Evaluation commission

We are IVE

At IVE we believe that creativity has the power to shape a better world. A better world for you, a better world for business, and a better world for all our futures.

As a creative education provider we design programmes and training for both young people and adults, from the classroom to the boardroom, that help people and businesses fulfil their creative potential and make positive change happen. Established in 1997, and formally known as CapeUK, we have been at the cutting edge of creative education for 25 years.

Our creative education programmes for young people aim to empower the next generation and those who work with them. One of those is the Bridge programme. Since 2012, we have been the Bridge organisation for Yorkshire and Humber. Funded by Arts Council England, we’re a sector support organisation, supporting the education and creative sectors to increase and improve all children and young people’s access to creative opportunities and experiences. Our ambition is to create equality of opportunity for all children and young people in Yorkshire and the Humber through partnership working, changing practice and policy, and demonstrating the value of creativity in teaching and learning.

The brief

Our bridge role has been a significant part of our work for ten years.  As we enter our final year of this contract, we are seeking an individual or organisation to help us capture and present the impact of our Bridge programme in Yorkshire and Humber. We anticipate this work will take approx. 3-5 months. We hope to share some of the findings as part of our 25^th birthday celebrations at the end of Sept 2022 and receive the full report by 2 Dec 2022.

The research will assess and capture the overall impact of the programme, with a particular focus on sustainable changes to infrastructure, practice and policy that have improved and increased opportunities for children and young people to access creative.

The process will require

• Collating and analysing data and statistics to demonstrate region wide reach, influence and impact
• Gathering feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders from across our programmes, including but not limited to education settings, arts and cultural organisations, freelance artists, local authorities, community partners and children and young people
• Looking through existing case studies and reports to extract key evidence of impact
• Interviews with significant stakeholders who have connected with IVE, capturing 10 in-depth stories of long-term change to thinking, practice and policy. 

The final report should demonstrate the outcomes, impact and legacy of IVE’s role as Bridge in Yorkshire and Humber over the last 10 years. This report will be shared publicly

The report should be accessible and reader friendly, making use of images, diagrams, titles and charts to create an attractive, relevant and informative document. It should include an executive summary and have an option to extract the 10 individual stories collected for the report. We’re open to creative approaches to gathering and presenting this report.

The External Evaluators should meet the following requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Mastery of evaluation and reporting techniques
• Strong understanding of the value of creative education and creative community projects for children and young people
• Understanding and experience of the education and creative sectors
• Experience in conducting focus groups and evaluation interviews with adults and children and young people.
• Ability to design effective surveys to generate stories of impact
• Ability to analyse and synthesise and excellent reporting skills
• Excellent social and interpersonal skills
• Ability to access online sessions
• Ability to commit to deadlines and produce quality work in a short timeframe.

The commission fee is up to £10,000 including VAT, travel and expenses.

Timescale for work

To be carried out from July 2022. Extracts from the report available by early September to form part of our 25^th birthday celebrations. The full report should be completed by 2 December 2022.

How to apply

Please supply the following as part of your proposal:

• A statement outlining the relevant experience of key personnel involved in your proposal (max 400 words)
• An outline of how you would approach the commission
• CVs for all key personnel involved
• A timeline and budget

Please submit your application to Verity Clarke via e-mail: verity@weareive.org

The closing date for applications is 9am on Thursday 7 July 2022.

Interviews will be held in the afternoon of Wednesday 13 July 2022.