Our latest publication, Closing down beneficiary support projects, draws together the experiences and perspectives of staff in various roles at four Fulfilling Lives partnerships whose direct work supporting beneficiaries has come to an end. Fulfilling Lives was always a time-limited programme, providing funding to test new approaches with the aim of informing lasting systems change. The report offers practical tips and recommendations from partnerships to aid the smooth closure of similar time-limited support.

The report highlights that starting planning and preparation for closing projects early is key. A joint strategy involving all partners helps ensure everyone is clear about their role in the process. Ongoing flexibility and adaptation is required, and close monitoring of caseloads is important to balance demand with available resource.

External preparation and systems change […]

In line with government guidance, the evaluation team are now working remotely and all planned face-to-face activities have been moved online for the foreseeable future. Our thoughts at this time are with our colleagues who are working hard to keep the most vulnerable in society safe. We will continue as best we can our work to develop the evidence base for longer term improvements in support for people affected by multiple disadvantage.

Following conversations with partnerships over the previous weeks, we are hearing about new creative ways of working developed by staff across Fulfilling Lives in response to the current pandemic. Those experiencing multiple disadvantage are at a heightened risk during this time and staff are continuing their work to ensure these individuals still get the […]

The 2020 budget announcement makes a commitment to provide £46 million from the Shared Outcomes Fund programme to support individuals experiencing multiple disadvantage such as homelessness, substance misuse and reoffending. At Fulfilling Lives, this comes as great news, as the national evidence for the programme highlights the need for those experiencing multiple disadvantages to be supported and for these disadvantages to be looked at holistically. Fulfilling Lives contributed learning from the national evaluation to the proposal to Her Majesty’s Treasury and the programme has been used as a source of supporting evidence as to why this investment should be made.

Fulfilling Lives, MEAM and Lankelly Chase were invited by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to contribute to the business case, with comments being […]

The latest publication from the Fulfilling Lives evaluation summarises key findings to date. It draws together the main messages from the series of briefings we published throughout 2019 that reported data and insights from our evaluation.

The leaflet can be read here.

Since 2014, Fulfilling Lives projects in 12 areas across England have supported over 3,400 people affected by multiple disadvantage, including mental ill-health, substance misuse and homelessness. Key features of the programme that we know make a difference to beneficiaries include persistent and ongoing support, free of short-term time limits; small case-loads for workers, allowing the time to build personal relationships based on trust; and providing holistic support with a focus on beneficiaries’ priorities.

The summary leaflets covers:

• Why we need to invest in multiple […]