An Evaluation of the 6th Ability Fest 2006
What’s working? Celebrating Good Practice, Breaking Down Barriers
July 2006
PHASE 1: Event Evaluation
MORE THAN RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY
T: 0141 952 5406 F: 0141 952 5226 W:www.askclyde.co.uk
AskClyde
Clydebank Social Economy Centre
63 Kilbowie Road
Clydebank
Glasgow
G81 1BL
Tel: 0141 952 5406
Fax. 0141 952 5226
e-mail
Acknowledgements
This report was written by Jim Campbell, Research & Development Officer, Patrick Gallagher, Research Assistant and Ryan Gallagher, Research Assistant. The evaluation was undertaken by the whole AskClyde team, which in addition to those already named are Emer Flett, Office Administrator; David Lyon, Business Manager; Ronnie Creamer, Volunteer and Andrew Gallagher, Volunteer.
AskClyde is grateful to Jean Alcock for her initial help with methodology design of this research and wishes to thank all those who agreed to take part in this study as participants.
Contact Details:
AskClyde
Clydebank Social Economy Centre
63 Kilbowie Road
Clydebank
Glasgow
G81 1BL
Tel: 0141 952 5406
Fax. 0141 952 5226
e-mail
INDEX PAGE
Executive Summary 4 - 9
1.0 Background to the Project 10 - 12
2.0 The Project in a National Context 13
3.0 The Aim & Objectives of this Study 14
3.1 Aim of the study 14
3.2 Objectives 14
4.0 Methodology 15 - 17
4.1 Questionnaires 15 - 16
4.2 Participants 16
4.3 Ethics 17
5.0 Data Analysis 18
6.0 Findings 19 - 36
6.1 General Overview of Ability Fest 2006 20 - 24
6.2 The Practicalities of Ability Fest 2006 25 - 30
6.3 About the visitors and organisations that attended
Ability Fest 2006 31 - 33
6.4 Enabling Social Inclusion & Lifelong Learning,
Education, Employment & Leisure Opportunities 34 - 35
6.5 To provide a cross section of the types of organisations
that exhibit their work at Ability Fest 2006 Event 36
7.0 Discussion 37 - 39
8.0 Conclusion 40
9.0 Recommendations 41
10.0 References 42
11.0 Appendices 43 - 73
1 List and information of exhibiting organisations 43 - 50
2 Introduction Sheet - introduce the study to participants 51
3 Consent forms prepared for Focus Groups 52
4 Questionnaires completed for Visitors of the event 53 - 54
5 Questionnaires completed for Exhibitors of the event 55 – 57
6 Full results of all questionnaires 58 - 73
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background
The first Ability Fest event took place in 1999. It was held in Moir Hall with 29 organisations exhibiting. Each year, the event has increased in size and quality resulting in changing venues to accommodate the changing needs of the event. The 6th Ability Fest took place this year (2006) with 87 exhibiting organisations and 750 visitors. It was held in the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. Although, the size and quality of the event has changed, the underlying aims of the event have remained the same. These are to provide individuals with the chance to find out about a wide range of lifelong learning, education, employment and leisure opportunities in a welcoming environment. In addition, Ability Fest aims to provide organisations with the chance to network with other agencies and to provide a forum for discussion and information sharing.
Study Aims
To determine the quality and effectiveness of Ability Fest 2006 in achieving it’s aims and objectives and so enabling social inclusion and lifelong learning, education, employment and leisure opportunities.
Objectives
· To identify delegate’s, agencies and activities/workshop organiser’s views and perceptions of the practical organisation of the Ability Fest 2006 event.
· To investigate delegate’s views and perceptions, during the Ability Fest 2006 event, of the organisation of the event and its role in enabling social inclusion and lifelong learning, education, employment and leisure opportunities.
· To investigate and compare delegate’s views and perceptions, 9 months after Ability Fest 2006, of the event and its role in enabling social inclusion and lifelong learning, education, employment and leisure opportunities.
· To investigate the views and perceptions of agencies and activities/workshops organisers on the quality, effectiveness and ability, of the event, to enable social inclusion and lifelong learning, education, employment and leisure opportunities.
· To gather relevant information to provide a cross section of the types of organisations that exhibited at the Ability Fest 2006 event in order to see if it achieved its aims and objectives.
