Our annual stakeholder survey helps us understand how we’re doing at People’s Health Trust. We want to provide the resources and support needed for communities to drive their own change locally and so it is important to hear feedback from our stakeholders.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the survey and shared their experiences with us. The response rate was 19% (70 respondents out of a possible maximum of 369). This is less than last year which saw 107 responses and a response rate of 31%. The majority of respondents currently receive funding from the Trust and 8% had applied for funding but were not successful.
As we move into the new year, and our new strategy and build on our work in 2022, this will help us understand where we are doing well and, where and how we can improve our impact. Read our latest findings below.
Communications:
- The Trust launched its new website in March and 98% of respondents agree that it is easy to find the information required on the website and overall comments on the website were more positive than previous years.
- Most respondents (98%) felt that the Trust communicates what it does clearly.
- 97% of respondents think that the Trust explains its approach to health inequalities clearly -an increase from 93% last year).
- 67% of respondents sign up to the newsletter and 79% of respondents found the newsletter useful and interesting (both results similar to last year).
Feedback about communications was generally positive such as:
- (The newsletter) is very interesting and gives us a great sense of joy reading the stories from other areas of the UK.
- (The website) is very clear and more importantly informative regarding what projects you have funded, what funding is available and shows the impact that the funding has had on different communities.
- This information (on health inequalities) is embedded in the communication and direction of the work carried out on behalf of the Peoples Health Trust.
Areas for improvement highlighted in the feedback included:
- How visible the Trust is: I am not sure if we were not funded by People's Health Trust, if I would have heard about them. When I speak with others and share that we are funded by them, they do not know much about the work.
- Accessibility of language: Sometimes the language is not always easy to follow. For the people we support, who have a learning disability, just the word 'health inequality' is hard for them to understand.
Customer Service
Customer service feedback is similar to previous years, with high levels of satisfaction with the responses to enquiries (85% felt responses were helpful). All comments provided about the way enquiries were handled were very positive.
Application process
- 67% of respondents downloaded their application from the website, 30% requested an application by email and 3% requested a form by telephone (all similar to last year).
- 57% have found the application process easy to some extent and 33% to a large extent (both similar to last year). There were fewer comments about the fundable neighbourhood and maps element of the application process than in previous years, which may be linked to the application process for neighbourhood based applications being improved from March 2022 when the new website was launched.
- The guidance notes are considered helpful by 97% of respondents a slight increase from last year.
- 44% of respondents feel the amount of information requested is appropriate to some extent, and 48% to a large extent (slightly higher than last year).
- 66% of respondents have contacted the Trust for additional information or advice on completing the application by either email or telephone, with a high level of satisfaction reported by those who received help.
- 92% of respondents said they had received a decision within the published timescale (a slight increase on last year) and 90% feel that the decision timescale on Active Communities is reasonable.
The Trust received a range of feedback about the application process including positive feedback about support received and clarity of process, and concerns raised about terminology used and the amount of information being requested in the application form.
Grant management:
- 45% of respondents say that their project relies on volunteer support to some extent and 42% to a large extent (similar to last year).
- 31% of respondents have seen a reduction in funding from central or local government in the last 12 months. This is higher than last year, but it is not possible to compare meaningfully with last year’s question because this asked about the past 2-3 years. 27% have not seen a reduction and 42% say the question was not applicable to them.
- 47% of respondents said that if they had not received funding from the Trust, this would have posed a high risk of project closure. 48% felt it posted a small or medium risk. This was a new question this year.
- When asked about risks to organisational closure posed by lack of Trust funding, 52% felt this was not at all likely (higher than last year’s 22%), 39% felt it posed a small or medium risk (lower than last year) and 5% a high risk (lower than last year’s 20%).
- 90% of respondents feel that organisations such as the Trust are critical at this time.
- A higher number of respondents than last year (61% compared to 43%) feel that progress reporting is proportionate to a large extent and 34% to some extent (similar to last year). The increase reflects changes made to the reporting requirements during the year.
- 90% find that grant payments were made efficiently to a large extent and 10% to some extent.
- As in previous years, most respondents (96%) feel an appropriate level of support is offered on grant management. Most respondents also feel an appropriate level of support is offered on branding and publicity and find publicity materials useful.
The Trust received a range of feedback about the grants management including positive feedback about strong and supportive relationships with grant managers, support on marketing and support for small organisations and a concern raised about the proportionality of the reporting requirements for the size of the grant.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:
The Trust works with marginalised groups of people across England, Scotland and Wales. We aim to encourage inclusivity, diversity and equity in our work and yours. We asked respondents indicate to what extent they agree to the following statements:
- 93% of respondents found marketing materials accessible to some or a large extent. Most respondents (75%) agree to a large extent that the Trust works flexibly to meet different needs of different groups. Both of these are slightly higher scores than last year. Responses on the tools and guidance provided are positive and in line with last year.
- This year the survey asked more explicitly about the extent to which marketing materials would encourage people from marginalised communities to apply. 54% felt they would to some extent, and 41% to a large extent.
- 86% of respondents feel the Trust’s programmes reflect the diversity of the communities in which they live and work (compared to 95% last year).
- Another new question asked about how positive an experience stakeholders’ contact with the Trust had been in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion. 77% agreed it had been positive to a large extent. And 18% to a small or some extent.
General feedback:
35% of respondents answered this question, lower than last year’s 56%. Positive feedback comments significantly outweighed negative comments and emphasised the Trust’s responsiveness and support.
How we are responding to the survey results
Following the launch of the new website in March 2022, the Communications team are continuing to review our language and publications to ensure they are accessible to diverse audiences and clearly communicate the causes of and solutions to health inequalities, as well as review and improve the communication support we provide to funded partners.
Based on survey feedback and other feedback from our funded partners, we continue to review our grant making processes from initial enquiry to funding outcome, to ensure they are as effective and accessible as possible.
In terms of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), the Trust is implementing an EDI Action Plan which we published in February 2022 and we are working to ensure that EDI is considered in all of our practices.
