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Big Lottery Fund awarded £165,000 to the Alliance for Useful Evidence to expand the work that it does to improve and extend the use of social research in order to share good practice and avoid the duplication of work.

The Alliance champions the use of evidence in social policy and practice. Created in 2012, it is an open access network of 1,800 individuals from across government, universities, charities, business and local authorities in the UK. It provides a focal point for advancing the evidence agenda, developing a collective voice, whilst aiding collaboration and knowledge sharing, through debate and discussion.

The two year project awarded funding yesterday will expand work of the Alliance to add a UK-wide dimension to its existing core activity in Whitehall and Westminster. It will work across Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland collating learning from different parts of the UK, understanding what works in one part and sharing with others, whilst building the skills and confidence to use evidence amongst people working in social policy.

The Alliance will also coordinate evidence activities in the run up to 2015 general election manifestos with bodies such as Full Fact and the Conversation UK, ensuring that all politicians and voters are aware of the evidence behind manifesto pledges.

“Receiving this support from the Big Lottery Fund is brilliant news”, says Jonathan Breckon, Head of the Alliance for Useful Evidence. “Our aims are very simple – but incredibly hard in practice. We want to encourage more people to focus on what works – and do less on what doesn’t. To do this we need to learn from the best available research evidence. Whether you are a teacher, police officer, MP, civil servant or charity leader, we want to see more use of evidence to get better results – and avoid doing harm. To improve services, improve professional practice, and make people’s lives better”.

Peter Ainsworth, chair of the Big Lottery Fund said: “In a time of limited resource, we need to use evidence to help spend what money is available on the best approaches to social policy and practice. The Big Lottery Fund has been championing the importance of data to enable greater effectiveness in the use of our funding through better access to, use of and sharing of knowledge. The work undertaken by the Alliance will support the Fund to continue to promote the use of evidence in the work and activities of community groups and voluntary organisations across the UK.”

By championing the need for useful evidence, the Alliance provides a focal point for improving and extending the use of social research and evidence in the UK. In doing so, it works with other organisations in this field to encourage debate, discussion, collaboration and innovation. Its aim is to become the hub for evidence initiatives in the UK, providing a forum for members to share good practice and avoid the duplication of work.

The Alliance for Useful Evidence is funded by The Big Lottery Fund, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Nesta. Membership is free and open to everyone, from interested individuals to charities, academics, local authorities, practitioners, think tanks, government and commercial businesses. To sign up www.alliance4usefulevidence.org

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours media contact: 07867 500572
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @biglotteryfund #biglf
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund

Notes to editors

• The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• The Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 it has awarded close to £6bn.
• In the year ending 31 March 2013, 28% of total National Lottery revenue was returned to the Good Causes. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £31 billion has been raised and more than 400,000 grants awarded.