At the workshop, Mark Wynn from HMR Circle talked about how they have used data generated by their service to gain international recognition for the work they do to reduce social isolation amongst older people in their community. Circle have worked with a mix of external researchers to evaluate the work that they do, to find lebanon rcs data areas for improvement, identify good practice and create evidence showing that what they do really works. In recent years they have worked with the Q-Step programme at Manchester Metropolitan University and benefitted from paid summer interns. As a result of the research, recommendations and suggestions have been implemented to improve the experience of the older people Circle work with. Research evidence has also been used as the basis for successful funding applications.
Hanif Bobat shared the experiences of the Ethnic Health Forum where they have started collecting basic demographic and service use information. The collected data has demonstrated service needs and led to increased recognition of the value of their service. For example, the Ethnic Health Forum has recently been awarded an Awards for All grant from the National Lottery, an achievement Hanif links directly their ability to provide the data and evidence of their service use. In turn, the funding boost allows the Ethnic Health Forum to increase their service delivery.