Tackling the root causes of poverty, promoting social inclusion and driving local jobs and growth.

The Building Better Opportunities Programme
The National Lottery Community Fund is matching funds from the European Social Fund 2014-2023 to invest in local projects tackling the root causes of poverty, promoting social inclusion and driving local jobs and growth.
The funding is being delivered in 38 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas according to local priorities, which have been set by the LEPs. It is supporting a variety of projects, ranging from those improving employability for the most disadvantaged, helping those with multiple and complex needs, to improving financial literacy.

The National Evaluation

The National Lottery Community Fund appointed Ecorys to deliver the national evaluation and learning services for its Building Better Opportunities programme. The contract started in 2016 and will run until 2023.

The evaluation primarily concentrates on examining the approach to programme implementation on the ground. In doing so it is taking a formative perspective to generate insights and timely lessons during the life of the programme. The key areas for investigation and analysis through the national evaluation are access and impact.

  • With regard to access, the evaluation will explore progress to date in opening up ESF funding, via BBO, to organisations that are well-placed to deliver effective interventions for harder to reach target groups.
  •  The evaluation will conduct a range of activities to examine the impacts of the programme, including project reviews on a sample basis (i.e. a ‘deep and narrow’ analysis) to provide detailed and insightful findings about what works and for whom in the delivery of interventions.

The above evaluation work will be coupled with a strong emphasis on sharing learning through a programme of learning activities. Specifically these will be designed to identify critical success factors and lessons for the Fund and delivery organisations

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Evaluation reports

Annual evaluation reports are being produced bringing together the evidence and learning generated across each year of the evaluation.

Learning Resources

The evaluation work is coupled with a strong emphasis on sharing learning through a programme of learning activities through which a range of resources and materials are being produced.