Independent Evaluation of the Liberty Centre BLF Project: Final Report

The Connect Centre is a research centre concerned with inter-personal violence across the lifecourse. The research undertaken at the centre is designed to influence change and to prevent and reduce all forms of sexual, gender based and interpersonal violence against adults, children and young people. The Connect Centre was commissioned to evaluate the Big Lottery funded project at the Liberty Centre in West Lancashire and this report covers the three years of the funding. The project funding finished at the end of March 2019. For the purposes of this project, evaluation is defined as the use of research methods to assess the implementation and outcomes of the new service. The principal aims of the evaluation are to assess the impact of the new service in the extent to which: a) An appropriate and acceptable service has been created and developed for the support needs of male and female victims of standard risk domestic abuse b) The service meets their support needs and can provide evidence of positive outcomes for its users This report draws on qualitative and quantitative data collected over the course of the project to assess whether the needs of service users have been met by the project. It suggests key learning from the implementation and service delivery of the project to support further development for the project. The audience for this report is primarily the Liberty Centre, its staff and commissioners. However, it provides for learning across the domestic abuse sector. Key findings will be used beyond this report for journal and conference presentation