Background
Sistema Cymru - Codi'r To is a community development project that delivers music sessions in two schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Gwynedd, Wales. This programme aims to raise educational attainment, improve confidence and behaviour, and encourage community relationships. The organisation sought an economic evaluation of the programme to establish effectiveness and stakeholder impact.
Methods
We used a social return on investment (SROI) evaluation to measure a wide range of values across a range of stakeholders to identify benefits or disadvantages that have a social, economic, or environmental impact. The cost of the intervention was generated using the set up and running costs provided by Codi'r To. From the two schools taking part, 228 children were randomly selected to complete questionnaires, and 14 teachers and 50 parents gave answers to questionnaires. Sistema Cymru - Codi'r To approved the study and informed consent was given by the parent or guardian of all the children taking part in the study by asking them to return a completed form if they did not want their children to take part. We completed the SROI Impact Map as recommended by the UK Cabinet Office. We identified financial proxies from the Global Value Exchange and the HACT Social Value Bank so that we could calculate how much the benefits were worth. SROI does not lend itself to the traditional methods of statistical analysis. The data were analysed in line with the UK Cabinet Office SROI guidelines. For sensitivity analysis, we altered the assumptions by varying elements such as deadweight, drop off, and attribution to produce a range of social value.
Findings
The SROI evaluation showed that Codi'r To has the potential to generate social value from £4·49 to £8·95 for every £1·00 invested. With the best assumptions, a base-case social value ratio of £6·69:£1·00 is created. Improved pupil confidence, pupil relationships, family relationships, and classroom behaviour were observed and monetised using proxy values from the HACT Database and the Global Value Exchange.
Interpretation
This is the first SROI, to our knowledge, to be carried out for this type of school-based intervention. The data collected could contribute to a further study of the same cohort at older ages to assess the impact of the programme across their school career. Although SROI is a new method in public health research, this study identified benefits for multiple stakeholders that might not have been revealed using other methods.