Reports Database

The cycle to work scheme is a tax-free, salary sacrifice benefit currently offered through employers, who may loan cycles and various items of cycling equipment to employees, with the intention of promoting both more environmentally friendly commuting and health benefits associated with cycling (Department for Transport, 2009). The Cycle to Work Alliance brings together a group of leading providers of the cycle to work scheme, including Cyclescheme, Cycle Solutions, Evans Cycles and Halfords, who work with employers to administer the schemes offered to employees.

In February 2016, the Cycle to Work Alliance, commissioned IES to undertake a rapid evidence assessment of various quantitative and qualitative data around the efficacy of cycle to work schemes and the health and economic benefits of cycling to work. This approach provides a good overview of the state of play regarding research into this area, identifying key themes and issues in research surrounding cycling. As well as a documentary review, the assessment analysed responses of a survey administered by the Cycle to Work Alliance to employers and employees who have taken advantage of the scheme.

“For more than six decades, SOS Children’s Villages has worked to protect children and address the root causes that put children at risk of losing parental care.

Our 573 villages around the world today are ‘care and protection hubs’ in their communities, providing support for the most vulnerable children and families, because many families cannot do it all alone.

As there is no one-size-fits-all model when it comes to preventing family breakdown or ensuring quality care for a child, our village is a network of flexible care responses and supports. We strive to protect and support each child according to their own best interests.”

“SolarCity is America’s largest full-service solar power provider. We make clean energy available to homeowners, businesses, schools, non-profits, and government organizations at a lower cost than energy generated by burning fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil.”

“On Safer Internet Day, the UK Safer Internet Centre launched the Creating a Better Internet for All report, a study of children’s experiences of online empowerment and online hate.

The study found that overwhelmingly young people want the internet to be a positive and inclusive place that respects people’s differences and they see their peers helping to create this.

An estimated 2.1 million young people have done something online to show support to a certain group in the last year.

The report captured the views and experiences of over 1,500 young people who shared what they had done to promote kindness online.

But despite that positive experience, 4 in 5 teens witnessed online hate.

The research found that more than four in five (82%) 13-18 year olds said they witnessed online hate, having seen or heard offensive, mean or threatening behaviour targeted at or about someone based on their race, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation or transgender identity.”

“The National Credit Union Foundation’s vision is making financial freedom achievable through credit unions. At the National Credit Union Foundation, we believe that all consumers should have the education, tools and resources needed to achieve financial freedom. Through Foundation grants and programs, credit unions provide widespread financial education, create greater access to affordable financial services, and empower more
consumers to save, build assets, and own homes.”

“Between 2013 and 2016, Age UK Yorkshire & Humber implemented a 3 year project called ‘Together for Health’ that aimed to deliver a new ‘social connectedness’ service to reduce levels of loneliness and isolation amongst vulnerable older people and improve their health and wellbeing. This project set out to work with health service professionals in secondary care, A&E professionals, geriatricians and surgical wards to ‘prescribe’ the ‘Together for Health’ service to older people who presented with health needs impacted by their social needs as assessed through measurable risk factors of loneliness. The project involved four local Age UK charities in Yorkshire: Barnsley, Bradford & District, Wakefield district, and Age UK Knaresborough & District.”

“We at ECT Charity know that an investment in community transport means savings elsewhere. For example, taking an elderly lady on a weekly shopping trip not only saves a carer having to do this for her, but also boosts her wellbeing by getting her out and about. Ensuring that an 80-year old
man with diabetes gets to his regular check-ups means that he remains healthy and independent, reducing the chances of an emergency trip to hospital followed by weeks of after-care.

Anecdotal evidence is powerful, but putting real figures behind these stories is important, especially when we are trying to convince councils, commissioners and government policymakers that community transport is a worthwhile investment.”

Anna Whitty, Chief Executive, ECT Charity

“This report provides an evaluation of the economic impact of playwork investment funded by the Communities First programme in Wrexham. It considers the range of benefits obtained by children, young people, their families and the wider community as a result of investment in the provision of staffed, open access play provision. The study has focused on the impact of playwork in three main locations – “The Venture” and “Gwenfro Valley” in the Caia Park area and “The Land” at Plas Madoc.

The focus for the evaluation has been on the contribution of playwork to three key issues – developing social capital, improving current and future employment prospects and tackling poverty outcomes. Assessing the value of this contribution in terms of an overall cost/benefit analysis required use of recognised methodologies for calculation of specific benefits, where these were available.

The duty on local authorities to consider play sufficiency and the goals of the Well Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act also provide the policy context within which the evaluation has been considered.”

“How much does poverty cost the UK? People in poverty experience material and psychological harm, but there are also wider social consequences and tangible costs to the public purse.

This report estimates the total public financial cost of poverty, associated with additional spending on public services and the knock-on harm of poverty meaning that people need more future support from the state.”

“At The Children’s Society we work towards a country where children are free from disadvantage.

We believe we can have the highest impact on the lives of children and young people by focussing our work on supporting the most vulnerable 10–18 year olds, a group of young people so often overlooked and left behind.

In this year’s Impact Report we have focussed the evaluation of our work on our five core thematic areas: young people affected by child sexual exploitation, mental and emotional
health, going missing, substance misuse, and young people who are affected by issues related to being in care or transitioning out of care.”

Matthew Reed, Chief Executive

This report articulates the social impact of the BeHealthy Charitable Programme funded by Mondelez International Foundation which was carried by CAF Russia in 2014-2015 using Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology.  It also provides conclusions and recommendations aimed at increasing social impact created by the Programme. This SROI analysis not only proved that the Programme aimed at teaching primary school children the basics of healthy nutrition and lifestyle was achieving the expected outcomes (increase in the children’s vitality and social development), it also had unexpected positive outcomes of increased children’s autonomy and self-esteem. Overall, the analysis showed that for every ruble invested, the BeHealthy programme produced up to 5 rubles in social value. In addition, the Programme produced considerable social value for the parents and teachers involved. SROI is a principles-based  impact measurement approach that looks at three types of value – economic, environmental and social and uses monetary units to convey value. This allows not only measuring the impact produced by a social intervention but also comparing it with the amount invested to produce an ROI ratio.

Teulu Ni is funded by the Big Lottery’s Improving Futures programme and was awarded £863,832 for a 3-year project, operating between June 2012 and March 2016 (including a 10-month extension). However, owing to late changes in the project, there was an under-spend, meaning the total funding spent on the project was £836,535. The project works with families voluntarily, where the eldest child in each family is between 5 and 10 years of age, who are in need of additional support to prevent their situation escalating further to where they require statutory intervention. The main objective of Teulu Ni is therefore to provide proactive, integrated and purposeful services to prevent families developing more profound and complex problems requiring intensive and often more costly interventions.

Psychosocial Intervention Model for people who inject drugs in Ukraine

7 Steps intervention is based on the results of the research carried out by the Central University of the Caribbean, School of Medicine, Center for Narcological Studies (Puerto Rico) with the support of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2001). Psychosocial intervention model is a cognitive behavioral intervention aimed at HIV prevention among active PWIDs, which combines recruiting the participants from the most-at-risk populations, individual counseling and comprehensive case management of the clients. Such combination promotes change in the behavior, which results in reduction of risks of infection with HIV/STI/viral hepatitis, general health improvement and further commitment to healthy life style. The intervention includes 7 structured modules carried out during 3-6 months.