Ongoing evaluation of the COASTAL project

On-going evaluation of the COASTAL Project Report 3 – Analysis of interviews with COASTAL participants (2011) February 2012

On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

Acknowledgements We would like to thank the COASTAL participants interviewed for this report for their time and for answering our question in such detail.

Report prepared by: Richard Brooks Louise Petrie Endaf Griffiths Any queries or questions about this report should be referred in the first instance to Endaf Griffiths at Wavehill: t: 01545 571711 | e: endaf.griffiths@wavehill.com Client contact: Clive Prior, Regional Project Director t: 01792 222692| e: clive.prior@swansea.gov.uk Report version: FINAL Cover photograph: A COASTAL participant working in the Baling Plant recycling furniture.

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

Synopsis COASTAL is a European funded £52million project covering the six Local Authority areas of Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot, Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. The project is aimed at the promotion of vocational guidance, employment, skills training and lifelong learning opportunities for individuals who are currently economically inactive as a result of illness, disability, (mental illness, learning disability, physical disability, sensory impairment) substance misuse problems and/or the serious social disadvantage associated with the transition from long-term care into adulthood.

This report discusses the benefits that 30 COASTAL participants interviewed attribute to the support they have received.

• • • •

Improvements in their confidence; Having something to occupy them; (i.e. get them out of the house) Opportunities to learn a new activity / skill / qualification; Ways in which to help manage their lives.

All of these things are extremely important to participants in their quest to progress themselves towards employment, training or volunteering.

The themes that emerge can in fact be considered as having two dimensions, or ‘macro’ themes: • •

A primary dimension of social development A secondary dimension of increasing employability

From the participants perspective, it is clear that both dimensions are important outcomes of their participation in COASTAL. The strong suggestion is that the employability dimension could not exist without the personal and social development dimension and that this dimension compliments, or even is essential for employability outcomes. In other words, it would not be possible to achieve employment outcomes without also achieving social development outcomes.

It is important to remember that the COASTAL project is ultimately about helping people towards and into employment and there are some participants being supported where the evaluators would question if this outcome was achievable or indeed desired by some. In the main, however, the participants we spoke to were clearly benefitting from the support being received through COASTAL through a variety of different ways and we would hope to see some further progress towards employability outcomes over the coming years of the evaluation.

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

Contents Synopsis................................................................................................................................ 3 1.

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 5

2.

Summary of key findings ............................................................................................... 6

3.

Detailed analysis ........................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Themes cited for attending the project .............................................................................. 8 3.2 “What are the main benefits you are gaining from COASTAL?” ........................................... 9 3.3 “Is there any support that you need that is not available through COASTAL?” .................. 15 3.4 “Have you received support from other places besides COASTAL? If yes, what is difference?” ................................................................................................................................ 15 3.5 “What do you think will be the main thing you learn to help you get a job?” .................... 15 3.6 “How near or far do you personally feel you are from being able to find a job and hold that job down?” ......................................................................................................................... 17 3.7 “What do you need to get to the work stage?”................................................................. 17 3.8 “What difference would a job make to your life?” ............................................................ 19 3.9 “In what way did COASTAL help you get the job you are in now?” .................................... 21 3.10 “What would make you recommend COASTAL to your friends or family?” ....................... 22 3.11 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 24

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

1. Introduction COASTAL is a European funded £52million Regional Strategic Project covering the six Local Authority areas of Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot, Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion.

The project is aimed at the promotion of vocational guidance, employment, skills training and lifelong learning opportunities for individuals who are currently economically inactive as a result of illness, disability, (mental illness, learning disability, physical disability, sensory impairment) substance misuse problems and/or the serious social disadvantage associated with the transition from long-term care into adulthood. More information about the COSTAL project can be found online: www.coastalproject.co.uk Research and evaluation specialists Wavehill are undertaking an on-going evaluation of the COASTAL project alongside its delivery. This is the third report produced by the evaluation team and presents the findings of interviews undertaken towards the end of 2012 with a random selection of 30 individuals being supported by the project.

This report discusses the benefits that the COASTAL participants attribute to the support they have received. Whilst the benefits an individual gains from the support they receive is inevitably varied, the analysis in this report focuses on the most common or frequent benefits the participants get from COASTAL but also discusses the range of other or wider benefits. The participants interviwed had all received and experienced varying types and amounts of support from COASTAL delivery agents in Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. Of the 30, 18 were male, 12 were female and the average age of the people interviewed was 36 years old.

