The National Lottery Community Fund: Fulfilling Lives programme evaluation icon

The National Lottery Community Fund: Fulfilling Lives programme evaluation

The National Lottery Community Fund has invested £112million in 12 areas of England to improve the lives of people experiencing multiple disadvantage, including homelessness, alcohol and substance misuse, reoffending and mental ill health. Working in partnership with the University of Sheffield, CFE are evaluating the programme, tracking the achievements of funded partnerships, identifying what works and gathering and sharing learning.

We have worked with programme partnerships to build a unique longitudinal, quantitative dataset on nearly 4,000 beneficiaries, including their demographic characteristics, accommodation, needs and use of public services. Analysis of this data has allowed us to make a valuable contribution to the evidence base on the characteristics of people affected by multiple disadvantage, the costs to the public purse of avoidable use of crisis services and what works in engaging and supporting people.

We have used a variety of qualitative methods, including interviews, focus groups and mobile ethnography, to provide rich insights into the barriers people experiencing multiple disadvantage face when seeking help and how Fulfilling Lives has helped to address these. For example, read our report and case studies on access to mental health support, co-produced with programme partnerships.

Evidence from our evaluation contributed to a proposal to Her Majesty’s Treasury on the need for investment in this area. This resulted in a commitment to invest £46million in supporting people experiencing multiple disadvantage, announced in the 2020 budget.

The evaluation is accompanied by a learning programme, including communities of practice, seminars and webinars and regular blogs.

You can find out more about Fulfilling Lives, read the evaluation outputs and sign up for our quarterly newsletter here: www.fulfillinglivesevaluation.org.uk

Rachel Moreton image

Key project contact

Rachel Moreton

Rachel is a social researcher with over a decade’s experience in the public and voluntary sectors. Since joining CFE Research in 2012 she has worked on a range of research and evaluation projects, many of them aiming to improve the wellbeing of people who are disadvantaged or socially excluded.

Rachel leads our nine-year evaluation of the National Lottery Community Fund’s Fulfilling Lives programme, which supports people affected by homelessness, offending, mental ill-health and substance misuse. She also regularly designs and delivers workshops and webinars on evaluation.

Contact: Rachel.moreton@cfe.org.uk