Today a new pilot scheme launches evaluating voluntary sector initiatives developed and delivered by communities.

The Voluntary Sector Evaluation Scheme (VoySES), a collaboration between NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) and People’s Health Trust will focus on Discrimination and health and Jobs, young people and health.

The pilot scheme aims to evaluate a programme of voluntary sector initiatives which are developed and delivered by communities. The results of the evaluation will help to identify voluntary sector initiatives that have the potential to improve public health and could be replicated in other geographical areas.

People’s Health Trust’s current fund, the Health Justice Fund, provides a route for communities experiencing the sharp end of health inequalities to use their experience and practice to improve health for the long term. The emerging priority areas the Trust and SPHR researchers are focusing upon are Discrimination and health and Jobs, young people and health.

In this pilot scheme, the SPHR and People’s Health Trust will work together to produce high-quality and useful research evidence to address the needs of communities most affected by the issues. This will help inform evidence-based decisions on what works within these communities.

This scheme follows the success of the SPHR Public Health Practice Evaluation Scheme (PHPES) and the desire to replicate this with other key stakeholder groups, including the voluntary sector. PHPES helped address challenges faced by public health practitioners working on the front line with a focus on local public health initiatives. It produced evidence for public health practice to improve population health and reduce health inequalities. This new scheme aims to do the same for the voluntary sector.

John Hume, Chief Executive, People’s Health Trust said:

“This is an exciting opportunity for People's Health Trust to partner with world-leading public health researchers through the VoySES pilot to both develop and evaluate parts of our Health Justice Fund.

The two areas we are working in partnership on are: discrimination and its impact on health and the ways we can support young people to have better access to jobs and apprenticeships. These are both critical to the health inequalities picture and the evidence that emerges from these partnerships will provide important insight for the sector on what works to reduce health inequalities and stop people dying too young.”

Director of the NIHR School for Public Health Research, Professor Ashley Adamson, said:

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with People’s Health Trust. This innovative partnership will allow the strengths of both the School for Public Health Research and People’s Health Trust to be utilised to ensure that applied public health research evidence is put in the hands of those who can use it within the voluntary sector.

This partnership helps to cement a commitment we have made as a School to support and work alongside our colleagues within the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise sector. We very much look forward to the pioneering work this partnership will enable.”

Notes to editors

  • People’s Health Trust is a charity addressing health inequalities through the building blocks of health. Their work focuses on funding and support for communities experiencing the great marginalisation and disadvantage and using evidence and learning to influence change locally and nationally.
  • Established in 2012, the NIHR SPHR is a partnership between nine leading academic centres with excellence in applied public health research. The School aims to increase the evidence base for inclusive, equitable and cost-effective public health practice. The School works in partnership with policy and practice colleagues to deliver research that informs and shapes policies to improve the health of the population and planet.
  • SPHR and People’s Health Trust are working together on two priority areas, over two stages. The first priority area focuses on discrimination and health, and the second focuses on jobs, young people and health. The phase one work began in Spring 2024.
  • The first stage of research will understand the existing evidence base of the impacts of discrimination and poor-quality work, unemployment and skills infrastructure, respectively, upon health, and assess best practice to develop a theory of change and action.
  • The Trust will then co-design a programme of work based upon this research with community organisations, and provide funding and support for them to lead this work with communities.
  • The second stage of research will see SPHR academics conduct an evaluation of the discrimination and the jobs and young people interventions.