The remainder of this report is structured as follows: • •

Section 2 summarises the key themes and sub-themes and ideitified by the analysis of the interviews with particpants; and Section 3 then sets out in detail the analysis of the response to each of the questions asked as part of the interview.

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

2. Summary of key findings The COASTAL participants gave their views about the benefits of attending a range of COASTAL funded activities. The conversations were recorded as a set of notes and the text analysed to identify key themes. The chart below shows the frequency that the key themes were identified in the coding.

Chart 1: Thematic Analysis of participants' perceived benefits from COASTAL

Other soft skills

24

Stability

21

Social skills

17

Job specific skills

16

Qualifications

15

Job search

14

Anything else

8

Basic skills

6

Challenges

5

Motivation

5

Further learning

4

The chart above has been colour coded. The three most frequent themes (green) to emerge were ‘other soft skills’, ‘stability’, and ‘social skills’. The next three (yellow) are the most directly related to employability; ‘job specific skills’, ‘qualifications’ and ‘job search’. A more detailed description of the themes follows in the next section.

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

The analysis shows that the participants identify the COASTAL benefits as being primarily based around softer outcomes (in green), rather than the more employability focussed outcomes in yellow.

This reflects the types of participants that COASTAL works with, and the need to create stable participants, who have the confidence to enter into the employability phase of COASTAL successfully.

Clearly there is little value in moving a participant too rapidly into employability training before they are ready as it will be very difficult to create long term employment outcomes from unstable people with poor social skills and self-esteem .

It is however important to note that, in terms of frequency, the dimension of employability (in yellow) is not so far behind the dimension of personal and social development (in green). This demonstrates that, from the participants perspective, both dimensions are (almost) equally important outcomes of their particpation in the COASTAL project. This also strongly suggests that the employability dimension could not exist without the personal and social development dimension and that this dimension compliments, or even is essential for employability outcomes. In other words, it would not be possible to achieve employment outcomes without also achieving social development outcomes.

Previous evaluation reports have discussed the division or seperation between these two dimensions. How much personal and social development is required before the employability dimension can also be attained? From a case by case perspective, everyone is different and requires different levels of assistance. However, when aggregating together the findings, some generalised themes emerge.

Looking at the chart above, it appears that more, but not significantly more, personal and social care development is required than employability development. However this may under-represent the amount of employability work that participants require as some delivery agents are systemically delivering more social and personal development provision than employability provision.

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

3. Detailed analysis This section of the report contains the coded case studies and illustrates how the thematic coding and analysis was undertaken. Each question from the topic guide is given a header and then the thematic analysis resulting from the coding of the case study text illustrated below.

3.1

Themes cited for attending the project

We asked participants to give some details about themselves and their COASTAL support - “Could you tell me a little bit about yourself, the kind of support that you’ve received, how long they have been receiving support”; the following themes emerged.

1.

Alcohol / drugs issues x 14

“I have had a problem with drugs and alcohol” 2.

Mental health issues x 12

“I suffer from depression and anxiety. The job centre told me about COASTAL and I referred myself” 3.

Learning disability x 8

“My social worker found out about COASTAL and I am here to learn skills and see what kind of jobs I would like to do. I have trouble reading and writing.”

4.

5.

6.

Physical disability x 2 Prison / Probation x 2 Long term unemployment x 1

Chart 2: Why is the participant attending COASTAL?

Long term unemployment

1

Prison or probation

2

Physical disability

2

Learning disability

8

Mental health

12

Alcohol or drugs

14 0

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2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

The most common (modal) reason given for receiving support from COASTAL was alcohol and drug problems. The second most common reason given was mental health. The two issues appear to be very overlapping as most of the people that cited drugs and alcohol as an issue also cited mental health related issues. Drugs and alcohol both have pharmacological effects, alcohol is a depressive narcotic and there is a causal link between alcohol and drug misuse and mental health issues. The association and correlation between alcohol / drugs and depression has long been recognised (see Anderson, P. 20091, or Silverstone, P. and Salsali, M. 20032). When we asked interviewees how long they had been receiving support from COASTAL, only 13/30 were able to answer within a specific timeframe, giving an average of 14 months support per participant that answered the question.

