UK-wide evaluation of the Millennium Volunteers Programme

The Millennium Volunteers programme is a UK-wide government supported initiative designed to promote sustained volunteering among young people aged 16-24

Understanding the impact of volunteering on pro-environmental behavioural change

This article examines whether there is an association between engaging in environmental volunteering activities and pro-environmental behavioural change. Utilising self-reported surveys, the article explores the potential impact that environmental volunteering has on people's pro-environmental behaviours over time, using The Conservation Volunteers' two volunteering programmes – Green Gyms® and Action Teams – as a comparative case study. The findings show a positive association between environmental volunteering activities and a person's self-reported pro-environmental behaviours over time. Further, volunteers presented improved impact across almost all of the eight pro-environmental behaviours measured, with differences observed between the two volunteering programmes as well as sociodemographic groupings

Community Economic Development Initiative (CEDI) Programme Evaluation

Shotton Colliery Community Economic Development Initiative (CEDI) began in 2007. It is one of three CEDI areas funded through the Single Programme. CEDI builds on a previous County Durham-wide programme, Settlement Renewal Initiatives (SRIs), which ended in 2006. Shotton Colliery CEDI receives funding from One North East, the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and the Shotton Investment Pot. The aim of CEDI is to improve the local economy in Shotton Colliery by designing projects to support local people and businesses. The emphasis is on removing barriers to employment, supporting skills and training, and stimulating business growth. CEDI’s outcomes are: 1. New economic activity contributing to diversification in the local economy; 2. Enhance the contribution made by the settlement to the local economy; 3. Reduced unemployment and worklessness; 4. Increased skill levels and educational attainment; 5. Improved access to employment through addressing multiple barriers such as poor health, childcare responsibilities and transport; 6. Increased economic opportunities through enhancing the built and natural environment. CEDI outcomes are organised into four themes: community enterprise; reducing worklessness; education, training and skills, and business support and stimulating entrepreneurship. Projects to achieve the outcomes include the development of community enterprises such as a community café, increasing the range of leisure, welfare and learning opportunities offered by the community centre, improved broadband access for the area, and initiatives to support unemployed people and encourage business growth. Shotton Partnership 2000 Ltd oversees the CEDI along with partner agencies including Shotton Parish Council and Easington District Council. It commissioned this independent evaluation in November 2007. The evaluation had the following objectives: to consider the effectiveness of the delivery of Shotton CEDI against the outputs and outcomes included in the project’s approval; to examine the particular circumstances that exist in Shotton and which may have impacted on the delivery of CEDI; and to recommend potential activities and outcomes that would be of benefit to the community of Shotton and match the aspirations of those supporting the initiative in its continuation

The Neighbourhood Links Project: Interim Evaluation Report, July 2012

An interim service evaluation study to identify the key elements of the Neighbourhood Links Project, funded by Big Lottery and delivered by TorrAGE in North Devon, that improve the quality of life and well-being of older residents (aged 60+) in one district in North Devon

‘Being Involved in Community Based Research; Lessons from the Objective 1 South Yorkshire Context’

This article reports the findings of a qualitative investigation into community based research within the Objective 1 Programme, South Yorkshire. Based upon semi-structured interviews with participants undertaking community based research and then developing action plans based upon the research findings, the study highlights the issues associated with involvement in such research from participant’s perspectives. Beginning with an examination of involvement in research and then moving on to discuss the wider issues of involvement in regeneration and partnerships, the article argues that despite the increased policy focus on bottom-up approaches, involvement is complex and conceptualised in a number of different ways and therefore requires further investigation