Identifying and meeting need

BIG’s wider policies and funding arrangements rely on information about the state of need in the UK. We develop targeted programmes that set out to deal with specific needs that we have identified, but also ‘open, responsive’ programmes where groups explain a specific need and what they plan to do about it.

• Our evaluations of Reaching Communities in England and Northern Ireland and of People and Places in Wales cover a range of topics, including how applicants had identified and responded to need.
• We evaluated our small grants programmes to find out the benefits that they brought to communities and the groups we funded. We are now investigating what a range of groups and people see as important about Awards for All.
• We helped fund the Young Foundation’s study of material and psychological needs in Britain, Sinking and Swimming.

Specific needs

• We have examined factors that contribute to rural isolation in England and Scotland, and report on how projects that we fund have tried to overcome it.
• We consider patterns of application and funding and investigate the reasons for apparent differences between groups in order to support our commitment to equality.
• Our older people research revealed a gap in the provision of services that can help older people with the key transitional periods associated with later life.
• Our evaluation of Improving Financial Confidence in England aims to help social landlords to identify and implement approaches that will help prevent tenants from falling into a spiral of debt.
• We are investigating what works in supporting ex-offenders to re-inegrate into society.

Dealing with complex needs

As Sinking and Swimming noted, needs often exist in combination, so are best dealt with in a more co-ordinated way.

• Better Off showed that a more client-centred approach could make a real difference in community drug rehabilitation.
• A review of family support projects we've funded in Scotland outlines some examples of successful work in this area.

Early intervention

Preventing need from arising in the first place may ultimately be more cost-effective than dealing with the consequences later.

• We have published a review of issues and possible areas for early intervention.
• Improving Futures aims to improve the lives of children growing up in families with multiple and complex needs. 

Please contact us if you have any questions about our work in this area.