Abstract

This report is an evaluation of the social impact of The Stanhope Hall Project using the methodology, Social Return on Investment (SROI). SROI is a social evaluation method that uses financial proxy to place value on the changes made to the stakeholder’s lives that are not being captured in financial transactions.

The Stanhope Hall, formerly The Horncastle Town Hall was transferred to the community of Horncastle by East Lindsey District Council through the Horncastle Town Council and then to The Stanhope Hall Company. The latter manages and runs the building on behalf of the community. The Stanhope Hall is a Company Limited by Guarantee with a charitable status. Its aim is to maintain and manage the community hall for the advancement of education and provision of facilities in the interest of social welfare for recreation and leisure time occupation, with the objective of improving the condition of lives of the residents. The Company does not directly deliver activities to the community. Its main responsibility is the running and maintenance of the building; letting the office units and hiring the main hall, meetings rooms, bar and kitchen area to
community groups, organisations, private companies and individuals for their corporate or private functions as well as to hold activities for the community i.e. judo, badminton, coffee morning, etc.

This Forecast SROI presents an analysis of the social added value delivered by the investment of £249,117 during the period August 2010 to July 2011 by the Social Investment Business (SIB) through the Communitybuilders Fund, Horncastle Town Council, East Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council, WREN, Lindsey Action Zone, Lincolnshire Cooperative, Awards for All, LALZAF, Aggregates and donations from the community groups and residents.

To establish the social impact of the asset transfer project, various methodologies were used namely: workshops, one-to-one interviews; telephone interviews; and a survey questionnaire. Secondary research was also used to find financial proxies for the identified outcomes. The theory of change is one of the most important parts of the evaluation. It is where stakeholders give their own account of the changes they have experienced or about to experience as a result of the asset transfer.

The stakeholder groups for this evaluation compose of:
a. The community residents
b. The community groups and tenants of the building
c. Local businesses
d. Funders
e. Horncastle Town Council

The social impact evaluation revealed that a range of outcomes were being created which include:
• Increased sense of social connection with the community amongst
residents
• Improvement in general health of local residents
• Increase in sales by local ‘retail’ and ‘food and drink’ businesses based in the town centre
• Increase in units of blood collected by National Blood Services as a result of using the Hall.
• Increase in employment opportunities for the community
• Increase in usage of the hall by community groups1

The total impact calculated from the Impact Map generated for The Stanhope Hall asset transfer project for the period August 2011 to July 2012 under the
assumptions made is £3,253,313. The total invested to generate the total present value is £249,117. This gives a social return of £13.06 for every £1 invested in The Stanhope Hall asset transfer project.

Recommendations:
• Conduct an ‘Evaluative SROI’ after the project has time.
• Use this report as a marketing tool.
• Compile a register of users to monitor use of the Hall, their activities and the number of people attending their events.
• Develop more partnership work with mainstream organisations that could provide more services to the community.
• Use the findings from this report to create a formal dialogue with stakeholders to involve them meaningfully in service design and delivery
• Capture more in-depth information on users’ reasons for using the Hall.