Community First

Programme Evaluation
Update from the evaluation team: Summer 2013
Who we are
This is the first update from the evaluation of the Community First programme. The evaluation is being carried out by Ipsos MORI and nef consulting, on behalf of the Office for Civil Society (OCS). It aims to understand how well the programme is working and the impact it is having in local communities. We will be publishing regular updates like this throughout the evaluation, aimed at ensuring the feedback and lessons learned are passed on to all those involved. This update includes feedback from our surveys of Panels and projects - over 400 Panel members and over 1,500 projects have taken part in the surveys so far.

The programme so far

There are close to 600 Panels across country, with upwards of 3,000 Panel members working hard to attract projects and make funding recommendations. Recommendations for matched funding have, so far, been made for nearly 8,500 projects, totalling more than 12.5 million in Community First funding. This has generated over 45 million in contributions from projects, which includes over 2 million hours of volunteer time and 8 million in cash. Funding amounts have ranged from 250 to 2,500, with projects on average receiving around 1,000 to help carry out the activity in their community. Our survey shows that the people involved in running projects are from all age ranges and walks of life... ...but they have a great deal of experience of their community and the issues it faces. There are four main types of project.

These project types cover four of the five ways to wellbeing Connect, Give, Be Active and Keep Learning. The five ways to wellbeing are a set of simple things people can do in their everyday lives which can help to improve wellbeing. The fifth way to wellbeing, Take Notice, focuses on being aware of the world around you and what you are feeling, something that is at the heart of Community First.

Projects are working to...

Connect people together

Encourage people to volunteer

Encourage people to be active and healthy

Help people to learn

What funded projects have told us

Three quarters of projects say that, without the Community First funding, their activity would have taken longer, would have been on a smaller scale, or would have been of a lower standard. This shows the importance of the matched funding to these groups in fully achieving their aims. One of the key aims of the Community First programme is to encourage new community activity, and there are clear signs that the funded projects are encouraging new people to get involved. Over four in every five projects say their matched funded activity involved people who had not been involved in similar activities before

How Panels are getting on

The vast majority of Panel members say each of the key Panel processes identifying groups for funding, receiving and reviewing applications, and making funding decisions worked well in Year 2 of the programme. Panels have obviously faced some challenges - many Panels found setting their initial area priorities easier than they have found developing their Community First Plan. But Panels have been working hard to make funding recommendations in April there was around 7.5 million in grant funding available for year 3, and so far recommendations for 1 million have been made. Panels have used a number of ways to identify groups who might apply for Community First funding, including advertising on the Panel website, recommendations from local residents, their Panel Partner and organisations such as the local council or voluntary groups, as well as their own existing involvement or awareness of projects. Applications have mainly been received in writing or online, but Panels have used a variety of other ways to accept applications, including informal discussions, presentations and interviews.

Two thirds of projects say their activity involved people running the activities who had not run similar activities before Projects are even more positive about encouraging new people to take part in the future, showing the potential for a long term legacy from Community First funding

The early signs are that only a small proportion of the projects receiving funding are wholly new but this might be expected at an early stage in the programme. This may change as panels make new local connections and encourage new groups to form to access Community First funding.

The difference Community First is making...

Feedback from projects so far clearly shows the importance of the Community First funding in helping them carry out their activities. While it is too early in the evaluation to assess how much impact the Community First programme is having overall, there are clear signs of the benefits to those involved. For example, across a number of key aspects, project members knowledge and skills have increased since the start of the Community First programme. Projects answering between 8 and 10 on a scale of 0 to 10
Before After

Knowledge of

Confidence in

37%

79%

52%

69%

45%

62%

25%

45%

38%

58%

34%

56%

54%

65%

The organisations and people that have influence in your local area

How to organise events and activities to address local needs

The needs and aspirations of other people in the local area

Finding sources of grant funding

Developing and presenting ideas for projects

Making a successful funding application

Using websites and other IT

Next for the evaluation

We will continue to analyse the feedback weve been given by projects and Panels through the surveys. We are also visiting Panels and projects to talk about their experiences in more depth - you may be contacted by us over the coming months to ask if you would be willing to take part. We will also be surveying more projects and Panel members early in 2014. And of course we welcome any feedback you may have on the Community First programme. You can contact the evaluation team by email: You may also want to take a look at the Crowd Wise decision making tool, developed by nef, and projects may find information from the Small Charities Coalition useful:

www.neweconomics.org/publications/ entry/crowd-wise www.smallcharities.org.uk

For more information on the five ways to wellbeing, please visit:

communityfirstevaluation@ipsos-mori.com
Updates from CDF about the programme, information about what is going on and guidance can be found at the Community First Panel Area:

www.neweconomics.org/projects/entry/ five-ways-to-well-being

www.cdf.org.uk/content/fundingprogrammes/communityfirstneighbourhood-matched-fund/panelmember-area

up Lo da ok te ou in t fo Au r t tu he m n n ex 20 t 13
Send any ideas for how we can make these updates as useful as possible to you to: communityfirstevaluation@ipsos-mori.com