Inspira

The challenge

Inspira is an established social enterprise based in Cumbria who operate throughout north west England. Inspira specialises in delivering personal development and career management programmes on behalf of a range of commissioners including central and local government, schools and academies, employers, and charitable funds.

NPC first worked with Inspira in 2015 to develop a theory of change. The following year, we worked with the organisation to develop a measurement framework, and provided advice on economic analysis and guidance for pulling together their own impact report using historic data.

The approach

We used NPC’s Four Pillars approach: starting with Inspira’s theory of change and working with them to identify priority outcomes before assessing the level of evidence required and the best tools to gather data. JET was the source of several tools that were used. We reviewed Inspira’s existing data collection and worked with frontline staff to refine a short online survey tool for staff to use with clients. We also offered advice on how to analyse the results.

The result

Inspira has been piloting the approach before rolling it out to track the impact of its programmes, and have been able to talk about their evaluation plans in bids for new contracts.