IMPACT REPORT 2019 - LAUNCH
Today, our work is more relevant than ever. The labour market, the design of social security and cultural roles within the family all contribute to women’s vulnerability to poverty. These are some of the reasons why women are more likely to live in poverty than men.
Following on from the launch of our new strategic plan in 2017, we launch our first impact report on the difference our funding made in 2018–19. In the report we detail where and how our funding was spent, how it made an impact and other Smallwood Trust initiatives that have worked towards our Theory of Change.
Together with our partner organisations we are working to free women from financial vulnerability and increase their social and emotional wellbeing. To achieve this, our work is split across three main programmes of funding:
1. Direct funding and support for individuals: Women have opportunities and power to improve their standards of living and fulfil their potential
2. Funding for voluntary sector organisations: Civil society organisations develop sustainable services relevant to women’s needs
3. Funding for policy and research: Policy and legal frameworks take into account the lived experiences and needs of financially vulnerable women
Since the launch of our new strategy we have funded 50 different women’s services and organisations and run over 20 monitoring and evaluation workshops training more than 150 staff in the Outcomes Star methodology. We have distributed more than £400,000 of funding in partnership with the Tampon Tax Fund and invested in promising organisations and projects to test and scale up their work. Since 2017 we have spent and committed a total of £3.77m. In 2018, our total grant and support spend was £922,000.
The launch of our impact report also enables us to look forward to the future and the shape of our grant-making over the remainder of our strategic plan.
- In order to meet demand and increased need, we will invest an additional c. £5m of funding into our three grant-making programmes over the next five years and we will continue to make more of our funding multi-year
- We will redistribute grant-making power to local organisations through our Community Grant Partners Model. Through this model, women will have access to individual grants and support to help them to overcome financial barriers and increase their financial resilience
- We will continue to listen to women on low incomes and include their views and perspectives in all our planning. We have just embarked upon a new three-year project with the New Economics Foundation and the Women’s Budget Group to connect local and national women’s organisations on a shared agenda for women’s economic wellbeing
We invite you to take a look at our impact over the past 12 months through our new report. A downloadable version will be available shortly after the launch.
Emma Crump, Head of Evaluation, The Smallwood Trust
