Purpose of the YAC Impact Study

The CBA wished to conduct an impact study of YAC as part of a three-year development programme focused on our youth offer, funded by Historic England. The study is focused on branches in England in line with the funder’s priorities. The purpose of the YAC Impact Study is to measure the impact of participation in YAC activities on children and young people, referred to as the members. It identifies success factors that can be shared as best practice across the network and provides evidence of impact to demonstrate the value of the programme. The study also established a methodology for CBA to measure the impact of the programme annually, providing a baseline against which progress can be evaluated. The initial pilot study took place over eight months, from September 2023 to April 2024. The study was repeated in 2024/25 and a third study is currently underway for 2025/26. 

Background

Seven YAC groups from across England took part in each study, including a mix of different branch types (CBA-managed, Affiliate and After-school) with varying age ranges and member and volunteer numbers. We were also really lucky to be able to recruit Rebecca Jacobs, an arts and heritage consultant, to work with us for the second year running to develop the methodology for the study. Rebecca developed a series of surveys YAC members and their parents/carers, online focus groups and on-the-ground activities to be undertaken as part of YAC sessions that would help us explore particular experiences and impacts. Rebecca also conducted in-depth interviews with YAC leaders and members to create some fantastic case studies.

We are really pleased to be able to share the YAC Impact Study for 2024/25: