Funding the practice of learning: exploring the relationship between funders and grant recipients

• Published in: Evidence & policy Vol. 4; no. 4; pp. 293 - 312
• Main Authors: Marsh, Sheila, Cameron, Marsaili, Dewar, Steve, Hinds, Kathryn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol Policy Press 01.11.2008; The Policy Press
• Subjects: Applicants; Co-Learning; Evaluation; Funding; Grant-Aid; Health Services; Learning; Partnership; Public services; Voluntary Sector; evaluation; voluntary sector; co-learning; partnership; grant-aid; health services
• ISSN: 1744-2648; 1744-2656
• DOI: 10.1332/174426408X366649

This article reviews the King's Fund's efforts to establish shared priorities for learning with grant applicants, to improve Londoners' health through community-level projects. The Fund used partnership working for its Partners for Health grant programme, an innovative framework contrasting with the typical, more narrow and limited, model for funding relationships. The related focus on learning required robust evaluation plans from grant applicants, based on the 'realistic evaluation' approach. This shift to grant-aid relationships based on partnership and learning produced varied reactions, and raises far-reaching issues about the challenges presented by partnership that feed into broader debates about the place of partnership in public services.