Tyne & Esk – East Lothian Council

Data-driven insights for community funding decisions

In Short

Tyne and Esk used the Social Value Engine to provide data-driven evidence of community impact under Scotland's CLLD programme, ensuring funding decisions are grounded in real outcomes rather than assumptions.

VCSECommunity-Led Local DevelopmentPublished 2025Last updated: 6 April 2026

Tyne & Esk, supported by East Lothian Council as the accountable body under Scotland's Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) programme, needed a more robust way to evidence the social impact of local initiatives. By adopting the Social Value Engine, they can now provide tangible, data-driven insights into project outcomes, ensuring funding decisions align with real community benefit.

"Volunteers are often undervalued because their contributions don't have a direct financial figure attached. Now, with the Social Value Engine, we can evidence the difference they make, which means a lot, both to our funders and to the communities we support."
Jayne Adamson
Tyne & Esk Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) Officer

The challenge

Scotland's Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) programme channels funding to locally led initiatives, but demonstrating the social return on that investment, in a way that satisfies both community stakeholders and programme funders, required a more rigorous evidence framework than the group had previously used. Anecdotal reporting was no longer sufficient.

The solution

Tyne & Esk adopted the Social Value Engine with East Lothian Council as the accountable body, using the platform to build SROI analyses for CLLD-funded local initiatives. The platform's structured approach allowed the group to capture diverse community outcomes (employment, wellbeing, social connection, and local economic activity) and translate them into consistent, credible evidence for programme reporting. Reports are now published directly on the East Lothian Council website, and the success of the approach led to East Lothian Council's Economic Development team taking a full subscription for UKSPF and Community Wealth Building reporting.

Key outcomes

SROI analyses completed for Community-Led Local Development funded initiatives

Tangible, data-driven evidence produced for programme funders and community stakeholders

Reports published on the East Lothian Council website for full public transparency

East Lothian Council Economic Development team took a subscription for UKSPF and Community Wealth Building reporting

Specific local initiatives evidenced, including CO₂ savings from recycling at Fringe by the Sea festival and building survey environmental impact

Funding decisions increasingly aligned with evidenced community benefit

Consistent impact reporting framework adopted across locally led projects

Reporting capacity built within the group and accountable body

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