OCC Storytelling Evaluation

 

In 2024, Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) commissioned Old Fire Station, Oxford (OFS) to pilot an evaluation of the work of local community-based organisations (community assets) working in partnership with OCC Adult Social Care to deliver preventative care initiatives in the County. Specifically, the project focused on those that had received Oxfordshire Community Foundation’s (OCF) 2023 Community Capacity Grant. This was funded through the Workforce, Training and Education (WT&E) Directorate, NHS England South East, which aims to build the capacity of public health and wider health and care workforces. Participating organisations received free training in the Storytelling Evaluation Method (Storytelling).

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The purpose of this pilot was to learn about the impact of two community partners, Sustainable Wantage and Survivor Space, and to assess Storytelling as a means of evaluating impact in general, with a view to using it again in future. In July 2025, OCC and OCF came together with Sustainable Wantage, Survivor Space, and other partners at OFS to discuss the stories that we collected and the method as a whole.

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Sustainable Wantage is a Community Action Group, focused on activities that protect and enhance the natural environment and strengthen its local community.

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Survivor Space is a feminist organisation supporting survivors of sexual abuse, rape, domestic abuse, and harassment. We collected stories from its Survivor Strength programme, a collaboration with local, inclusive gym The Project PT that offers boxing and weightlifting classes.

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Read the OCC report (reflections on the method) here

Read the Sustainable Wantage report and stories here

Read the Survivor Strength report and stories here