Evaluating mental health and housing services

It is increasingly important for voluntary organisations seeking funding to provide hard evidence that their projects are achieving beneficial results for their clients. While service user evaluation of services is of paramount importance, cost-effectiveness and the views of partners in the statutory and voluntary sectors must also be taken into account if a comprehensive evaluation of services is to be achieved. Gofal Cymru commissioned external researchers to carry out a detailed assessment of its housing support and advice projects. The findings confirmed that these services provide value for money for funding agencies. Data from the research can now be used as hard evidence in the organisation's bids to extend these projects into other local authority areas.