The brief

Strategic Leisure Limited (SLL) was appointed by Sport England to undertake three phases of Sports Lottery monitoring ; this monitoring and evaluation was required to assess a number of factors relating to facility development, facility design and specification, funding and financial management, and the sports development infrastructure needed to ensure sustainable delivery of the facility and increased participation.

Our Approach

SLL’s approach to undertaking the monitoring and evaluation was to visit all projects and facilities, and meet the key stakeholders involved in the development of the original funding bid, and subsequently in the development and management of the funded facilities. From this meeting we were able to gather information about the experiences of those involved in the development of the bid and the realisation of the project, to enable us to identify good practice, and critically common issues faced by those trying to gain external funding.

These challenges and good practice were written up as individual project reports, together with an overall report, which provided an overview of the specific projects monitored, and the common themes emerging from the process of bid development and project delivery.

Project Outcomes

The outcome of the project was individual project reports, plus an overall summary, which included an assessment of both good practice and the challenges experienced by the projects monitored. SLL also presented theses findings at a number of meetings/workshops on behalf of Sport England; we also provided recommendations to improve the overall Lottery application process and management of bids, and the allocation of grants.