Social Return on Investment Evaluation

We engaged Social Ventures Australia (SVA) Consulting to measure the Social Return on Investment (SROI) of our activities from 2019-2021. This evaluation sought to better understand and quantify the social and economic impact our program delivers for young people, their families, schools and the wider community.

Overview:

The Western Chances Scholarship Program gives young people in Melbourne’s west the chance to fulfil their potential and overcome barriers to education by providing scholarships, mentoring, opportunity programs and ongoing support.

From 2019-2021 we delivered a total of $17.5 million in social value to the community.

This social value is highlighted in the following sections:

Key impacts for our recipients:

For every $1 invested in our programs, $4.1 of social and economic value is created.

We found that our holistic approach to supporting young people achieves the following outcomes:

Enabled them to purchase basic educational items and participate fully in their education
Assisted them in completing VCE and progress to tertiary education
Encouraged and motivated them to strive for their best
Empowered them to feel more self-confident and motivated
Opened doors for young people and strengthened pathways into further education and careers

Outcomes for families & schools:

Families felt reduced stress about paying for education
Schools were better able to support young people with financial barriers and strengthened their relationships with young people and their families

Participant stories:

“Western Chances opens the door to hope, and provides young people with the ability, and a promise, to look positively at completing their education, not only at high school, but beyond.”