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Impact Evaluation of the #iwill Fund

The College has partnered with Dartington, Ipsos and Renaisi to deliver an impact evaluation of the #iwill Fund, in order to develop learning around supporting youth social action, and to understand the impact of the #iwill Fund on young people and their communities.

About the #iwill Fund

The #iwill Fund brings together a group of organisations who all contribute funding to embed meaningful Youth Social Action (YSA) into the lives of young people. The original funding involved bringing £54 million in funding from The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). In 2022 an additional £12 million was jointly provided to the #iwill Fund to support young people to access high-quality youth social action.

The #iwill Fund supports the aims of the #iwill movement - to make involvement in YSA a part of life for young people, by recognising the benefit for both young people and their communities.

 

 

What is Youth Social Action?

Youth Social Action (YSA) describes a wide range of activities. Based on the work of the #iwill Fund Learning Hub, there are six main types of YSA. These are: volunteering; helping to improve the local area; tutoring, mentoring or coaching; supporting others; fundraising and campaigning.

YSA can be defined as youth-led activities that produce a benefit for communities as a result of the action, and for young people, as a result of taking part in the social action. You can find out more about YSA here. 

About the Evaluation

The College has partnered with Dartington, Ipsos, and Renaisi to deliver an impact evaluation of the #iwill Fund. The evaluation will involve data collection on the types of activities that Match Funders and Delivery Organisations are offering, a survey of young people to try and understand any benefits that the #iwill Fund has on socio-emotional learning, qualitative case study work which will involve speaking to multiple members of staff within Match Funder organisations, Delivery Organisations, young people and community members, and a value for money assessment.

This evaluation will focus on understanding:

  • If #iwill Fund projects have made a difference to young people and their
    communities.
  • If support from the #iwill Fund has helped Match Funders and Delivery Organisations.
  • The most effective ways for funders and Delivery Organisations to measure
    the impact of youth social action.
  • If opportunities provided by the #iwill Fund help young people develop their
    interest in youth social action.
  • Ways to support organisations demonstrating this over time and what the role of youth voice is in ensuring the quality of youth social action. 

This project will run till 2027.

Young people will be at the heart of every stage of the evaluation. One of the College’s key roles in this evaluation is convening and running a Young Evaluators Network (YEN). The first Young Evaluators Network (YEN), made up of a diverse group of young people with experience of youth social action, was recruited in June 2023. They will play an active role in the evaluation throughout, analysing existing evidence; undertaking primary data collection to bolster the evidence base; exploring and analysing their own data and supporting the development of the final reports and best practice guidance. 

Outputs

All outputs will be produced with input and feedback from the YEN, and include:

  • Yearly reports
  • Case studies outlining Youth Social Action best practice and project updates
  • Blogs to share our learning, including discussing project updates and findings.

 

The #iwill Fund is made possible thanks to a £66 million joint investment from The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support young people to access high quality social action. The #iwill Fund supports the aims of the #iwill movement - to make involvement in social action a part of life for young people, by recognising the benefit for both young people and their communities

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Meet the Young Evaluators Network

As part of this evaluation, we will be working alongside the #iwill Young Evaluators Network (YEN). Find out more about them below!

Read more

#iwill Fund Impact Evaluation and Learning Partnership – Privacy Policy