What Matters to You
Since 2019 What Matters to You (WM2U) has been working alongside families in Dundee and East Ayrshire, and latterly in Clackmannanshire, to change the way support is offered to individuals and communities. The ambition of the work is to shift public resources to offer support earlier enabling children to flourish within their own families. The work is built on a theory of change that by genuinely listening to the voices of children and families - and most importantly, acting on their insights - local authorities will be able to redesign services in a way that shifts power and agency much closer to the individual. WM2U expresses this ambition as ‘voice-led system change’: shifting the cultural and organisational values, mindsets and practices, that are often taken for granted or unnoticed.
The work is led by families and local practitioners, with a coordinator on the ground, underpinning values-based leadership experiences, a local community led grants programme (Make it Happen Fund), strategic programme management and a learning partner - all funded by The Hunter Foundation and BBC Children in Need.
Our role
Dartington Service Design Lab will be conducting a three phased, place-based, systems change based evaluation to understand what makes up the WM2U approach and it’s component parts, WM2U’s strengths in comparison to other approaches, and opportunities to strengthen the WM2U approach.
Phase 1:
Phase 1 will include an independent review of WM2U, the learning generated to date, and its evolution. This will, in a strengths-based way, draw on the rich learning accrued from the learning partner activities.
Phase 2:
We will also be evaluating the Make it Happen Fund (MIHF), a fund that puts the power of grant funding into the hands of the community, and grants for individuals for parent and young person led collaborations (this may include professional partners to create and deliver impacts that they want to see in their communities). As part of this evaluation Dartington Service Design Lab will support and inform on the ground learning and development of WM2U within Dundee.
Phase 3:
The last phase will cover July 2024 to September of 2026. The focus will be in
Dundee and Clackmannanshire – building on the progress and activity in Dundee and drawing on learning from East Ayrshire and examining the expansion into Clackmannanshire. The focus for Dundee over the next two years will continue to be the overarching strategic objectives previously set for WM2U. During this phase, Dartington Service Design Lab will focus on data collection, impact assessment, and cost-benefit analysis, including the final assessment of the program’s outcomes.
Our overall approach to the evaluation of WM2U and MIHF will be one of storytelling – underpinned by rich qualitative insights; and data-driven modelling.
Our team
Tim Hobbs - Project Executive
Sean Manzi - Project Lead
Katie Upsdale - Learning Partner Lead
Annalise Clelland - Research and Design Officer