3.2

“What are the main benefits you are gaining from COASTAL?”

The themes for benefits gained cited by the interviewees were as follows: 1.

Job specific skills x 16 a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.

2.

Health and Safety Training x 3 On the job experience i.e. digging, cutting grass etc x 3 Furniture restoration / recycling x 2 Work experience x 2 First aid x 2 Support to get volunteer placement Manual handling Computer skills Apprenticeships

Aspiration and motivation x 5 a. b. c. d. e.

Encouragement Motivation for life Gives you a reason to live Chance to talk to someone about things you want to do Working on variety of projects gives you chance to see what you enjoy

1

Anderson, P. (2009) Causal Relationship Between Alcohol and Depression May Start with Alcohol Abuse Medscape Medical News 2 Silverstone P. & Salsali M. (2003) Low self-esteem and psychiatric patients: Part I – The relationship between low selfesteem and psychiatric diagnosis Annals of General Hospital Psychiatry 2:2

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

3.

Job search skills x 14 a. b. c.

CV writing skills / support x 6 Interview techniques x 3 Access to a computer x 2

“I use the computers at WGCADA [West Glamorgan Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse] to search for jobs” d. e. f.

Help in attending an interview Help completing application forms Advice on how to approach a criminal record

“They gave me advice on how to talk about my criminal record in an interview” 4.

Stability x 21 a.

Routine x 7

“Gets you out of the house and gives you a routine” b. c.

Gets me out of the house x 2 Support with housing / benefits x 2

“… helped me with benefits and my housing - I was getting in arrears with the rent and they sorted it out for me.” d. e. f. g. h.

Help to enable myself Relapse Prevention Support with paperwork Travel independently Independence

“Gives me more independence” i.

Activities allow me to focus

“The activities I do allow me to focus, things like pottery and art, I cannot think about my problems just focus on the activity and with support it makes me feel like I can cope.” j. k.

Staff are there for you Having somewhere to go

“Having somewhere to go like the allotment, learning the guitar, doing activities etc means I am less isolated and therefore less likely to drink.” l. Support with attending appointments m. Payment “I get £15 a week for my work”

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

5.

Basic Skills x 6 a.

Computer skills x 2

“… excel course and general computer skills. I am currently doing an online computer course from home.” b. c. d. e.

6.

Using the phone Dealing with the public Help with writing / letters / forms Math and English courses

Social Skills x 17 a.

Meeting new people / friends x 6

“Made lots of friends here” b.

Support to attend activities x 3

“I am keen to do amateur dramatics which my support worker is looking into for me.” c. d. e. f. g.

Volunteer work Confidence Social skills Team work Companionship

“Getting companionship and social interaction, sharing experiences with people who know what I am going through.” h. i. j.

Social interaction People to talk to Experience of working as part of a group

“Now used to working in a group of people, could not do this before”

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

7.

Challenges x 5 a.

Support with opening a bank account

“I had problems with my ID and so could not open a bank account etc and COASTAL sorted this out for me” b. c. d.

Healthy eating Support with benefits / housing Financial support

“… they provided me with food vouchers when I had no money” e.

General support

“My support worker is my rock - If I have a problem she is the first person I call.”

8.

Enter into further learning x 4 a. b. c. d.

9.

A level in English BTEC Health and Social Care course College welding course College IT course

Other soft skills x 24 a.

Confidence x 11

“Confidence in myself and how I came across” b. c. d.

Met people / make friends x 3 Social skills x 2 Support network x 2

“Support network - there are people to speak to” e. f. g. h.

Assertiveness Respect Non-judgemental support Belief in yourself

“They [COASTAL] give you confidence and motivate you to achieve. They give you a willingness to believe in yourself.” i. j.

Communication Interaction with others

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

10.

Qualifications x 15 a.

Courses x 12 • • • • • • • • • • • •

b. c.

11.

Computer Grass cutting Health and safety Catering Food hygiene Self management Mechanics Confidence Assertiveness Crafts Substance misuse Access

OCN’s x 2 NVQ

Anything else? x 8 a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

Counselling x 2 Weekly support Ongoing support (once in employment) Reflexology Pottery Driving lessons Grant for equipment

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

Chart 3: What are the main benefits of attending COASTAL?

