Training workshops in evaluation and Social Return on Investment

Demonstrating value in tough times

At some point in their career nearly everyone involved in public services will hear the (often dreaded) questions: “...but was it worth it?”, and “...was it good value for money?”

These questions are being asked with increasing frequency as funding cuts bite. Organisations across the public and voluntary sectors need to produce answers; commissioners need to assess the value of their investments; providers need to make a case for their services.

GHK is an employee-owned, multi-disciplinary research and consulting organisation that was established in 1973. GHK have worked for the public and voluntary sector at all levels and in a wide range of policy areas – including public health, social care and children and young people’s services.

In the course of their work GHK have addressed the questions of impact and value for money for commissioners / funders and providers - supporting those asking the questions and those providing the answers.

As part of this work, GHK have developed two workshops, which they are opening to a wider audience by offering them as training sessions. The workshops are:

1. An introduction to evaluation: 9:15 – 12:00
This covers all steps in the evaluation process - from planning, to gathering evidence, to reporting results. It addresses common pitfalls and challenges, as well as discussing ways of gathering evidence on a limited budget.

2. An introduction to Social Return on Investment: 13:00 – 16:00
This starts from first principles and assumes no knowledge of economics. It starts from the proposition that value for money is as important as it is poorly understood. It then covers the main types of analysis that can be used, with a particular focus on social return on investment / cost-benefit analysis.

The workshops have a practical focus, are informal and include plenty of opportunity to ask questions. They are also run as ‘standalone’ events, although there are strong links between the two. Each one will help organisations in demonstrating the value of their efforts.