The Evaluation Trust was founded in 1990 to promote and undertake participatory evaluation. We value a community development approach: we approach evaluation in a way that encourages ownership of the process and learning by the organisation concerned. This approach enables these organisations to be involved in developing the evaluation questions, undertaking the work, and analysing, reflecting and implementing the findings.
The Evaluation Trust was funded for its first four years by national government & the Allied Dunbar Charitable Trust, as a demonstration project, working alongside smaller voluntary, community, user & carer organisations helping them explore the potential role of participatory research and evaluation as:
* a tool of self management & organisational change
* a process of promoting effectiveness & assessing quality
* a way of placing the needs & experiences of users at the heart of an organisation
Find out more about the Trust, its purpose and vision....
Since 1990, the Trust has worked with hundreds of varied community & voluntary organisations and their funders, in both rural & urban areas, in the UK, and Eastern and Central Europe.
The Trust has worked with a wide range of organisations- initially in Swindon & the surrounding rural areas across Wiltshire, regionally, nationally, & in Eastern and Central Europe - using community development methods. The project has put particular emphasis into exploring:
* low cost but rigorous evaluation & self evaluation that builds on existing skills & gets acted upon
* qualitative research that finds & makes visible ways of working that deliver outcomes all the key stakeholders value
* models & methods that are participatory & inclusive, working with all parts of an organisation - users, managing body members, volunteers & workers
* pioneering supporting users, management group members, & other volunteers as evaluators themselves, finding it changes their capacity to contribute to the organisation
* the possibility that planning & evaluative work in an organisation could be exciting, illuminating, empowering- & even fun!
Find out about our stategic aims and objectives...
Who Are We?
The Evaluation Trust currently employs:
* 1.6 home-based staff: ( Principal Evaluation Worker, South West Regional Manager and a Finance Officer) find out more about the staff....
* a large team of regionally based freelance consultants with diverse knowledge, skills and experience; find more about the consultants....
The Trust has no dedicated premises, but maintains a considerable library of resources at its registered office, and has systems in place to ensure that staff and consultants meet regularly, maintain supportive contact, and share and communicate effectively through telephone conferencing, e-mail, and an e-group.
The Trust has 6 trustees with considerable experience and knowledge in the voluntary, statutory, and private sectors. To look at the Skills Profiles of the Trustees, click here....