Other soft skills

24

Stability

21

Social skills

17

Job specific skills

16

Qualifications

15

Job search

14

Anything else

8

Basic skills

6

Challenges

5

Motivation

5

Further learning

4

One of the most frequently cited benefits of COASTAL was an increase in confidence. This is a positive outcome as the client type that COASTAL works with, the majority of these interviews being participants with an addiction, mental health problem or learning disability, lack of confidence is a common barrier and can have a huge impact on the rest of their day to day lives.

‘If you lack self-confidence, it may affect how other people relate to you, and how you feel in response. In this way, a negative spiral is set up’3

3

http://www.mind.org.uk/help/medical_and_alternative_care/how_to_stop_worrying

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

3.3

“Is there any support that you need that is not available through COASTAL?”

The answer to this question was largely ‘no; there is no other support that I need that is not available from COASTAL’ (21/30). The participants that did answer yes gave ideas that Wavehill believe already are available through COASTAL; such as cookery courses, counselling, assertiveness training, etc.

3.4

“Have you received support from other places besides COASTAL? If yes, what is difference?”

A number of places were mentioned other than COASTAL where participants had accessed support; Shaw Trust, Job Centre, Swansea Vale and Turning Point; however, the main consensus in replies was that the support between COASTAL and these others mentioned was too different to be able to compare.

3.5

“What do you think will be the main thing you learn to help you get a job?”

Themes for main thing learnt to help get a job cited as follows: 1.

Courses / Qualifications achieved x 7

“The food hygiene certificate helped me to get a temporary job and I am looking for work in that area at the moment” 2.

Confidence x 5

“Hopefully my confidence, I know employers look at skills you have but hopefully they will see they can trust me as well” 3.

Not ready to work / will not work x 4

“I am not going to work because there are no jobs.”

4.

Nothing x 4

“I got this job through my own contacts; it was not anything to do with COASTAL” 5.

6.

7.

Support and advice x 3 Training & Experience x 3 Help with application forms

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

Chart 4: What main thing will help participants get a job?

Application forms

1

Training & experience

3

Support and advice

3

Nothing learnt

4

Not ready to work yet

4

Confidence

5

Courses & qualifications

7 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

The main reason cited in the above question was courses and qualifications the participants had undertaken as part of their COASTAL support, followed closely by the increase in confidence they achieved. “Confidence” is sometimes an unspecific word when undertaking evaluations like these; however, when questioning the participants as to what “confidence” meant to them it was clear that the majority associated it to gaining social and personal ‘skills’ in a variety of different ways; i.e. confidence to speak to people, confidence to go out, etc. Both benefits cited, i.e. courses / qualifications and confidence, are important skills to gain for adults from disadvantaged and disengaged backgrounds.

“In research conducted for ‘The Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning’, 10,000 tutors working in further education colleges were asked about their perceptions of the wider benefits of learning rather than just a qualification. Of the 2,729 responses, 92.5 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that ‘through their learning my students on the whole experience improved self-esteem.’

In these instances, raised self-esteem and confidence were seen as outcomes of participating in learning. However, low self-esteem is also seen in the context of adult learning and according to researchers Lloyd and Sullivan (2003); Low self-esteem is widely recognised as a factor that is associated with poor educational attainment and non-participation in education and training. Self-esteem and confidence, therefore, represents an important soft outcome of projects working with disadvantaged disengaged…

Whether you agree or not with these statements, the concepts of self-esteem have become embedded in our thinking about the purpose and outcome of learning and skills.”4

4

http://www.niace.org.uk/Research/HDE/Documents/Self-esteem-confidence.pdf

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

3.6

“How near or far do you personally feel you are from being able to find a job and hold that job down?”

When asked this question, participants had the option to choose on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being nowhere near ready and 10 being absolutely job ready. Twenty-four of the 30 interviewed gave an answer to this question. Of the remaining 6, 5 were already in work and so the question was not applicable and the other participant was unable to answer.

The average score given by the participants who answered the question was 4.8. When you look at this figure alone it would suggest that the participants we spoke to, on average, were where they should be in terms of receiving support i.e. not work ready but slowly progressing towards this goal.

