The document discusses an external evaluation of the Language Interpreter Training as a Stepping Stone to Work (LITSSW) project conducted by The Gilfillan Partnership. The Gilfillan Partnership is a UK-based social enterprise focused on promoting equalities and social inclusion. They provide independent, objective evaluations of projects to assess progress, achievements, impacts, lessons learned, and sustainability. Their interim evaluation found the LITSSW project was working well, successfully transferring an exceptional community language interpreter training and employment model from one partner to others, and on track to achieve its intended results and early impacts. A final evaluation was planned for the end of October 2014.

1. Language Interpreter Training as a Stepping Stone to Work
EXTERNAL EVALUATION

2. Who we are
The Gilfillan Partnership is a UK based company
specialising in development and evaluation of
initiatives to promote equalities and social
inclusion.

3. Our company is changing
We recently established Shared Enterprise CIC, a
social enterprise to promote equalities and
social inclusion.
www.sharedenterprise.org.uk

4. Why have an external evaluation?
To provide an independent, objective appraisal of:
• The progress of a project, or
• The achievements of a project, or
• The management of a project, or
• The impacts of a project, or
• The lessons learned from a project, or
• The future sustainability of a project, or
• The cost effectiveness of a project, or
ALL OF THESE

5. How we approach evaluation
WE ARE:
• Critical friends;
• Always committed to the project aims;
• Drawing on considerable experience of projects
dealing with similar issues.
WE PROVIDE:
• The most robust evaluation possible within (usually)
limited budgets;
• Clearly written reports with recommendations for
areas which can be improved.
• WE ARE NOT auditors

6. Evaluation of the LITSSW project
The evaluation questions:
1. Have the project’s intended results been delivered?
2. Have the intended impacts of the project been achieved?
3. What value has been achieved by working within a
European partnership?
4. How sustainable are the results and impacts of the project?
5. Have dissemination and exploitation of the project been
effective?
6. What lessons have the partners learned from this project?
7. Are there any elements of project organisation and deliver
that could be improved for this or for future projects?

7. Evaluation of the LITSSW project
So far, we have produced:
• An evaluation framework ( May 2013)
• An interim evaluation report (January 2014)

8. Main findings from the interim
evaluation report
Overall conclusions:
The LITSSW project is working very well. The intended
transfer of innovation is excellent. The innovating partner
(DCVS Community Action Dacorum) is transferring an
exceptional and highly successful model for providing
community language interpreting services and creating
employment opportunities within migrant communities.
The project is on track to achieve all of its intended
results. There is evidence that the project is achieving its
intended impacts as far as could be expected at this
interim stage.

9. Final evaluation
• Final evaluation will be completed by end of
October 2014.
• Ideally, the evaluation would look at what
happens in the longer term (Have the partner
organisations fully adopted the Dacorum CVS
interpreter training model? Do LITSSW
participants become professional
interpreters? Etc). But funding programmes
rarely allow for long term evaluation.

10. Thank you for your attention
Any questions?