Methodology
A Whole Systems methodology approach was used collecting data from multiple data sources in order to create a comprehensive picture in relation to the studies aims and objectives.
Semi-Structured Questionnaire
Face to face interviews were conducted using semi-structured questionnaires for visitors, individuals from agencies in the public exhibition and organisers of activities/workshops. These were used to collect data both during the Ability Fest 2006 event and will be used within Phase 2 during telephone interviews, 9 months later.
Non-Participatory Observations
Field notes were taken by members of the research team in observing activities and workshops. Special attention was paid to participants who were fully involved and included within the activities and workshops.
Focus Groups
Two focus groups were proposed to be undertaken with 6-10 participants, highlighting key themes for discussion. Although a number of participants signed up for this, none of them attended the focus groups and so they did not take place.
Information Gathering
Data was gathered from a random selection of organisations that attended and displayed in the Public Exhibition, in order to provide a cross section of the types of organisations that attend and their role within supporting disabled people, their families and carers.
Participants
Participants were individuals who attend the Ability Fest 2006 event. In total 750 visitors attended the Ability Fest event and 87 organisations. During this study 74 visitors( 9.9%) took part in study and 43 exhibitors (49.4%)
Ethical Issues
All research participants were given an information sheet outlining the study and what their involvement would be. Issues around consent, confidentiality and the storage of data was also outlined to all participants in accordance with AskClyde’s Research Governance Policy.
Data Analysis
Analysis of the data collected was by 2 distinct methods. Quantitative data from parts of the semi-structured interviews was analysed statistically and qualitative data from other parts of the semi-structured questionnaires and non-participatory observations were analysed using content analysis.
Findings
Overall Ability Fest 2006 was a great success, with 87 organisations exhibiting and approximately 750 visitors attending. The day provided visitors with the opportunity to gather information, take part in different activities, workshops and sessions and learn about education, employment and leisure opportunities.
o 91.8% of visitors stated the welcoming of the event was either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’
o 81.0% of exhibitors stated the size of the event was ‘just right’. However, 39.2% of visitors stated that there was a lack of space with ‘jam up points’.
o 79.0% of exhibitors stated that the range of organisations was ‘just right’.
o 60.5% of exhibitors rated that ‘Networking with Organisations’ was what they gained from exhibiting at Ability Fest.
o When asked how they had heard about Ability Fest, there was an equal range of responses by visitors of ‘newspaper’, ‘support organisations’ and ‘word of mouth’. Exhibitors identified 2 main areas, ‘mailing list’ (35.9%) and ‘newspaper advert’ (31.2%). There was an equal range of both visitors and exhibitors of highlighting where they had seen adverts for the event (Big Issue, Real Radio, Metro Newspaper, Local Press).
o The age range of visitors attending the event was from 16 to 65 years old, equally spread across these ages, which matched the age range which exhibitors were targeting.
o There was an equal range of profiles which people described themselves as (disabled, family member, carer, service user, service provider).
Conclusion
Ability Fest sets out to provide individuals with the chance to find out about a wide range of lifelong learning, education, employment and leisure opportunities in a welcoming environment. In addition, Ability Fest aims to provide organisations with the chance to network with other agencies and to provide a forum for discussion and information sharing. It is clear that in general this has been met.
However, the two main areas that need to be considered for future events are:
1. The need for a bigger venue to increase the access of visitors to move freely between the different organisations exhibiting.
2. The need for (a) further development and (b) focus on providing individuals with the opportunities to try out activities relating to lifelong learning.
Recommendations
· Ability Fest has established itself as a valuable resource for people with disabilities across the West of Scotland. It is vital that Ability Fest continues in future years.
· There was strong evidence that the visitors and exhibitors felt that there was a lack of suitable space at certain areas within the venue, with ‘Jamming and Bottlenecking’. While we realise that there are few suitable venues in the centre of Glasgow, it is recommended that other venues are investigated, especially if it is to continue to grow in size.
· Some individuals felt uncomfortable with the many stairs in the venue, that could become a problem during an evacuation, in the event of a fire. (N.B. The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is designed to allow horizontal evacuation in the event of an emergency).
· The Drumming Workshops, Art Workshops, Assistive Technology Road show and Chill out area were a great success. Some visitors stated the need for more of these activities / events.
