R4C was commissioned in 2020 to undertake an evaluation of the Changing Chalk partnership focused on measuring the value of partnership in the development phase of its bid to the NLHF.
The Changing Chalk Partnership is a group of organisations who are collaborating to bring together people and nature to tackle multiple threats to the Sussex Downs and to grasp the heightened opportunities that the area offers. Led by the National Trust and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), it will restore lost landscapes and habitats, bring history and local cultures to life and provide new experiences in the outdoors.
Our evaluation methodology was threefold.
- Document review, to understand the partnership structure, governance arrangements and working procedures.
- Interviews –undertaken with 14 partnership members to hear from them what they felt was the value of the partnership and its strengths and weaknesses.
- Reflection session – the headline findings were shared with partnership members at the providing an opportunity for collective reflection.
A Partnership evaluation report was present to the project board in April 2021.
Sam Page, the Project Manager’s feedback afterwards was:
“A big thank you to R4C for this piece of work. Echoing the comments from the Board, it’s been really useful to inform how we go forward as a partnership. I also really appreciate how you and Scott carried out the evaluation so professionally and sensitively, after what has been such a challenging year for us all.”