Braintree District Council: Livewell Child programme evaluation
Because of our work: The programme’s processes were significantly strengthened by our recommendation to strengthen links between schools, stakeholders and local businesses. Programme funding was redesigned to focus on community engagement and we secured the involvement of new partners in the voluntary sector.
Braintree District Council is an innovative Local Authority with a dedicated public health team committed to tackling health inequalities across one of the largest council districts in England. Braintree District Council, Essex County Council and the NHS are working together to promote heathy living across the district. The Livewell Campaign works throughout Essex; supporting and encouraging physical activities and healthy eating.
In Braintree, the Livewell Child programme is trialling a whole-systems approach. It works with children who are just starting school, and their families, to encourage healthy lifestyles. The campaign takes an innovative approach to tackling obesity and a partnership was needed to deliver it. The partners required evaluation support to assess processes and identify opportunities to strengthen delivery.
Stage one: developing a Theory of Change.We worked with the Livewell Child team and its partners to develop a Theory of Change for the programme and to provide an evaluation framework for early its development. We encouraged the delivery team to focus the evaluation on the programme’s set up and processes, and to leave an evaluation of its impact until the initiative is fully operational.
Stage two: understanding the set up and processes.
- With the project team, we tested the effectiveness of Livewell Child’s initial marketing. We asked schools how the marketing materials had been used and whether they had identified potential for Improvement.
- We interviewed 24 of the agencies involved in setting up the programme to explore their understanding and commitment to the Livewell Child.
- We conducted some mystery shopping with local businesses to assess the programme’s visibility in a retail environment.
Stage three: reporting and planning. We delivered an interim report and forward plan to be used at the end of the trial to support the ongoing delivery of Livewell Child and to help bid for further funding.
“This report is really helpful, and we have taken up all of your recommendations”