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CFE was commissioned by Norfolk Guidance Service (NGS) to provide a summative evaluation of the Healthy Futures project.

NGS delivered the Healthy Futures project over a two year period using funding from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF). It aimed to:

• Reduce the number of economically inactive adults in the wards of Mile Cross, Mancroft, Bowthorpe and Thorpe Hamlet;
• Provide on-going mentoring and support to 200 individuals in Mile Cross, Mancroft, Bowthorpe and Thorpe Hamlet between April 2007 and March 2008 and to  150 individuals in Mile Cross and Mancroft between April 2008 and December 2008; and
• Engage with 50 employers in Norwich (15 in the Mile Cross travel to work area) and 35 larger organisations in Mancroft and other wards.

CFE used a combination of primary and secondary research to focus on the project’s progress and impact. The research included interrogation of the project’s management information and qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, advisers and end beneficiaries. It identified hard and soft impacts and assessed the project’s performance against its aims as well as demonstrating progress across key indicators.

CFE’s full report presents the findings from our evaluation and demonstrates that:

• the Healthy Futures project had achieved all its core aims and objectives and made significant progress against its eight key indicators, exceeding its target of engaging with 350 clients over two years by 54 per cent;
• Seven in ten interventions resulted in a positive impact on the client (including going into training, education, full or part time employment, and voluntary or unpaid work or becoming self employed); and
• The project had a significant impact on getting people into education and training, with 41 per cent of clients starting courses.
• Our report also highlights a range of reasons for the project’s success and some areas for further development which offer key parallels to themes being tested by the emerging adult advancement and careers service.
• Personalised services - Clients were successful when they had a variety of services available to them, including a personalised budget that could flexibly meet their needs.
• Sustained mentoring - Clients were able to access the range of services as many times as required, enabling them to address multiple barriers over an extended period of time.
• Community based settings - The project successfully achieved its engagement targets by meeting with clients in a range of community based venues.
• Reporting ‘soft’ outcomes - Softer impacts were not captured in a quantifiable way and could only be gathered through qualitative interviews.
• Partnership working - Successful partnerships were developed between April 2007 and December 2009. The project also benefited from existing relationships due to its nextstep sub-contract and local authority links.
• Sustainable employment - Despite some success in getting clients into work, due to the economic downturn employment was not always sustainable. Therefore sustainable options need to be identified to avoid a ‘revolving door’ culture of employment and benefits.

The full report can be found here

For more information please contact Elizabeth Davies on 0116 229 3300.

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