LSBU and Construction Youth Trust present progress on their KTP
LSBU and national charity Construction Youth Trust provide updates and observations on their Knowledge Transfer Partnership research findingsAs part of national KTP Week, London South Bank University (LSBU) and Construction Youth Trust (CYT) presented their findings and observations from their Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) research on 4 November at the Clarence Centre for Enterprise and Innovation.
CYT supports young people aged 16 to 30 by providing access to training, education and employment opportunities in the construction industry. The Trust partnered with LSBU to look at ways that the charity can measure and represent the value they create with the funding they are given.
"We have to capture and better articulate how we are helping young people to further bridge the gap between communities and construction," says Christine Townley, Executive Director of CYT.
The event was attended by representatives from Travel for London (TfL), CPC Project Services and Thurrock Council, as well as CYT partner the Willmott Dixon Foundation, which is funding the KTP along with Innovate UK and the Welsh Government.
Jemma Bridgeman, LSBU's KTP Associate, presented a case study from her research into developing and using Social Return on Investment (SROI), a new method for measuring an organisation's impact.
"I've been focusing on long-term value-added activities for young people and how these help with their self-esteems," says Jemma.
By looking at social and personal value, such as self-esteem and health, Jemma found that young people on CYT programmes reported improvements in their relationships with family members, reduced risks of homelessness and increased confidence.
Supervised by LSBU, Jemma will now look at embedding these methods into how the charity works, as well as producing an accessible and easy-to-use toolkit which other organisations can use.
"We don't work in isolation. We need to create a common language for construction, so we can work together to help young people," says Christine.
CYT also collaborated with LSBU's student enterprise team to hold a student Hackathon in October where students proposed ways the Trust could use digital technology to allow young people to better record and evaluate their experiences on CYT programmes.