Impact Report SPREADS 121223 - Flipbook - Page 20
Journey to Excellence in action
Building Circles aims to reduce social
isolation and loneliness in adults with
learning disabilities and on the autistic
spectrum in Gloucestershire.
The pandemic further exacerbated
the social detachment of these
communities, and the charity’s work is
now more in demand than ever before.
Building Circles contacted Cran昀椀eld Trust for assistance
with an impact and evaluation exercise. They wanted to
measure the impact of their abuse prevention training
packages for adults with learning disabilities, which
helps their clients go out in the community safely. They
were keen to be able to demonstrate the difference the
training makes, understand where change is needed in
order to improve the existing training package and to
share their learning with other organisations.
The overall impact
Cran昀椀eld Trust Regional Manager Marie Langan
matched volunteer consultant Tanwen to work with
Building Circles CEO Helen Kay to help the charity
understand how to evidence longer term impact, what
data to collect, how to measure what difference has
been made, and how to measure wider savings with
regards to other services in the community.
“We are so grateful that through Cran昀椀eld
Trust we had the opportunity to work
closely with a Social Researcher to better
understand the real and lasting impact
of our training. Tanwen was extremely
knowledgeable and helpful.
The project helped Building Circles to measure the
impact of what they are delivering under a speci昀椀c
programme, so that they can improve it and roll it out
more widely to have a positive impact on the lives of
more people living with disabilities.
On working with Cran昀椀eld Trust volunteer Tanwen,
Helen said:
“Our Abuse Prevention Training for Adults
with Learning Disabilities centres around
vital life skills, which help to keep individuals
free from abuse and able to live well in
their community. As an organisation, we
recognised that a greater understanding
of how to effectively measure and
demonstrate our impact would result in a
stronger product and better outcomes for
learners.
“With Tanwen’s expert guidance, we are
now far more con昀椀dent and considerably
further forward with this process.”
With hard work and perseverance, the project was a huge
success for Building Circles, delivering
“guidance on measuring our impact moving
forward, with new skills and tools to hand
to facilitate this process, enabling us to
provide a better, more focused service to
our end users.”
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