We have worked closely with Sky since 2012, primarily to help them assess and report the social and business impact of their community, education and staff volunteering programmes. Recently this has involved looking at how their initiatives have helped address issues around digital inequality; develop digital and creative skills and promote diversity in the media and broadcasting industries; as well as, tackle loneliness and isolation among its customers.

In 2023, our researchers conducted qualitative research over nine months with five Age UK walking groups, to understand how the groups can help increase the activity levels of inactive older people. In previous years we researched different approaches taken by three local Age UK agencies to help reduce loneliness and social isolation among older people for the charity’s ‘eyes on the ground’ initiative.

The Careers & Enterprise Company is the national body for careers education in England and supports schools, special schools and colleges to deliver high quality careers education. We have worked with CEC over many years and our most recent work has included an independent evaluation of the CEC’s Careers Impact System and forums with Careers Leaders to both explore how the Gatsby Benchmarks are interpreted by Careers Leaders and to identify good practice examples.

We have been working with BT since 2020 to help them evaluate and report on the impact of their social investment activity. Projects have included designing a social impact measurement framework for BT’s ‘Skills for Tomorrow’ programme and an evaluation of Phone Smart – an initiative for parents and children to use together to learn about responsible phone use.

We designed and are now implementing an evaluation framework for In Our Nature, a three-year programme led by the Manchester Climate Change Agency and supported by its delivery partners. The programme aims to connect Manchester communities with the climate crisis through practical actions and by delivering other benefits such as improved financial and enhanced wellbeing. In Our Nature hopes to build an inclusive movement to help Manchester meet its climate targets.

The Gatsby Charitable Foundation created ‘Talking Futures’, a suite of resources to encourage and help parents have constructive career conversations with their children. Chrysalis Research was commissioned to work on the pilot of Talking Futures with our research assessing the impact of the activity and identifying learnings for the wider roll-out which was undertaken by the CEC.

We work with Nationwide Building Society to measure and report the impact of their social investment activity. This involves working with their partner charities to capture the impact of Nationwide-funded activity and with Nationwide to identify the business impact . This was done for the Community Grants Fund in 2023 and is now being planned for their new social investment activity, which will take place between 2024 – 2027

Good Things Foundation is the UK’s leading digital inclusion charity. Chrysalis Research was commissioned to carry out an evaluation of its Power Up programme, which is funded by JP Morgan Chase and aims to address social and economic inequality through digital skills development and use of technology. Our evaluation involves impact assessment, as well as capturing learning on the needs of different groups and identifying effective practice.

Chrysalis Research has completed multiple research projects for AQA since 2014 including: large-scale qualitative work to support for the re-development of their qualifications in response to Government reforms, exploring the views of decision-makers in schools and colleges on the format of Maths GCSE question papers; helping AQA better understand teachers’ support and resources needs; and bespoke research to inform AQA’s business and marketing objectives in relation to its competitors.

Virgin Media O2 helps fund the charity Concert for Carers which gives selected NHS staff free tickets to attend live entertainment events. Chrysalis Research assesed the social and brand impact of VMO2’s involvement with Concerts for Carers through phone interviews and a quantitative survey. We also carried out work for O2 related to its partnership with NSPCC and their joint work addressing online safety for chidren and young people.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) is a programme for young people aged 14-24 which aims to empower young people and support them as they learn new skills, overcome obstacles, and build confidence and resilience.
We carried out two evaluation projects for the DofE charity, one focused on the impact of participation in the DofE on young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and another looking at the whole school impact of the programme at a regional level.

We recently began an evaluation of Creating a Greener London – Sustainable Construction Skills, which is targeted at young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Our work looks at pilot delivery in two college groups to identify existing and emerging green job opportunities, and the skills required to progress to green jobs and higher level training. We are following cohorts of students throughout their studies and into their early careers, with a final follow up in 2027.

The Meteorological Office is the United Kingdom’s national weather service. Chrysalis Research was commissioned to evaluate the impact of the Met Office for Schools programme, which comprises online resources for primary and secondary schools. We put in place an evaluation strategy for the programme and carried out two evaluation waves, the insights from which have been used by the Met Office to refine the programme and its resources.

Meningitis Now is a national charity that fights meningitis. We have been working closely with the charity since 2016, helping it to strengthen its monitoring and evaluation systems. We have also carried out discrete evaluation projects, including of Believe and Achieve – a five-year programme for 11-25 year-olds who have been directly or indirectly impacted by meningitis.

One of our very first clients, our relationship with City & Guilds has continued over many years. Our research gives City & Guilds insights into customers’ reactions to existing and prospective qualifications and supports City & Guilds in planning its future delivery. We have examined customer views of City & Guilds’ service, helped develop teaching and learning, and training materials for apprenticeships, helped with qualifications development and measured student post-qualification destinations.

We were commissioned to carry out research to inform the development of the Bupa Foundation’s new mental health and wellbeing programme for teachers. This was used to define the scope of the new programme, its key audiences and priorities, and to inform the development of its activities and resources. We then evaluated the programme programme pilot and its national rollout.

Hubbub is an award-winning environmental charity which runs campaigns to encourage positive actions for the environment. Chrysalis Research has worked on research and evaluation for several programmes:
– Smarter Living campaign, how technology can be used to help households live more sustainably and reduce their costs
– How a connection with nature through community projects can inspire changes in attitudes and behaviour towards the environment.
– Time After Time, a multi-media campaign aimed at reducing electronic waste among Gen Z.

Since 2013 we have been working with Teachers’ Pensions to organise and facilitate regular discussions about The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS). The discussion groups take place several times a year with teachers – members of the TPS – and employers, including local authorities, FE colleges, academies and independent schools. Our regular reporting gives Teachers’ Pensions an ongoing insight into the quality of service and communication, and creates opportunities to test new innovations.

Living Well co-ordinators in North Yorkshire work one-to-one with vulnerable and bereaved adults to help them become more independent, less isolated and more involved in their community. Chrysalis Research conducted a two-year evaluation of the Living Well Service using online and phone surveys and secondary data analysis. The evaluation was designed to assess the satisfaction, outcomes and impacts of the service for clients and and whether the service delivered any cost savings to the council.

Chrysalis Research evaluated the impact of now>press>play. Working with over 137,500 children in 573 schools it delivers an innovative educational experience using sound, story and movement to engage children. We took a mixed methods approach, combining eleven qualitative depth interviews and a quantitative survey, to show how now>press>play improved children’s engagement, life experiences and their social and emotional, writing and literacy, and discussion skills.

We carried a collaborative research project with the School of Education at the University of Brighton to capture and review evidence about the purpose and impacts of research mentoring schemes in English universities. Our role was to undertake primary data collection, which followed a literature review by the university. We presented our findings at seminars and webinars and the final report, published here,  provided case studies and recommendations for mentoring schemes.