We have officially reached the end of the very first NELP (National Evaluation and Learning Partnership) Ambassador cohort for Liverpool City Region (LCR).
Looking back, it has been an incredible journey of shared growth. The Merseyside Sports Partnership (MSP) facilitation team learned just as much from the participants as the attendees did from the course itself. Together, everyone involved has grown in confidence, knowledge, and practical understanding of evaluation and learning.
When designing this programme, the goal was to strike the right balance. From the start, the sessions were built to provide a solid theoretical foundation, while ensuring they remained highly practical and, crucially, relational.
Over the course of the programme, the sessions built upon one another, taking ambassadors from core concepts through to hands-on, practical application:
Ultimately, it was about giving local partners the tools to understand their impact, progress their work, and tell their story effectively.
Growing this shared expertise is how we will move forward together to tackle regional inequalities and get our communities active.
The course content was designed to move us away from traditional, linear evaluation. Historically, evaluation has often been treated as a bolt-on. But, when results are monitored at the very end of a project, it misses the opportunity to use those insights to actively improve the work as it happens.
Instead, the NELP Ambassador programme champions the concept of ‘live learning loops’. Rather than simply asking “did it work?” at the end, this approach focuses on understanding why things work, for whom, and in what contexts. It involves trying something new and evidence-based, taking the time to reflect honestly on it (whether it succeeded or missed the mark), and immediately feeding those learnings back into the next steps.
In this model, evaluation is the work. It’s a continuous cycle where local partners can experiment, reflect together, and adapt in real-time to better meet the complex needs of our communities.
A deliberate choice was made to host all five sessions in person. While it might have been cheaper and easier to run the training online, we knew that the value of this programme would come from connection. By bringing people together in different spaces across the city region, the programme created a genuine network of peers who can support each other moving forward.
What made these sessions truly special was the collaborative space that was created. People learned from the person sitting next them as much as they did from the course content.
There were no silly questions, and it was inspiring to see participants feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable about their everyday challenges.
Of course, learning is always easier with a little fuel. The sessions were brought to life with a good supply of pastries, fruit, and sugar to keep moods high and the conversations flowing. There was a lot of vital learning, but there were plenty of laughs along the way too.
Following the success of this first group, we’re excited to keep the momentum going.
We are about to start reaching out with invitations for our second cohort, which will be kicking off in the new year. You can expect more of the same: learning together, growing our collective confidence around evaluation and learning, and building a network of E&L experts across Liverpool City Region.
If you have any questions about the NELP Ambassador programme, or you’re interested in getting involved in the next cohort, we would love to hear from you.
Please send us an email at: admin@merseysidesport.com.
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