Evaluation, Reports & Resources

Cumbria CVS Evaluation Toolkit

Monitoring and evaluation are an essential component of effective project management and have long been a major part of funders’ requirement for accountability and compliance.

It is important for VCSE organisations to comprehend the impact of their services and projects on their beneficiaries and service users. It can help to understand how to use your resources most efficiently to get the most value and assist with organisational strategy learning.

We’ve put together a toolkit to provide a simplified guide tailored to the unique needs of the VCSE sector in Cumbria, to help you with the practical implementation of monitoring and evaluation activities.

Download our Monitoring & Evaluation Toolkit here

Evaluation Reports

Please find below a range of reports and reference materials that may aid you in further reading around many of the areas that the Third Sector works in and Cumbria CVS Supports.

Third Sector Research and Support

Community Foundation/Durham University

Third Sector Trends 2023: People, Places and Policy Jun 2023

Local health and social wellbeing – the contribution of the VCSE sector in Cumbria (Summary report) May 2023

Local health and social wellbeing – the contribution of the VCSE sector in Cumbria May 2023

Third Sector Trends in England and Wales 2022: relationships, influencing and collaboration Feb 2023

Third Sector Trends in England and Wales 2022: finances, assets and organisational wellbeing Jan 2023

Third Sector Trends in England and Wales 2022: employees, volunteers, diversity and investment in people Dec 2022

Third Sector Trends in England and Wales 2022: sector structure, purpose, energy and impact Nov 2022

Going the Distance: How Third Sector organisations work through turbulent times Oct 2022

Third Sector Trends in England and Wales 2022 (Survey response, Initial findings from the survey and an outline of latest qualitative report findings) Oct 2022

National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) (website)

The Road Ahead 2022

Time Well Spent: The impact of covid-19 on the volunteer experience July 2022

Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) (website)

Get the basics right: Findings from the Funding Experience Survey September 2022

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) (website)

Collaboration in Practice 2018

Blobs and squares

The Parable of the Blobs and Squares – Video (You will need a Vimeo login to watch – alternatively, you can watch the video via Youtube here.)

Independent Food Aid Network / Joseph Rowntree Foundation / Tom Pollard

Pushed to the Edge: Poverty, food banks and mental health (2022)

Health

Waiting Well: The Impact of VCSE Sector Integration on GP Practice and Patient Experience

This case study aims to demonstrate what can be achieved to build capacity in a stretched health and care system when strong relationships are formed between health (in this example – the NHS) and voluntary sector partners to support people waiting for surgery and to optimise health outcomes for those who are most in need.

The Impact of VCSE Sector Integration on GP Practice and Patient Experience (2024)

The Health Foundation

Health in 2040: projected patterns of illness in England (2023)

Institute of Health Equity

A Hopeful Future: Equity and the Social Determinants of Health in Lancashire and Cumbria – Executive Report (2022)

A Hopeful Future: Equity and the Social Determinants of Health in Lancashire and Cumbria (2022)

NHS England (website)

NHS Long Term Plan 2019

NHS Long Term Plan 2019 (Summary)

National Health Science Alliance (website)

Health for Wealth – 2018

Our Research Partners in Cumbria

Please explore the links below to our partners in designing and developing resources and opportunities for third sector organisations in Cumbria.

VONNE: https://www.vonne.org.uk/north-east-and-north-cumbria-vcse-research-partnerships

NIHR/CoREN: https://arc-nwc.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/coren/

Lancaster, Imagination Labs: https://imagination.lancaster.ac.uk/project/embedding-evaluation-method/

LeapFrog toolbox: https://imagination.lancaster.ac.uk/leapfrog-tools/leapfrog-toolboxes/

Need assistance in Research, Evaluation and Monitoring?

We hope the tools and resources on this page are helpful. While our Evaluation and Research Officer is on Maternity Leave, we encourage you to explore this page and attend one of our events above. We have paused our direct delivery support until our staff member returns in early 2025. If you require support connecting with a Health Research Opportunity or work with a Local researcher, please reach out to:

North Cumbria Health Boundary: VONNE (above)
South Cumbria Health Boundary: CoREN (above)