We are proud to support a new project that will help organisations make a greater difference to the lives of service children and their families.
Our £75,696 grant to the Service Children’s Progression Alliance (SCiP Alliance), based at the University of Winchester, will help charities and other organisations understand what works best when supporting children from Armed Forces families.
Matched by a further £75,696 from Greenwich Hospital, the funding will enable the SCiP Alliance’s Impact Centre to develop and test a new evaluation support service.
Stewart Macgregor, Head of Grants at the Veterans' Foundation®, said: “The Veterans' Foundation® is delighted to be investing alongside Greenwich Hospital in this important project with the SCiP Alliance.
“Children and families can experience the impact of Service life in many different ways.
"This project will help us understand what works, share that learning and enable organisations to learn from one another.
"By building a stronger evidence base, we can make better decisions about where support and funding can have the greatest impact, ultimately helping Service children and their families get the support they need.”
Hosted by the University of Winchester and supported by the Ministry of Defence, the SCiP Alliance brings together practitioners, researchers, policymakers and funders to help Service children thrive.
Its Impact Centre is an established national hub that helps organisations working with Armed Forces families gather evidence about the effectiveness of their support.
This new funding will expand its capacity to meet demand across the sector.
Through the Evaluation for Impact project, the team will develop a practical service to help organisations assess and improve their work with Service children.
The approach could also benefit the wider Armed Forces charitable sector.
Phil Dent, Director at the SCiP Alliance, said: “This investment from Greenwich Hospital, alongside the Veterans' Foundation®, is a significant step forward in strengthening the evidence base that underpins support for Service children.
“The Evaluation for Impact project will help build that capability by creating a scalable evaluation service that enables charities and providers to embed robust evaluation into their work.
"In turn, this will lead to better-informed decisions, stronger collaboration and more effective use of resources, ensuring that funding has the greatest possible impact for Service children and their families.”
As the needs of service children evolve, organisations face growing pressure to demonstrate the difference their work makes.
The project will help them build evaluation into their support, using the findings to improve services and direct resources where they can achieve the most.
Dr Maria Thefanous, Research and Education Grants Manager at Greenwich Hospital, said: “By working in partnership with the Veterans' Foundation® and the SCiP Alliance, we are helping to develop a practical evaluation service that will enable organisations across our sector to demonstrate impact, learn from their work and deliver even greater value for the families they support."
