Sova initiatives
At Sova we believe that you need to be innovative and think creatively about the services you deliver to achieve your goals.
We run a number of initiatives that not only help us to provide the best levels of support to the people we work with, but can also help shape services across the sector.
Sova initiatives are getting people back to work, engaging and involving people so they have a say in designing what is provided for them, delivering recycling services and assessing offender mentoring across England and Wales.
SPACE (Sova Participation and Continuing Engagement)
The best services are those that are influenced, shaped and in some cases delivered by the communities they serve. We recognise the value of harnessing the insight, experience, expertise and energy of the people who have the best understanding of a community – those within it.
SPACE is an exciting initiative which demonstrates our commitment to the principle of participation and beneficiary involvement. We bring together people from projects across Sova to take part in forums so they can share their feedback on the services they are receiving from Sova. This valuable insight helps us to improve the services we are providing and design services we are developing.
Sova also recruits, trains and supports people to become peer researchers so they can provide consultancy and research services both internally and to other organisations. Our peer researchers are able to help organisations review their provision from a beneficiary/customer perspective, offering a real insight into how well needs are being met.
To find our more about SPACE and what it can do for you please contact [email protected]
NOMS VAM
The National Offender Management Service Volunteer and Mentoring Project was a two year project which worked towards creating an improved delivery infrastructure for volunteering and mentoring with and by offenders and finished at the end of March 2014.
Sova is currently working with the National Offender Management Service to finalise a research report of an investigation into why or why not offenders choose to engage with mentoring services entitled What Does Mentoring Mean to You?
A final report of Sova’s input into NOMS VAM is also being prepared, along with Theory of Change examples of Sova’s mentoring practice.
Lincoln University Evaluation
Sova has worked with undergraduate researchers and Lecturers in Criminology at Lincoln University to evaluate the setting up period of a new project working with offenders in Lincolnshire.
Sova Lincolnshire Offender Mentoring is run in partnership with the Lincolnshire Probation Trust and recruits, trains and supervises community volunteers to address the multiple barriers faced by disadvantaged offenders.
Its findings and recommendations are being used to inform future delivery.