How a well planned service evaluation for Beat attracted new funding for their Helpline
Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, commissioned Fiveways to evaluate the short and long term impact of its Helpline. We used our “value creation” approach to focus the research on “potential” value – precursors to action, “applied” value – actions taken, and “realised” value – whether the actions have resulted in the Helpline’s desired outcomes. This enabled the charity to clearly articulate the change the Helpline makes, and attract new funding to extend its opening hours.
“Fiveways delivered the evaluation extremely well. They are patient, understanding and genuinely committed to helping charities learn what they do well and how they can improve. Beat Trustees and staff were incredibly impressed with the report which has helped us secure new funding to extend the Helpline’s opening hours and respond to increased demand.”
Our evaluation included
We conducted research amongst three audience groups – sufferers, carers, and health professionals. We also examined the differences by Helpline channel – telephone, webchat, and email.
Our approach was informed by a voluntary advisory panel of those with lived experience of eating disorders.
Over 750 Helpline users participated in our research which included online surveys (soon after contacting the Helpline, and then 3 and 6 months later) and follow up in-depth interviews.
Our evaluation revealed
41% of service users made progress towards recovery just 3-4 weeks after contacting the Helpline.
These positive outcomes were sustained with the numbers experiencing positive change increasing over time.
We identified groups that did not experience as much positive change and recommended how the service could adapt to meet that challenge.
Our report enabled Beat to attract statutory funding to extend the Helpline’s opening hours.