ENFOQUE CUANTITATIVO PARA LA TOMA DE DECISIONES

It has made major positive difference to their lives and their outlook

It is too early to say yet but we are confident it will make a significant difference

It has not made the level and scale of impact we envisaged

East Midlands ESF Community Learning Grants Programme – Final

Evaluation Report (January 2014) 39

6.3.6 Key Achievements and Success Stories

This was an open-ended question allowing Project Managers to state any key achievements and success stories that had been realised. A flavour of the responses provided included:

 Some of our participants have gone on to start their own businesses, lots of people reported increase in confidence and information was easily accessible to people who needed it on starting their own business.

 We received the grant just as our organisation was getting off the ground. It enabled us to put all the relevant policies and procedures in place to ensure good practice. Those benefitting from the grant showed a marked improvement in their confidence, both in their ability to perform tasks and their ability to interact with others. We have since received a BIG lottery grant and are sure that the successful completion of our Enable grant helped in this award.

 People went into employment, gained more confidence and had strong support to work through their concerns around re joining the world of work.

 Of the 30 learners with whom we initially engaged on our latest programme, 16 returned to work through self-employment. Most of these were people for whom employment with another organisation would have been very difficult due to personal circumstances, lack of skills or simply the current state of the job market.

 Through the project activities we have been able to move individuals into work, further learning, raise self esteem and they have been able to contribute to a local community.

 The Work Club has been a tremendous success and around 30 members attend each week. The reputation of the club is very high and Job Centres are confidently referring their clients on a regular basis because they can see that the benefits are clear.

 Previous to grant [there were] no learners from Shuttleworth House (deprived tower block in the area). 12 learners engaged through bespoke activity. 4 remain in learning and 3 into jobs and one voluntary work. Good progression for individuals.

 Learners have shown good progression in speaking, listening, writing and they are feeling confident to make conversations in English. I have noticed a huge confidence boost in all the ladies that in itself is an achievement as a lot of the ladies were shy, afraid and lacking confidence on day one...The child minding facility was a bonus, it helped the ladies relax and enjoy the programme knowing they could bring their children in with them and they would be looked after, in the same building. As our project has come to the end, learners have moved on to move on to voluntary work, further education or training.

East Midlands ESF Community Learning Grants Programme – Final

Evaluation Report (January 2014) 40

6.3.7 Advantages of this programme compared to other small grants

There were a few Project Managers who did not perceive there to be much of an advantage in comparison to other grants and one thought the level of paperwork was “Very significant” in relation to the level of funding available. However, most cited a number of advantages:

 This programme is very easy to understand and is very clear in its processes and systems. We have received excellent support and guidance all the way from Melanie Phythian from Enable and this has resulted in a much better understanding of the grant scheme in comparison with others.

 There was a lot of support available from our grant officer Melanie which made it feel that help was there if needed. There were clear expectations of what was expected of us. We have found that sometimes with other small grants they are only concerned about getting media coverage but with Enable it felt like they really wanted to make a quantifiable difference.

 The paperwork is logical and practical to be completed by the learners.

 Flexible approach to the project. Supportive grant officer who works with groups to achieve their project aims and outcomes.

 The need for good governance and structures was useful. Contact with Enable was helpful and positive, and kept us on track without ever feeling overbearing.

 This programme is really good for small community groups. It gives small groups the possibilities to demonstrate their delivery capabilities. Targeting small grassroots group, the fund benefit directly the community affected by poverty and deprivation.

 The application process is comparatively simple and straightforward. The monitoring required is not overbearing. This enabled us to focus on delivery rather than being sidetracked by monitoring restrictions.

East Midlands ESF Community Learning Grants Programme – Final

Evaluation Report (January 2014) 41

6.3.8 One best feature

Project Managers were given the opportunity to state one aspect of the programme which they would highlight as its best feature. 3 key themes emerged:

 The helpful support of Enable throughout

 The flexibility of the grants programme, and

 The perceived interest and support (by those managing the programme) for grassroots-led initiatives – empowering and encouraging applicant organisations.

6.3.9 One thing to change (improve)

Project Managers were given the opportunity to state one aspect of the programme which they would highlight as an aspect they would change to provide an improvement.

Comments could be grouped into:

 Improving awareness of the programme to enable more organisations to find out about and potentially access support.

 The amount of paperwork – a number of groups commented that it would have been preferable (for them) to have a shorter application form, also evidencing spend (with receipts) was onerous.

 The length of time – some commented on it being hard to demonstrated clear progress and achievement within a 6 month timeframe, wishing there was flexibility to extend the length of funded-project activity.

Clearly, the need to account for public expenditure and due administrative processes are seen as a burden to some. However the overall tone of comments overall recognised the flexibility and helpfulness of the project administrators outweighed the bureaucracy.

East Midlands ESF Community Learning Grants Programme – Final

Evaluation Report (January 2014) 42

Beneficiaries /