20th February 2025
A groundbreaking initiative tackling West Cumbria’s most pressing social challenges is delivering exceptional impact and value for money, transforming lives and strengthening communities.
Transforming West Cumbria was created to address the region’s most deep-rooted social challenges, with the aim of driving positive change where it’s needed most, through the power of local partnerships.
Funded through the Sellafield Ltd Social impact, multiplied (SiX) programme, and delivered by Cumbria Community Foundation, the £6.5 million programme was developed in response to the West Cumbria: Opportunities and Challenges 2019 report.
An independent mid-programme evaluation by Forever Consulting confirms the programme’s success, revealing that Transforming West Cumbria has generated £19.9 million in social value – delivering an incredible £5.34 for every £1 invested. This figure was calculated using best practice methodology and includes factors such as jobs created, savings from children not having to go into care, and improvements to mental health and wellbeing.
The evaluation, conducted in 2024, assessed the effectiveness of the programme’s approach and its long-term impact. The findings highlight Transforming West Cumbria’s continued success:
- Directly supporting hundreds of local organisations and thousands of people.
- Responding proactively to emerging needs, from post-pandemic recovery to unprecedented cost of living crisis.
- Benefiting from a significant level of investment from Sellafield Ltd.
- Achieving significant outcomes and impact across seven programme areas, including enhancing financial wellbeing, mental health support, entrepreneurship, and community development.
- Being needs-led and data-driven, leveraging local knowledge and encouraging collaborative partnership working between the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE), private and public sectors to ensure long-term impact.
The report emphasises the Community Foundation’s exceptional management and governance, with steering groups from all sectors helping to guide the programme and ensure it remains dynamic, responsive, and impactful.
Transforming West Cumbria has created positive change across three levels:
- For Individuals & Communities – increased resilience, financial security, mental health support, youth empowerment, and volunteering opportunities.
- For Projects & Delivery Partners – stronger partnerships, better collaboration, and a more resilient Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector.
- At a Programme Level – coordinated delivery, efficient use of resources, and lasting generational change for West Cumbria.
The evaluation’s recommendations are already being implemented, shaping future delivery and ensuring continued impact for years to come.
Eirini Etoimou, Head of Corporate Sustainability & Supply Chain Development at Sellafield Ltd, said: “We are delighted that this independent evaluation has recognised the wide-ranging, lasting impact the Transforming West Cumbria programme has had on local communities since it was launched in 2020. We set out with the ambitious aim of tackling the causes of inequality in the area’s most vulnerable communities, working in partnership with groups on the ground to bring about long-lasting, transformational change. The evaluation report recognises that we have achieved this and more, adapting the programme to address the additional challenges as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis.
“Transforming West Cumbria has directly supported hundreds of local organisations and thousands of individuals and families, achieving significant outcomes in mental health support, financial wellbeing, early years development and many, many more areas. We look forward to continuing this work and seeing the impact of the programme for many years to come.”
Dr Jenny Benson, Director of Programmes & Partnerships at Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “Thanks to Sellafield Ltd’s significant investment and support over the last five years we have been able to deliver the Transforming West Cumbria programme with our partners and achieve great impact. Vitally by working together, we have made a positive difference to hundreds of organisations and thousands of people in West Cumbria. We are delighted that our combined efforts have created such exceptional social value. We are excited about incorporating the learning from the evaluation to develop our practice even further.”
The Transforming West Cumbria: Mid-programme Evaluation report can be read at https://www.cumbriafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/24-11-11-Transforming-West-Cumbria-Evaluation_Report.pdf