Our team have spent the last decade working in collaboration with the Better Start Bradford programme, as well as the Reducing Inequalities in City programme, to deliver evaluations of community based services for families delivered in Bradford. We have worked closely with local authority, health and voluntary sector partners to understand how to effectively integrate research into real world practice. Using our learning from this work, we have developed a framework with tools and resources to guide commissioners, service deliverers, and researchers through the process of embedding evaluation into the design and implementation of services.
The framework provides the basis of robust, effective evaluation that can improve the evidence base for services, inform commissioning and funding decisions, and ensure services better meet the needs of communities and stakeholders.
All of the resources shared here have been tried and tested with small voluntary sector organisations as well as larger statutory services, in real world settings working with diverse communities. The framework offers a detailed structure to the service design, monitoring and evaluation processes while also providing flexibility in the way it can be applied.
We provide concise explanations, how-to guides, example documents, and templates that move from identifying the need for a service, through service design, monitoring implementation, to presenting evaluation findings. Following the whole process will allow you to:
We often know what we want to achieve, but we don’t always know the best way to get there. A consistent approach to evaluation that can be applied across services at all levels helps us to be sure we are delivering the right services to the right people and the right time.