Ideal candidates for COASTAL support; however, it is important to remember that the question was answered by participants themselves and on some occasions those scores that were given would be questioned by the evaluators. This theory is further supported by the standard deviation of the score which is 4, showing us the wide range of views within the data. Of the 24 interviewed, 6 gave a score of 10 and 6 gave a score of 0.

3.7

“What do you need to get to the work stage?”

Themes for what would help participants get to work stage were cited as follows: 1.

2.

More confidence / self esteem x 6 Will never get to ‘work ready’ stage x 4

“I don't think I will ever work again, I am 64 years old and I am not physically fit anymore to do the kind of work I used to do.”

3.

Medical support x 4

“Medical help - until someone can sort out the problems I have with my stomach I can't work. I can't eat anything, I can only drink milk.”

4.

5.

General support / continued support x 4 Interview skills x 3

“More help with interview skills - I have had interviews but I did not get the job” 6.

Ready to work x 3

“If a job was offered to me tomorrow I would take it, I am ready” 7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Courses / training x 2 Pass driving test x 2 Care support for parent More volunteering / placements Further skills Counseling

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

Chart 5: What main thing (attribute) would make you ready for work?

Counselling Further skills Volunteering Care for parent Driving test Courses or training Ready to work now Interview skills Development support Medical support Will never work Confidence & self esteem

1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 6 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Once again the most common skill perceived to be required by the participants was confidence and self-esteem. Of the four people who believed they would never be ‘work ready’ the evaluators would question whether these participants are receiving the most appropriate support under COASTAL? • • • •

1 male, 55 years old who has never had a job in his lifetime and has mental health and other medical issues.

1 female, 41 years old who has a drug / alcohol addiction, mental health issues and is being cared for at home by her parents 1 female who has a severe physical disability 1 male, 64 years old and retired.

On a more positive note the three who said they were ‘job ready’ were all enthusiastic about working, with one of them telling us: “I am prepared to work 15 hours a week for £20 if that is what it takes!”

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

3.8

“What difference would a job make to your life?”

All applicable participants were then asked this question. The reason we asked this question was to understand aspirations and to see what benefits people believed they would get from employment.

The following themes emerged: 1.

Money x 9

“Earning a little bit more cash to keep me going” 2.

Get me out of the house x 4

“It would make a big difference - it would get me out of the house and make me more mobile.”

3.

Feel proud / valued x 4

“I would feel proud of myself to have a job, a reason to get up and to feel valued by people” 4.

Meet people / social x 3

“… would make me feel better about myself and the social aspect would be nice. It is not good to sit at home every day because you become isolated and then that encourages you to drink, you need to keep busy.”

5.

6.

7.

More independence Self esteem Prove I have achieved something

“Huge, no matter what past I have come from it will show that I have come out the other end. It will prove to people that I can achieve something.”

8.

9.

Structure / routine Optimism / better outlook on life

“It would give me a better outlook on life. It would get me out of the house and get recognition for something other than just being a mum.”

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

Chart 6: What difference would employment make to you?

Optimism

1

Structure and routine

1

Achievement

1

Self esteem

1

Independence

1

Meet people & social benefits

1

Feel proud & valued

3

Get out of house

4

Money

9 0

2

4

6

8

10

The most frequent benefit to gaining employment was noted as having some money. The economic benefits are then supported by having a reason to get out of the house and to feel proud of oneself and valued by others. There are, as we know, many well-being, mental and physical health benefits to working and it was interesting to see that the participants we interviewed were able to identify these benefits.

“There is a strong link between unemployment and deterioration in physical and mental health and well-being. … Returning to work from unemployment results in significant health improvements and increases the self-esteem of individuals. The improvements in health that result from returning to work can reverse the negative health effects of unemployment. Being in work is shown to be beneficial to those with ongoing health conditions. Work can help people recover from sickness and reduces the risk of long-term incapacity. The positive health effects of work mean that sick and disabled people should be supported to return to, or remain, in work if their health condition permits it.”5

5

http://www.healthyworkinglives.com/advice/employability/work-is-good-for-your-health.aspx

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

3.9

“In what way did COASTAL help you get the job you are in now?”

