The Building Connections Fund Part One: Evaluation of the Building Connections Fund prior to the COVID-19 pandemic

This document describes an evaluation of the Building Connections Fund (BCF) in England, which aimed to alleviate loneliness, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, by providing grants to 126 organizations. The evaluation, conducted by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), used a developmental approach due to data collection challenges. It found that the BCF reached a wide demographic, with significant benefits for children, younger adults, and females who reported improvements in loneliness, confidence, resilience, and well-being. Trust in staff and volunteers was crucial in reducing loneliness. The evaluation faced issues with survey consent and aligning funder and partner priorities, resulting in recommendations for dedicated evaluation funding and future research to address data gaps. Activities funded by the BCF were found to enhance mental well-being, social skills, and confidence, with trust and safety being key to success. The document also offers guidance on data collection and ethical considerations for organizations. **This summary was written by an AI model and therefore should not be considered a definitive summary of the report. If you are aware of inaccuracies, please email evaluation.registry@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.**

Description

Lead department
Closed organisation: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Evaluation stage
A complete evaluation report
Other departments
No other departments listed
Evaluation types
Impact evaluation
Process evaluation
Impact methods
Generic research method
Process methods
Other
Surveys and polling
Grant information
This intervention is not distributing funding via a grant
Government Major Project information
This intervention is not a major project
Policies
No policies provided

Event Dates

Event Name
Publication of final results
Event date
September 2021

Evaluation Costs

Cost
Not provided

Evaluation sharing

Link(s) to published report(s)
Yes
Links to evaluation plans
No link provided
Links to published evaluations
Findings
Not provided
Permission to share confirmed
Yes