- Description of the programme
- The study
- Key findings
- Points to consider
Description of the programme
[This is an extract from the Executive Summary of the evaluation report. Further amendments may be made to this Summary, pending review by the Evidence Hub partner]
Advising Communities has been delivering a pilot project called Money Well to support people with mental health needs or low levels of mental wellbeing to improve their financial capabilities. Providing a combination of 1:1 support and group training work to participants sourced from Advising Communities’ drop-in services or referred via a partner organisation. Services were delivered in several locations across two London boroughs (Southwark and Lambeth), including Advising Communities’ own Advice Hub. Each participant was offered up to eight 1:1 sessions and was expected to participate in four group sessions. Participants had access to the same advisor throughout the project and created an action plan, that was regularly reviewed.
The study
Results for this project were measured using pre- and post-participation questionnaires and surveys. The monitoring and evaluation design also used qualitative methods such as participatory rapid assessment exercises and case studies, and considered social value created using value for money approaches. Out of the 120 participants that started the pilot project, complete data is available for 66 participants that completed the pilot project.
Key findings
Outcome Evaluation
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Impact 1: Positive changes in financial behaviour, leading to increased levels of financial resilience and a reduction in the amount of support needed to resolve problems
- Results were mixed at the impact level, with participants showing progress in taking steps to reduce their debt, save for retirement and using credit more responsibly.
- Participants did not show improvement in keeping track of income and expenditure and being proactive in seeking advice.
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Impact 2: Increased levels of personal wellbeing, reduction in financial anxiety
- Levels of personal well-being increased by 9%
- Increased understanding of their financial situation actually increased financial anxiety in the short term, by 29%
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Outcome 1: Increased levels of knowledge and understanding in relation to managing day-to-day financial affairs and in planning for the future
- Participants showed improvements in being able to answer basic financial product questions and questions about interest rates and loans. Participants also increased their understanding of different insurance and savings products.
- There was no change in participants’ knowledge on where to go for advice, and a slight (1%) reduction in reported mathematical, literary and online skills
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Outcome 2: Increased confidence and improved attitudes towards managing their finances both day-to-day and for the future
- This outcome showed the most improvement with all ten indicators registering positive change
- Participants reported that they were more motivated to keep track of income and expenditure, make money go further, plan for less positive scenarios and live within their means and save
- Participants also reported increases in how much they value savings and having concrete goals to work towards, adjusting their behavior to meet those goals and
Process Evaluation
- Supporting participants who had sometimes chaotic lifestyles made scheduling group work with a fixed time challenging.
- Retention improved during the pilot. Participants that were referred were more motivated to attend than those who had a pre-existing relationship with Advising Communities.
- The team improved their internal communication to ensure best support was provided and locations closer to where participants lived proved to be better for delivering sessions.
- Participants found the mix of 1:1 sessions and group work complimented each other, reporting that they learned things in the group work that they would never have learned in the 1:1 sessions.
Economic Evaluation
- Although the result should be treated with caution, for every pound that the Money Project invested, it produced £4.33 in social value projected over a 5 year period.
Points to consider
- Due to the current way data on mental health and low well-being is captured by Advising Communities, the evaluation could not address the first of the three key evaluation questions posed by Advising Communities in their proposal to Money Advice Service.
- The final cohort of participants is small (66) and consists of vulnerable adults with mental health needs and low rates of well-being. This means that the results may not be transferable to other client groups Advising Communities or its partners work with;
- There is not a full data set across the different monitoring and evaluation tools for every participant;
- Combining both 1:1 advice and group work can provide better support for people in vulnerable groups such as those with mental health needs or low well-being to improve their own financial capability;
- Having access to the same case worker each time was also important to the project’s success; and
- A graduation model for improving financial capability for people in vulnerable groups emerges from the experience of piloting Money Well that can be refined and implemented at scale.
Full report
Advising Communities Money Well project - full report
