EVALUATION EXCHANGE – SHAPING OUR FUTURE
We partnered with Aston Mansfield and a wonderful group of researchers from University College London (UCL) to collect vital feedback from our residents and help us to improve our services.
“At Your Place, we always put our residents at the centre of our work, and we have taken new steps to ensure they are also involved in our decision making” – Victoria Palazzo, Impact Manager
Over the last three months, we have been inviting current and former residents of Your Place to take part in an evaluation of our services to identify key areas to develop upon, and those which our residents feel most helpful and effective in supporting them.
The partnership was facilitated by the UCL Public Engagement Unit and Aston Mansfield – a likeminded charity who provide community development support and activities in the London Borough of Newham.
Four UCL students kindly volunteered their time to hold five sessions where current and former residents could come along and share their views anonymously, and in doing so, shape the future of Your Place. We were delighted to have 46 participants take part and share what is important to them. Since the launch of our Home and Hope Appeal in 2011, we have expanded our provision by opening 25 move-on studio flats, and we are now looking to complete the final stages of our development with vital input and guidance from those who have experienced homelessness and our service first-hand.
On Friday 22nd March, we were delighted to stand alongside several Newham charities at the Evaluation Exchange celebration to share what we had achieved with Aston Mansfield and UCL’s help. Representatives from Your Place included our Impact Manager Victoria, our E-Learning Co-ordinator and Biruk – a former resident who not only helped to design the questions used in the evaluation, and also participated in it.
We’d like to thank Aston Mansfield, the UCL students for helping us in this important project with our residents at the centre of the organisation’s future.
