Organisation: Highfields Community Association
Website: https://highfieldscentre.ac.uk/
Service: Social Impact Practice
Highfields Community Centre (HCA) is community centre based in the heart of one of the most deprived wards in Leicester City. Leicester City is one of the most deprived cities in the UK. It provides a range of services including IAG, education, training and employment support, activities for children and young people and sports activities. It has a cafe and it rents out rooms to generate an income, including a large sports hall.
The Board and management team undertook business planning and business development activities to develop and improve its services to local people and secure its future sustainability. As part of this, HCA wanted to identify the social impact of its community business services to identify its social value and to inform its new business plan.
It also wanted to develop a social impact measurement framework that could be used to collect, analyse and report on its social outcomes in the future. This was an important part of the work – as a community business HCA wanted to establish a system that ensures that its stakeholders are regularly consulted to inform decision-making.
HCA also wanted to evidence the impact that is having to support its funding bids and tenders, increase its profile and increase its customer base.
A low rigour Social Return on Investment Evaluation was undertaken. Services in scope were those that involved skills development amongst local people by creating jobs and providing development opportunities for those who would otherwise not actively participate in the local labour market, volunteering, and activities that involved providing information and advice.
The completion of the SROI evaluation for HCA was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As such we were unable to undertake all of the qualitative and quantitative research. Assumptions and estimates were made to identify the potential social value of the outcomes.
Nevertheless the potential Social Value of HCA service was found to be high at 1:12. It achieves important, long-term outcomes for the local residents. The outcome ‘being more employment ready’ provided the greatest value. Mental health and being more independent were also important outcomes in terms of their social value.
The SROI Evaluation needed to provide HCA with evidence about what the residents valued the most, what their preferences were – and what would improve their lives for the better. This is important and it is powerful. It was recommended that further consultations are held with BAME women to identify which outcomes they valued the most.
Further work also needed to be undertaken to identify the specific needs and outcomes of the different sub-groups and their journeys to identify if and where the biggest impact could be achieved. For example in the young people cohort ex-offenders, homeless, disabled etc – this would likely significantly increase the social value of the young people cohort.
The SROI Evaluation also provided HCA with an initial performance management framework to enable it to measure progress towards the achievement of outcomes on a regular basis. We spent some time with the staff to develop this as part of an overall planning cycle that would enable HCA Senior Managers/ Board to systematically receive performance information, analyse it, act on it and develop plans to respond to it.
HCA is committed to using this initial estimated SROI evaluation to support the development and improvement of its impact practice. This is good practice: The report will be used to inform improvement planning. It is also working towards achieving the Social Value Management Certificate with Social Value UK which will help it to gain a competitive advantage, improve its practice, maximise its social value and manage risks.
To find out more about the Social Value Management Certificate, click here. Need help to work through, contact us. We are Advanced Accredited Social Value Practitioners and can help you breeze through the process!