Worcestershire Children’s Fund

The government established Children’s Funds to provide preventive services for 5-13 year olds. They were to form part of a continuum between Surestart and Connexions.

Worcestershire Children’s Fund was in “Wave 3”, with initially, about £3.9 million of grant funding to cover the period 2003 to 2006. In 2004, it was decided nationally that Children’s Funds would continue until 2008. In Worcestershire, this resulted in a further £1 million being available for each of 2006/07 and 2007/08.

The Research & Intelligence Unit has been providing evaluation support for the Children’s Fund since its inception. The reports below are examples of the work undertaken. This has included working in partnership with field researchers and the University of Worcester.

The latest report examines the progress of the Worcestershire Children's Fund during the second round of commissioning - 2006 to 2008.

Monitoring and Evaluation Report - 2006 to 2008

Through a detailed exploration of the work that the WCF undertook, the report examines the progress of the WCF up to 31st March 2008, assessing:

•The degree to which the projects supported by the WCF met their milestones/targets during the second commissioning period

•Whether the WCF met the 12 priorities agreed in the Children and Young People’s Strategic Plan (CYPSP) and

•The five ECM outcomes.

The report focuses on evaluating outcomes of the WCF as a whole, as well as the individual projects supported - six projects were analysed as case studies.

2006 to 2008 Evaluation report  (369.70 KB)

Cultural Mapping – An Analytical Tool for Partnerships

The latest evaluation was commissioned by the Children’s Fund Management Board, at the request of the Director of Children’s Services at Worcestershire County Council, and features a “cultural” mapping analysis to identify the particular aspects of the Children’s Fund approach to partnership working that can be shared.

Cultural Mapping Report  (948.29 KB)

Monitoring and Evaluation Report (Impact Assessment) – 2003-06

This report is the result of a combination of research commissioned by the Worcestershire Children’s Fund, from “Listening to Children’s Voices”, The University of Worcester, and the Research and Intelligence Unit.

Monitoring and Evaluation Report  (113.99 KB)