The Service Children’s Progression Alliance (SCiP Alliance) based at the University of Winchester has received grants worth more than £150,000 to help transform the way organisations measure and improve support for Service children.
Two awards of £75,696 each from Greenwich Hospital and The Veteran's Foundation will enable the SCiP Alliance’s Impact Centre team to create and test a new evaluation support service.
Hosted by the University of Winchester and supported by the Ministry of Defence, the SCiP Alliance is dedicated to helping Service children thrive by bringing together practitioners, researchers, policymakers and funders.
The Impact Centre is an established national hub which helps organisations working with Armed forces families maximise the impact of their investments by collecting evidence on what work is most effective. This funding expands the Impact Centre’s ability to meet the sector need.
As the needs of Service children evolve, organisations face growing pressure to demonstrate impact and ensure every pound invested delivers meaningful outcomes.
The Evaluation for Impact project will develop a model to support organisations working with Service children which will also have the potential to benefit the wider Armed Forces charitable sector.
Once developed, the evaluation programme will be trialled across up to eight projects, including the Go Learn pilot programme which provides free online tuition to Royal Navy families.
Phil Dent, Director at the SCiP Alliance, said: “This investment from Greenwich Hospital, alongside the Veterans’ Foundation, is a significant step forward in strengthening the evidence base that underpins support for Service children.
“The Evaluation for Impact project will help build that capability by creating a scalable evaluation service that enables charities and providers to embed robust evaluation into their work. In turn, this will lead to better-informed decisions, stronger collaboration and more effective use of resources, ensuring that funding has the greatest possible impact for Service children and their families.”
Dr Maria Thefanous, Research and Education Grants Manager at Greenwich Hospital, said: “By working in partnership with the Veterans’ Foundation and the SCiP Alliance, we are helping to develop a practical evaluation service that will enable organisations across our sector to demonstrate impact, learn from their work and deliver even greater value for the families they support. We believe this collaborative approach has the potential to benefit not only Royal Navy Service children, but the wider Armed Forces charity sector.”
Stewart Macgregor, Head of Grants, Veterans’ Foundation said, “The Veterans’ Foundation is delighted to be investing alongside Greenwich Hospital in this important project with the SCiP Alliance.
“Children and families can experience the impact of Service life in many different ways. This project will help us understand what works, share that learning and enable organisations to learn from one another. By building a stronger evidence base, we can make better decisions about where support and funding can have the greatest impact, ultimately helping Service children and their families get the support they need.”