A new digital toolkit will demonstrate the difference the sector makes to people’s lives.

The CAVEAT (Community and Voluntary organisation EvAluation Toolkit) will be launched on 28 June 2023. It will help Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) organisations to collect and record data and information, allowing them to measure outcomes and demonstrate impact.  It also offers guidance on the ways that information can be collected and presented.

It has been developed following research during the first lockdown, when researchers from the University of Kent, Brighton and Sussex Medical School and the University of Surrey studied community-based volunteering in response to COVID-19 called the COV-VOL project.

Funded through the National Institute of Health and Social Care (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration Kent, Surrey and Sussex, identified positive affects on the physical, social and mental wellbeing of older people, the volunteers supporting them, and the wider health and social care system.

But they found that few organisations could demonstrate the difference their work made, with many VCFSE organisations worried about their sustainability.

In response, the team developed the CAVEAT project – also funded by the NIHR ARC KSS – to develop and test a free, interactive, online toolkit, providing resources to assist VCFSE organisations to demonstrate their impact and value.

The launch will take place online on Wednesday 28 June from 1pm to 2:30pm.  Sign up to the Eventbrite here. 

For further information, contact Rebecca Sharp at Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network at rebecca.sharp4@nhs.net.