Measuring Impact - Nicva

32 Measuring Impact – Case-studies of impact assessment
Interviewees said they felt safer just knowing that activities are being organised for young
people in the area, perhaps highlighting unanticipated impact relating to community safety.
Some projects have a more obvious impact on local residents than others. The type of activities
that by their very nature involve local people (like youth work and arts festivals) will tend
to have a more obvious social impact on local residents.
5.3.4 Partner organisations and added value
The three projects benefited other organisations they collaborate with, or that provide
funding in addition to the SRB funding. Organisations working in partnership with SRBfunded
organisations will benefit by having some of their targets met through their involvement
with regeneration activities. There is a feeling among staff at Lea Rivers Trust that,
being a voluntary organisation, there are particular benefits or added value 10 , that they are
able to offer to the community, as well as to organisations with whom they work in partnership,
and from whom they receive funding. These included engaging with the community on
a much more personal level and involving groups of people that public or private sector
organisations would not otherwise have access to. Other organisations can benefit from this
by funding or working in partnership with a voluntary organisation and tapping into the
added value provided by that organisation.
“Lea Rivers Trust benefits other organisations by allowing them to tap into funds that
they couldn’t reach otherwise.”
– Manager, Lea Rivers Trust
“Because we have the river, we are able to offer conservation groups opportunities that
they might not get on the sites where they normally work.”
– Member of staff, Lea Rivers Trust
There is a feeling though that partner organisations and funders do not fully appreciate the
extent to which they are benefiting, and the added value that results from working with or
funding a voluntary organisation.
“I don’t think they [other organisations] fully recognise the potential that we have to
offer them… we have a unique approach and unique resources and a unique position…
we have much better links with the community… we have volunteers and communities
that are involved in our activities.”
– Member of staff, Lea Rivers Trust
5.3.5 Volunteering
Interviewees felt that volunteering benefited both volunteers and organisations. Benefits
included an opportunity to socialise, the chance to work in a team and gain work-related
skills, and a feeling of making a valuable contribution to the local community or environment.
For the organisation, the opportunity to engage local people in their work and harness
voluntary resources enabled them to achieve otherwise impossible goals. Importantly, volunteer
time was eligible as the organisations’ contribution in a matched-funding applications.
10 Added value is the characteristics or qualities that the voluntary sector is able to offer which are different from the
private or public sectors. This issue will be explored in a forthcoming report on the added value of the voluntary
sector (NCVO, 2003).