ongoing evaluation of the coastal project
DESCRIPTION
The aim of the COASTAL Project is to promote employment and training opportunities for individuals experiencing serious illness, disability and/or social disadvantage.TRANSCRIPT
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
© Copyright Wavehill Ltd 2012 Page | 2
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: [email protected]
Client contact:
Clive Prior, Regional Project Director
t: 01792 222692| e: [email protected]
Report version: FINAL
Cover photograph: A COASTAL participant working in the Baling Plant recycling furniture.
On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project
Report 3: October 2012
© Copyright Wavehill Ltd 2012 Page | 3
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.
On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project
Report 3: October 2012
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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
On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project
Report 3: October 2012
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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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Report 3: October 2012
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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
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.
4
5
5
6
8
14
15
16
17
21
24
Further learning
Motivation
Challenges
Basic skills
Anything else
Job search
Qualifications
Job specific skills
Social skills
Stability
Other soft skills
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Report 3: October 2012
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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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Report 3: October 2012
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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. Physical disability x 2
5. Prison / Probation x 2
6. Long term unemployment x 1
Chart 2: Why is the participant attending COASTAL?
14
12
8
2
2
1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Alcohol or drugs
Mental health
Learning disability
Physical disability
Prison or probation
Long term unemployment
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Report 3: October 2012
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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. 2003
2). 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. Health and Safety Training x 3
b. On the job experience i.e. digging, cutting grass etc x 3
c. Furniture restoration / recycling x 2
d. Work experience x 2
e. First aid x 2
f. Support to get volunteer placement
g. Manual handling
h. Computer skills
i. Apprenticeships
2. Aspiration and motivation x 5
a. Encouragement
b. Motivation for life
c. Gives you a reason to live
d. Chance to talk to someone about things you want to do
e. 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 self-
esteem and psychiatric diagnosis Annals of General Hospital Psychiatry 2:2
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Report 3: October 2012
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3. Job search skills x 14
a. CV writing skills / support x 6
b. Interview techniques x 3
c. 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. Help in attending an interview
e. Help completing application forms
f. 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. Gets me out of the house x 2
c. 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. Help to enable myself
e. Relapse Prevention
f. Support with paperwork
g. Travel independently
h. 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. Staff are there for you
k. 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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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. Using the phone
c. Dealing with the public
d. Help with writing / letters / forms
e. Math and English courses
6. 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. Volunteer work
d. Confidence
e. Social skills
f. Team work
g. Companionship
“Getting companionship and social interaction, sharing experiences with people who know what I am
going through.”
h. Social interaction
i. People to talk to
j. 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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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. Healthy eating
c. Support with benefits / housing
d. 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. A level in English
b. BTEC Health and Social Care course
c. College welding course
d. College IT course
9. Other soft skills x 24
a. Confidence x 11
“Confidence in myself and how I came across”
b. Met people / make friends x 3
c. Social skills x 2
d. Support network x 2
“Support network - there are people to speak to”
e. Assertiveness
f. Respect
g. Non-judgemental support
h. Belief in yourself
“They [COASTAL] give you confidence and motivate you to achieve. They give you a willingness to
believe in yourself.”
i. Communication
j. Interaction with others
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Report 3: October 2012
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10. Qualifications x 15
a. Courses x 12
• Computer
• Grass cutting
• Health and safety
• Catering
• Food hygiene
• Self management
• Mechanics
• Confidence
• Assertiveness
• Crafts
• Substance misuse
• Access
b. OCN’s x 2
c. NVQ
11. Anything else? x 8
a. Counselling x 2
b. Weekly support
c. Ongoing support (once in employment)
d. Reflexology
e. Pottery
f. Driving lessons
g. Grant for equipment
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Report 3: October 2012
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Chart 3: What are the main benefits of attending COASTAL?
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
4
5
5
6
8
14
15
16
17
21
24
Further learning
Motivation
Challenges
Basic skills
Anything else
Job search
Qualifications
Job specific skills
Social skills
Stability
Other soft skills
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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. Support and advice x 3
6. Training & Experience x 3
7. Help with application forms
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Chart 4: What main thing will help participants get a job?
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
7
5
4
4
3
3
1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Courses & qualifications
Confidence
Not ready to work yet
Nothing learnt
Support and advice
Training & experience
Application forms
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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. More confidence / self esteem x 6
2. 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. General support / continued support x 4
5. 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. Courses / training x 2
8. Pass driving test x 2
9. Care support for parent
10. More volunteering / placements
11. Further skills
12. Counseling
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Chart 5: What main thing (attribute) would make you ready for work?
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!”
6
4
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Confidence & self esteem
Will never work
Medical support
Development support
Interview skills
Ready to work now
Courses or training
Driving test
Care for parent
Volunteering
Further skills
Counselling
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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. More independence
6. Self esteem
7. 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. Structure / routine
9. 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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Chart 6: What difference would employment make to you?
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
9
4
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
0 2 4 6 8 10
Money
Get out of house
Feel proud & valued
Meet people & social benefits
Independence
Self esteem
Achievement
Structure and routine
Optimism
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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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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. Supportive x 4
b. 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. Friendly x 3
d. Understanding x 2
“They understand me and listen to me, they are supportive and they understand my disability.”
e. Genuine x 2
f. Considerate
g. Nice
h. They believe in you
i. Positive
j. Helpful
k. 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. Good to have support x 3
4. Good service / project x 3
5. 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. Gets me out of the house x 2
8. 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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9. Gives you a sense of worthwhile
10. Gets you ready for work
11. Help with everything
12. Safety net
Chart 7: Why would you recommend COASTAL?
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.
24
4
3
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Project staff
No pressure
Good support
Good project
Meet new people
Happy and relaxed
Gets one out of house
Nothing
Sense of worthwhile
Ready to work
Everything
Safety net
On-going evaluation of the COASTAL project
Report 3: October 2012
©Copyright Wavehill Ltd 2012 Page | 24
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.
©Copyright Wavehill Ltd 2012 Page | 25
wavehill ymchwil gwerthuso arolygon
research evaluation surveys
Tel / Ffôn: 01545 571 711
Email / Ebost: [email protected]
Website / Y We: www.wavehill.com
Wavehill Ltd, 8 Water Street / 8 Heol y Dŵr, Aberaeron, Ceredigion, SA46 0DG