· The need to group the exhibiting organisations into their relevant areas, for example employment, learning, leisure opportunities, etc….would enable visitors to find the relevant areas they are interested in more easily.
The Structure & writing format of this research report.
For the ease of the reader the findings of the report has been structured in line with the original aims and objectives of the research undertaken. This has been highlighted by different sub-sections in the findings chapter. Results are presented in these subsections under the different methods the data was collected in.
Throughout the report ‘visitors’ will refer to people who attended the event and ‘exhibitors’ as people who were from organisations exhibiting at the event.
1.0 Background to Ability Fest
Ability Fest was established in 1999 to provide opportunities for adults with disabilities, their families, carers and professional staff to find out about educational, volunteering, leisure and employment opportunities in the West of Scotland and to provide an environment for organisations to network and share information. Since its inception, Ability Fest has organised 6 events, each one growing in size and quality. Its aims are:
o To promote social inclusion by offering disabled people the chance to find out about a wide range of lifelong learning, education, employment and leisure opportunities in a welcoming and informal environment.
o To give disabled people the chance to try out activities relating to lifelong learning.
o To act as a focus for networking among agencies that offer support to disabled people in relation to lifelong learning, education, employment and leisure.
o To provide opportunities for discussion, networking and information dissemination between disabled people, families, carers and service providers by organising regular events.
History of Ability Fest
The first Ability Fest event took place in 1999 and was set up by a group of practitioners working in support agencies in Glasgow. Ability Fest 1999 was held in Moir Hall, Glasgow and had 29 organisations exhibiting. The following year, the event had expanded and so Ability Fest 2000 was held in the Thistle Hotel with 40 exhibitors and 4 seminar sessions. The third event (Ability Fest 2002) was held in the Kelvin Hall with 65 exhibiting organisations. The event was combined with a half day conference which discussed obstacles in accessing opportunities in the community for people with disabilities. Although, the event was still increasing in size, funding was very limited. The total expenditure of Ability Fest 2002 was £2500 (Ability Fest 2004, Internal Report). This lack of funding was restricting publicity and finding an ideal venue. With this in mind, the Ability Fest committee carried out market research in order to find ways to obtain further funding. Following this market research being undertaken in 2003 a number of decisions were made (see Table 1).
Table 1 – Conclusions from Ability Fest Market Research 2003
(Ability Fest 2004, Internal Report)
Ability Fest will become an annual event – in May-JuneAbility Fest will be activity-led event (exhibition & possibly conference or workshops on relevant topics)
Ability Fest will be held in a Glasgow venue
Ability Fest will continue to be pan disability
Ability Fest will continue to cover a wide range of topics with the addition of all aspects of healthy living
Ability Fest will be widened out to include information for families / carers
Ability Fest will widen to cover all age groups
Funding will be secured as: Venue Hire, Transport, Support Need, Publicity, Organisation & Management
More user-led groups will be invited to take part in the planning process
Investigations will be undertaken in forming partnerships with local groups for future events
An external evaluation of Ability Fest 2004 was also undertaken post-event by external consultants (Tiger Blue, 2004). The purpose of the evaluation was to determine how closely the event had met its aims. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected from exhibitors and visitors. The key findings found 52% of exhibitors were from the voluntary sector; 92% of exhibitors agreed Ability Fest was useful; 50% of visitors were cares/family members; 31% of visitors stated that they had a disability; 75% of visitors stated the size and scope of the event was ‘just right; and 82% exhibitors stated the venue (Glasgow Royal Concert Hall) was very good or excellent. One of the recommendations of this evaluation highlighted the need to undertake an ‘on the day’ external evaluation.
Following the recommendations from the 2004 evaluation, an external evaluation of Ability Fest 2005 was undertaken by Business-Assist, on the day of Ability Fest 2005. A similar methodology was used of quantitative and qualitative data collection. The key findings found at least 25 visitors were ‘new’ to Ability Fest; at least 50% of visitors stated they had a disability; 40% were professionals, 20% were carers; 58% of exhibitors were from the voluntary sector; 92% agreed that Ability Fest 2005 was beneficial for attracting service users and inter-agency networking; 92% of the exhibitors agreed Ability Fest 2005 was beneficial for attracting service user and inter-agency networking; 89% of exhibitors stated the size and scope of the event was ‘just right’.