ESS has been supporting The Corra Foundation (formerly Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland) to evaluate their People in Place Programme, a community-led initiative in areas of Scotland that traditional, passive grant-making does not reach. These areas are commonly known as cold spots.
Work started at the end of 2015 in Cumnock, East Ayrshire. Now the Foundation is operating in 8 different cold spot areas with a Community Coordinator supporting each community. As an asset-based programme, this one poses interesting evaluation challenges. Rather than deciding the outcomes at the beginning, we are supporting the Place team to reflect on the changes they see and hear through the course of their support to the community.
The team has more than doubled in the last 6 months and we are all learning together about how best to capture evidence of change. Storytelling, capturing casual conversations, using reflective practice and observation will be key evaluation methods for this programme.
For further ideas and support you can read our report: How to evaluate asset-based approaches in an asset-based way.
