Bradgers Hill Wilder Futures

Bright Culture were commissioned in 2022 by the Wildlife Trust to lead on the evaluation of the Bradgers Hill Wilder Futures project.

Wilder Futures, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, focused on raising awareness of Bradgers Hill and other green spaces in North Luton and enabling the local community to more easily explore and enjoy these spaces.

The Wilder Futures project aimed to improve awareness, access, and interpretation of Bradgers Hill and other green spaces in Luton, increasing the level of welcomingness and inclusiveness. This was done by offering various ways to learn about and connect with nature through events and activities, building on the Friends of Bradgers Hill work at the Bushmead Community Hub. The project had a particular focus on engaging children, young people and local schools.

Bright Culture led the project’s evaluation. This included developing an Evaluation Plan and Framework, guiding the project team in evaluation best practices, supporting the project with templates and resources, and undertaking face-to-face evaluations with project participants.

Methods included surveys, feedback cards, informal vox-pop style interviews, and in-depth interviews with teachers and community leaders involved in the project. The final report showcases the projects’ successes and challenges and makes a series of recommendations for future activities to engage audiences with the green spaces of Luton.

people standing on hill with blue sky behind
 

Leading a significant project like this (£250k Lottery fund) was new to me so I was really grateful for Lisa’s support in understanding what and how we should evaluate the many varied activities that the project had delivered. Lisa’s suggestions made sense but were never enforced and I felt we had a good, clear line of communication to work on the evaluation and make adjustments as and when required. When it became apparent we had lots of forms and data to process, Lisa was flexible enough to adjust other aspects of the evaluation plan to accommodate the extra time needed. We are already in touch again ready to plan the evaluation of our new lottery funded work in Luton.

Matt Sutcliffe, Communities & Education Manager   The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Northamptonshire