eyeYPAG: the evaluation

By Vijay Tailor-Hamblin,

Update: we’ve published an academic journal article about our evaluation! You can read it here

eyeYPAG started in Spring 2019 so, after our first two years, we wanted to evaluate* the eyeYPAG so that we could learn from everyone involved what has been good about the group, what difference we have made and how we can develop and improve in the future.

A group of eyeYPAG members (the young evaluators) co-produced the evaluation with the group’s facilitator, Louca-Mai. We worked together to plan the project, design surveys and questions, run focus groups, analyse the data we collected and write a report.

Our evaluation aims:

  • To find out what difference the eyeYPAG has made to research, and to group members
  •  To understand what has worked well and what could be improved after the first two years of eyeYPAG
  • To use what we learn to help improve and plan for the future of the group, and help other people interested in involving children and young people in research

We learnt loads: about our group, about involving young people in research, and about doing our own research as well as advising adult researchers about theirs!

I have enjoyed being a young evaluator immensely and it has provided me with in-depth insights into evaluation and assessment of data. (Berkley)

It has been wonderful working with so many other people my age on a project and a report that is so professional. (Elena)

What I have learned while being a young evaluator is how to work together. I loved working with other people with similar conditions to me. (Eleri)

I think it was really useful to be involved in the evaluation, and it gave me an even deeper idea of what goes on behind the scenes of research. (Jasmine)

I have really enjoyed learning new skills and I have seen a side of research that I hadn’t seen before. I also enjoyed working together as a team. (Rhianne)

Louca-Mai, who worked with us on the evaluation said:

I have learnt so much from working on this project with such an amazing team, and it is even more impressive that we have done it all online during a pandemic! Watching the young evaluators grown in confidence, facilitate focus groups and doing some amazing qualitative analysis has been a real privilege. After just over two years of working with eyeYPAG I am so pleased to be able to end my time at Moorfields with this amazing report. Thank you so much to the young evaluators for all your hard work and brilliant ideas.

Here is our report: eyeYPAG evaluation report_July 21

We have also made a more accessible version with a larger font size: eyeYPAG evaluation report_July 21_plain

Let us know what you think!

*Evaluation uses research methods and approaches to find out how well a service or project is working and how it could be improved

Thank you to Santen, one of eyeYPAGs sponsors, for funding this evaluation.