2023 Funded Evaluation Projects

Athletics Ireland plan to undertake a formative evaluation to understand more about the perceptions, motivations, and needs of people living in the Crumlin, Dublin 12 region that will inform the development of an athletics community sports and physical activity hub at the Trinity College Iveagh Sports Grounds. Through a process of consultation and engagement with key stakeholders, communities, and identified target groups, they intend to understand more about the current participatory habits of those living within the community and identify solutions, through the development of a programme plan to increase participation and engagement in Athletics. Athletics Ireland will partner with Trinity College Dublin to complete this project.

The Camogie Association plan to evaluate the overall impact (positive and negative) of the Camogie Association’s M.N.A Programme. This programme was designed, developed, and implemented by the Association to identify, recruit and develop female mentors and coaches within Clubs across the island of Ireland [North and South]. The main aim of this project is to design and implement an evaluation of the programme based on the Outcomes Based Accountability (OBA) model and creating a system towards the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the M.N.A Programme that can inform practitioners and participants on the success of the programme. The Camogie Association will partner with Ulster University to complete this project.

Active Disability plan to conduct a formative evaluation by way of a needs analysis of teachers in Ireland to understand how they could be better supported to include young people with disabilities in physical activity. By identifying potential difficulties faced by teachers in including young people with disabilities, as well as determining desired supports, Active Disability Ireland will develop a programme guided by insights from the formative evaluation. The resulting programme will aim to provide teacher-specific disability awareness which will enable teachers to provide inclusive physical activity opportunities for their students.

Cork LSP plan to undertake a process ad outcome evaluation of their Girls Get Active programme. This programme aims to aims to provide adolescent girls with access to a suite of community sport and physical activity (PA) opportunities in a fun and supportive environment. The fundamental evaluation question is whether the GGA intervention, which has been strategically designed to leverage a breadth of partner sports club expertise and their associated unique built environment facilities, can (i) increase habitual PA engagement (ii) improve self-efficacy and perceived competence for PA, and (iii) enhance physiological and psychological health metrics amongst samples of adolescent girls. Cork LSP plan to work with Munster Technological University on this project.

Fingal LSP plan to conduct a translational formative evaluation with a view to developing an implementation strategy for scale up of Football Cooperative (FC) games nationally and potentially internationally.  This study is part of a larger project that commenced in 2021 that is investigating the feasibility of FC games using a social return on investment framework. Preliminary findings from this study are very promising with mean weight loss and reduction in waist circumference at 6 months was 3.4Kg and 3cm, respectively and 47% and 39% of men reported mental health and social health benefits.  Fingal LSP will partner with South East Technological University Waterford on this project.

The GAA plan to conduct an evaluation to understand the impact of the GAA Games for ALL Sports programme. This programme provides opportunities for participants of all ages and ability levels to take part in modified forms of Gaelic games, and experience a sense of enjoyment, success, and belonging. Traditionally, these programmes have been monitored through an output-based system, which identifies the quantities of each programme. This evaluation project aims to establish the impact of the GAA Games for ALL sports programme on participants, their families, clubs, schools, and communities. The GAA will partner with Ulster University on this project.

Kilkenny RSP plan to commission a formative evaluation to explore the feasibility of implementing recommendations made from previously commissioned research funded by the Sport Ireland Research Grants Scheme in 2021 that documented the enablers and barriers to sports and physical activity participation by LGBTQ+ youths in Kilkenny and Carlow. The aim of this work is to develop and disseminate a training toolkit that supports the needs of young LGBTQ+ to sports clubs and sporting facilities in Kilkenny/Carlow and evaluate its effectiveness. Kilkenny RSP will partner with ShoutOut on this project.

The LGFA plan to evaluate the long-term community-based impact and roll out of the Gaelic for Mothers and Others (G4M&O) programme across a 2–3-year timespan. For this round of funding, they are planning to conduct a process evaluation on 6-8 sites to determine the baseline characteristics of the programme delivery, covering areas such as physical activity participation levels, social connectedness, wellbeing (or resilience) levels, volunteering interest, community sport participation barriers, and supports to physical activity engagement etc. The LGFA will partner with University College Cork on this project.

Limerick LSP plan bridge the gap between research, policy and practice by addressing the disconnect that can emerge between those who do research and those who apply research by establishing a pilot project on Impact Evaluation for Sport and Physical Activity programmes based on action learning. The aim of this project will be to assess programmes delivered by the LSP using evaluation methods grounded within the Social Ecological Model. A key focus of the project will be the development of an ‘Impact Assessment and Evaluation App’ developed using information from the identified needs of participating programmes, sports development officers and senior sports partnership representatives. Limerick LSP will partner with the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest on this project.

Motorsport Irelands proposed evaluation plans to do a 360° analysis of the Go Girls Karting initiative. This initiative, funded by Sport Ireland, was designed to ‘engage, educate and empower’ females to compete in motorsport and to promote the importance of STEM, the role it plays in the sport and possible career opportunities. The evaluation will seek to understand the extent to which the programme met its stated objectives and to develop an action plan based on the evaluation findings to address any identified weaknesses and to build on the strength of the programme. Motorsport Ireland will partner with Atlantic Technological University Galway on this project.

Sligo SRP plan to conduct a process and outcome evaluation of the Enniscrone Community Sport and Physical Activity Hub. Its purpose is to determine the nature of the approach taken by Sligo SRP in the management and delivery of the hub and the extent to which this has led to the development of sustainable activities, pathways, relationships and the sustainability of the hub itself with the aim of producing evidence-based recommendations for improvement in the hub’s service efficiency and effectiveness. Sligo SRP will partner with S3 Solutions on this project.

Swim Ireland plan to evaluate the success of their Pop-Up Pool programme throughout the country. This programme brings temporary pools to areas that have no current provisions for swimming. and targets groups within the population who do not swim or who have issues accessing swimming facilities due to transport issues, lack of provisions, low income, health problems, and other social issues. The evaluation will assess the current ability, interest, and engagement with swimming within the community and will seek to understand the awareness and community perception of the programme. Swim Ireland will partner with IPSOS/MRBI Ireland on this project.

Westmeath LSP plans to evaluate the impact of Movement Matters, a community-based physical activity programme on the physical, mental and social wellbeing in mental health service users. This 10-week programme, support of HSE Mental Health staff will be run in autumn 2023 for adults who can either self-refer through a poster advertisement, be referred through adult mental health multidisciplinary team members or following Making Every Contact Count intervention. The findings of evaluate will inform the potential effectiveness of embedding the Movement Matters programme within mental health services across Ireland. Westmeath LSP will partner with Technological University of the Shannon: Athlone on this project.