Bright Culture was commissioned in 2019 to lead on the evaluation of the National Lottery Heritage Fund project at St Botolph’s Church in Boston, Lincolnshire.
‘A Passion for People’ at St Botolph’s Church was delivered by the Parish of Boston from October 2018 to September 2021. The project’s ambition was to transform one of this country’s most architecturally iconic churches into a centre for cultural learning, heritage interpretation, musical excellence and community integration in a diverse Lincolnshire town.
Bright Culture Consultants were commissioned in May 2019 to support the St Botolph’s team in evaluating the activity and volunteering programme. An Evaluation Plan was developed with the team, alongside a logic model framework and a question bank. Throughout project delivery, Bright Culture supported the Activity & Events Manger with practical evaluation resources and ideas, mentor support and guidance, supporting the continuous collection of data, and making time to pause and reflect on project progress.
Internal and external evaluation was undertaken by Bright Culture and the team at St Botolph’s using a combination of methods to collect qualitative and quantitative data. This included vox pop interviews, online surveys, 1:1 interviews and comment cards. The project was delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic which meant changes to the project and evaluation methodologies were made throughout delivery to ensure that data could be collected safely.
The data was continuously analysed to inform the project as it moved forward. The final part of the commission was the production of an Evaluation Report which the team sent to the funder. The report told the story of the impact and change created by the project for the site and the participants, and the successes and challenges encountered.