Social proof

Case Studies

From Scottish island councils to NHS Foundation Trusts, from small charities to major cities: see how organisations across the UK use the Social Value Engine to measure what matters.

250+

Organisations

10+

Years of Evidence

650+

Financial Proxies

SVI

Accredited Platform

Community residents gathered around tables in a Devon village hall, collaborating with a facilitator on community placemaking and shared priorities

VCSE

Community Informatics & Placemaking

All About The Place

Creating a shared language for community progress

All About The Place is delivering community informatics and placemaking support across four contrasting Devon geographies, commissioned jointly by NHS Devon and Devon Public Health. The Social Value Engine provides a way to evidence early community-led progress and connect local action to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, helping communities and partners demonstrate how local change contributes to wider social, economic and environmental outcomes. All About The Place was founded to help bridge different ways of understanding communities. Public sector organisations often bring public health data, evidence and strategic insight, while VCSE organisations contribute local knowledge, trusted relationships and lived experience. Although both are working towards the same outcomes, they frequently describe places and progress in different ways. Deprivation and poverty are useful indicators for understanding where additional challenges may be concentrated, but communities themselves often describe their experiences in terms of strengths, aspirations and opportunities. All About The Place helps translate between these perspectives and, importantly, helps demonstrate what progress looks like as it starts to emerge.

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People gathered outside a Cheshire village hall at a community event, representing the rural community development and infrastructure work supported by Cheshire Community Action

VCSE

Community Infrastructure

Cheshire Community Action

Rural community development, measured and valued

Cheshire Community Action (CCA) is a rural community development organisation, part of a national network supporting community buildings, infrastructure projects, and policy initiatives across key sectors such as housing, digital inclusion, and healthcare. The organisation is deeply involved in both strategic policy work and hands-on project delivery, including vital services that help people transition from hospital to home.

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Volunteers working together on a community project in Devon, with rolling green hills in the background, representing the diverse rural community development work of Devon Communities Together

VCSE

Rural Community Organisation

Devon Communities Together

Demonstrating real-world community impact

Devon Communities Together, a charity focused on community development, needed a better way to demonstrate the real-world impact of their diverse projects. The Social Value Engine gave them a credible, consistent framework to measure and communicate outcomes to local authority and trust funders.

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Scenic countryside landscape of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, where the council's Community Empowerment Service uses SROI methodology to evidence the social value of Community Asset Transfers

Local Authority

Scottish Local Authority

Dumfries and Galloway Council

Justifying community asset transfers with independent social value evidence

Dumfries and Galloway Council covers one of Scotland's largest and most rural council areas. The Community Empowerment Service works with local groups and voluntary organisations to support the transfer of publicly owned assets into community ownership, a process known as Community Asset Transfer (CAT). Under Scottish legislation, community bodies can apply to purchase or lease public sector assets at significantly below market value, in some cases for a nominal payment of £1. In practice, transfers typically involve surplus or underused assets that the council does not need for its own purposes. James Parker has been leading this work within the Community Empowerment Service for several years, and The Social Value Engine has been part of his process from early on.

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Aerial view of East Riding of Yorkshire, where the council has used SROI methodology to measure social value across homelessness, employment, and refugee programmes for over a decade

Local Authority

East Riding of Yorkshire Council

A decade of positive difference

Over the past decade, East Riding of Yorkshire Council has prioritised social value, using the Social Value Engine to quantify the impact of diverse community projects, from homelessness support to refugee assistance, setting a benchmark for local authority impact measurement.

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Landscape of Fife, Scotland, where Fife Council's Active Communities team uses SROI to translate physical activity and wellbeing programme outcomes into evidence-based monetary values

Local Authority

Scottish Local Authority

Fife Council

Using social value measurement to articulate the impact of physical activity

Fife Council's Active Communities team works across the region to support physical activity and sport as a means of addressing health inequalities, community need, and wider social outcomes. The team delivers targeted programmes directly and works in partnership with third-sector organisations, community sports clubs, and community sport hubs to increase participation and improve wellbeing across Fife. While the team was confident about the positive impact of its work, articulating that impact in a way that resonated with senior decision-makers proved challenging. Traditional case studies, testimonials, and participation numbers did not fully reflect the scale or significance of the change being achieved, particularly for targeted programmes serving smaller or more specific populations.

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Leeds city skyline and urban landscape, where Leeds City Council uses SROI methodology to measure social value across health, employment, and climate commissioning programmes citywide. Photo: Leedsfan2 / Wikimedia

Procurement

Metropolitan Authority

Leeds City Council

Enhancing community impact across a major city

Leeds City Council is using the Social Value Engine to enhance community impact, focusing on health, inclusive growth, and climate responsibility. This strategic move improved control, transparency, and scalability in delivering social value across various sectors.

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Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust hospital building

NHS & Social Care

NHS Foundation Trust

Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Quantifying the wider value of NHS capital programmes

Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health services across Lincolnshire. Faced with the limitations of traditional NHS metrics, the Trust adopted the Social Value Engine to quantify the broader social and wellbeing benefits of its capital programmes, and to shift its culture towards outcomes-based thinking.

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Scenic landscape of Orkney Islands, Scotland, where the island council uses SROI methodology to evidence the social value of cultural investment including arts programmes and community museum curatorships

Local Authority

Island Council

Orkney Islands Council

Evidencing cultural investment value

Orkney Islands Council struggled to demonstrate the value of its cultural investments. By customising the Social Value Engine, the team translated qualitative and quantitative data into tangible social value metrics, bolstering the case for ongoing funding. This evidence-driven approach has also fostered innovative community initiatives, enhancing accountability and long-term impact.

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Coastal landscape of Pembrokeshire, Wales, where PAVS uses SROI methodology to help local charities and social enterprises measure their social value and align with Welsh Government priorities including the Well-being of Future Generations Act

VCSE

Voluntary Sector Infrastructure

Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services (PAVS)

Empowering local charities to measure what matters

Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services (PAVS) empowers local charities and social enterprises by helping them measure and showcase social value. Using the Social Value Engine, PAVS provides tailored support, enabling individuals and organisations to confidently increase revenue streams, secure funding, align with Welsh policies, and effectively communicate their impact.

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East Lothian landscape, Scotland, where Tyne and Esk uses SROI methodology under the Community-Led Local Development programme to evidence the social return of locally funded initiatives including CO2 savings and environmental impact projects

VCSE

Community-Led Local Development

Tyne & Esk – East Lothian Council

Data-driven insights for community funding decisions

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.

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Belfast cityscape in Northern Ireland, where Work West enterprise agency integrates SROI methodology into business advisory support to help social enterprises evidence their value for commissioners and funders

Social Enterprise

Enterprise Agency

Work West

Supporting social enterprises to evidence their value

Work West, a Belfast-based enterprise agency, specialises in supporting social enterprises to establish and expand their operations. Using the Social Value Engine, their advisors support organisations through various stages, from idea formation and legal set up to measuring social impact and identifying opportunities for social value.

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