A Better Start – National Evaluation Annual Report Webinar

A Better Start (ABS) is the ten-year (2015-2025), £215 million programme set-up by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. There have been five ABS partnerships based in Blackpool, Bradford, Lambeth, Nottingham, and Southend-on-Sea, with a focus on supporting families to give their babies and very young children the best possible start in life. The Fund have commissioned NatCen and partners from the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), Research in Practice, RSM and the University of Sussex, to carry out the national evaluation of ABS. The national evaluation has been running since 2021 and will continue until March 2026. 

This is the third annual webinar presenting findings in progress from the national evaluation team. Practitioners, policy-makers and others working in the Early Years sector will find this session of interest, to understand the outcomes of the ABS programme and how the ways of working across ABS can influence outcomes. For parents and carers, the session will help to demonstrate and explain the impact of how the ABS programme has had on the lives of families with young children. 

For those with an interest in large-scale, complex evaluations, this webinar will illuminate the methods used in the project, particularly how the team are using contribution analysis to build the mosaic of evidence from A Better Start.