increased supportive relationships
Increased sense of trust and belonging
Development of IT skills
Increased emotional well being
Increased competence, engagement and
purpose
Increased efficiency and funding sources
for voluntary and community sector
Increased capacity building and
volunteering

11. Fielding and Platt benfit-
investment ratio
Value of Inputs (Total
Investment, including in-kind):
£100,900
Value of Inputs (Grant
investment)
£42,900
Total Present Value of
Outcomes (after deadweight,
attribution, displacement,
drop-off and discounted at
3.5%)
£149,197
Benefit-to-investment ratio 1.48:1
Benefit-to-investment ratio
(Grant)
3.48:1

12. GL11 - Impact evidence
Assessment of 4 projects (Deployment of volunteers; Employability
courses; Try to Remember project; and a forecasting of Cam-Unity project
using SRA) revealed a range of outcomes including:
Improved Quality of life
Improvement in sense of engagement and self worth in 75 elderly people
suffering memory loss
Personal development of staff members, volunteers and carers
Improved employability of volunteers
Increased social interaction and trust in the community
Reduced demands on local GP services (potential reduced expenditure
for the State)

13. Key messages from GL11, the process of
forecasting impact using the SRA has...
..assisted in writing a bid for a subsequent project through its
emphasis on being outcome-focussed
..helped to sharpen the focus of the Cam-Unity project, clarifying
objectives
..provided a simple information system for on-going monitoring and
evaluation, and identified what needed to be monitored
..made suggestions for effective management of the project
..provided basis for better communication by GL11
..assisted in staff development
..provided the framework for an evaluative assessment in 2 years time

14. Purpose of the Social
Return Assessment
(SRA) tool
To make the processs of valuing impact more accessible to
small, voluntary organisations
To Simplify (and de-mystify) SROI
To emphasise the importance and value of assessing
OUTCOMES
To reveal to SPOs some good practice in terms of
planning, record keeping and monitoring that might be
useful beyond impact measurement

15. SRA tool - the options
3 levels of sophistication (With emphasis on
simplicity and flexibility):
• Stage A…Exploring (and describing the change)
• Stage B…Measuring the Change
• Stage C…Valuing the Change
• Level 1 comprises only A
• Level 2 comprises A plus B
• Level 3 comprises A plus B plus C

16. SRA - Stage A -
Describing change
Understand what has changed, and why, and
how stakeholders have been affected
Scope your activities and identify all of your
stakeholders (who has been affected and
involved)
Map out your outcomes to understand how
one outcome leads to another over varying
time frames

17. SRA - Stage B -
Measuring change
Collect some data and obtain some
measurements for each of your indicators
Decide which outcomes are significant and
identify ways of establishing that change has
taken place (Indicators)
Take into account what would have
happened anyway, and how much change
you can really attribute to your project

18. SRA - Stage C -
Valuing change
Calculate the initial investment (giving all time,
resources, goods and services a financial
value)
Identify financial approximations (proxies) for
each your outcomes
Calculate a ratio of benefits to investment (i.e
3:1) and check how sensitive it is to changes
in the main assumptions

19. Final step of the SRA
tool....
Reflect on what the findings mean for your
organisation and your target audience
Should you be doing anything differently?
You should now have systems n place for
understanding and monitoring your outcomes..
Discuss with colleagues and your
stakeholders before going public!

20. Consider how you might go about
implementing a tool like SRA:
• Why do you need to assess your impact?
• What level of the SRA tool would you need to follow – do you need to
measure, value or just describe change?
• Who are your target audience?
• What information data do you have to hand?
• How much do you know about your target beneficiaries?
• How will you go about consulting them – and will they be accessible /
receptive?
• What skills do you have available to evaluate, monitor, measure and
value change and produce impact estimates?
• What support or resources do you need – How could the Impact Hub
help you evidence your impact?

21. Working in groups of 5 or 6 have a go at
considering challenges and solutions in
relation to each of these questions
Try and come up with some
recommendations for the Impact Hub on
how they might provide a structure for
helping small organisations establish their
impact
Identify a rapporteur to feed the main
issues and recommendations back to the
group

22. CCRI, Oxtalls Campus,
UoG
Paul Courtney pcourtney@glos.ac.uk
Carol Kambites ckambites@glos.ac.uk
Good luck!