The following questions were asked to the five participants that we interviewed who were currently in employment at the time of interviewing. Two of the participants said that COASTAL had helped them to get the job by: “... giving me the confidence to believe in myself” “If I had not been at the college they helped me get into then I would not have done the welding test and would not have got the job” We went on to ask the same five participants; how long they had been in the job, whether it was full or part time, permanent, temporary or seasonal and also how confident they were about still being in the same job in three months time. The results are as follows: • • •

One participant had only been in the job for one week, the others varied between six and 12 months.

The jobs consisted of three full time posts and two part time with all five having permanent positions.

All five were confident that they would still be in the same job in three months time.

Again, we asked all applicable participants; “what difference has having a job made to your life?”

The results were very positive with all five saying a job made a positive impact on their lives; again citing routine, meeting people, getting them out of the house and money as the main benefits of having a job. We also asked the participants who were in employment, “Thinking back to when you started your job, how work ready were you?”

The responses were all high, three gave a score of 10 and two scored themselves as nine.

Interestingly, the two participants that said that COASTAL had helped to get their job both scored themselves as 10.

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

3.10 “What would make you recommend COASTAL to your friends or family?”

This was the final question. Themes for what would make participants recommend COASTAL were cited as follows: 1.

Project staff x 24 a. b.

Supportive x 4 Non judgmental x 4

“I do recommend it to people - they never judge you and will support you in any way they can, they have saved my life” c. d.

Friendly x 3 Understanding x 2

“They understand me and listen to me, they are supportive and they understand my disability.” e. f. g. h. i. j. k.

Genuine x 2 Considerate Nice They believe in you Positive Helpful Boost your morale / confidence

“Supportive, boost your morale, build your confidence and they do not judge you.”

2.

No pressure x 4

“… they encourage you without pressurising you.”

3.

4.

5.

Good to have support x 3 Good service / project x 3 Get to meet new people x 3

“You can meet new people” 6.

Happy / relaxed atmosphere x 2

“I think they do a good job and the best thing about it is that it is relaxed and there is no pressure.”

7.

8.

Gets me out of the house x 2 Nothing / not right support for me x 2

“… but do not see a benefit of COASTAL to me personally although I am sure it would help others”

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

9.

10.

11.

12.

Gives you a sense of worthwhile Gets you ready for work Help with everything Safety net

Chart 7: Why would you recommend COASTAL?

Safety net

1 1 1

Everything Ready to work Sense of worthwhile Nothing

1 2

Gets one out of house Happy and relaxed

2 2

Meet new people Good project

3 3 3

Good support No pressure

4

Project staff

24 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

When asked what would make participants recommend COASTAL to others, the answer was overwhelmingly the relationship with the delivery agent staff. The most important thing to participants when receiving support is that the staff are friendly, supportive and non-judgmental.

Being able to learn and progress in a relaxed and non pressured environment is also important to them, as one participant cited; “You learn more in a happy atmosphere” Guidance from the National Foundation for Educational Research cited ‘Employing the right type of project staff’ in their good practice guide for non-formal learning; “All projects agreed that the skills and qualities of project staff are one of the most important aspects of keeping young people engaged. Staff need to be friendly, nonjudgemental, able to relate to young people and their concerns, patient and have a good sense of humour.”

Whilst the above references young people specifically, Wavehill have found project staff to be the lynch pin of nearly all projects they have evaluated.

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On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project Report 3: October 2012

3.11 Conclusion When looking at the themes overall, the main benefits participants have gained from receiving COASTAL support are: • • • •

Confidence; Having something to occupy them; (i.e. get them out of the house) Opportunities to learn a new activity / skill / qualification; Ways in which to help manage their lives.

When interviewing COASTAL participants one of the main aims of the evaluation is to try to understand not just what support they are receiving but how this support is benefitting them in their lives and how it can affect their future. When speaking to people from such diverse backgrounds it is often very difficult to identify a main pattern of ‘distance travelled’ or change.

Reviewing the interview texts it is clear that for the majority of people who have been supported by COASTAL that they have grown in confidence, in motivation and in their ability to meet new people.

All of these things are extremely important to participants in their quest to progress themselves towards employment, training or volunteering.

It is important to remember that the COASTAL project is ultimately about helping people towards and into employment and there are some participants being supported where the evaluators would question if this outcome was achievable or indeed desired by some. In the main, however, the participants we spoke to were clearly benefitting from the support being received through COASTAL through a variety of different ways and we would hope to see some further progress towards employability outcomes over the coming years of the evaluation.

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