Evaluation of WOCBA (women of child bearing age) dance initiative

What Happened

The dance Pilot was positively received, overall. It was considered to be the best ‘physical activity’ option for girls in the area – although there was some interest in other sports/activities (yoga, aerobics). There was some minor resistance around personal engagement (i.e. a great idea but “will I do it, given the circumstances of my life?”):

• Those who are working do not have much time
• Those who are in youth groups try to attend but don’t always keep up with activities
• High level of personal and familial ‘chaos’ seemed to be commonplace
• Young girls not necessarily all being supported in their organisation by parents (some of whom are absent, unwell, died or are very busy working)
• Suspicion of meeting new people outside own (very small) social network

Taster sessions (taking place over two or three days in each location in school holidays) were generally liked, though detailed response was  very scant  - very hard to establish any sense of an ‘experience’  (that would then be recounted easily to others in the peer network to fuel word of mouth (WOM)):

• Highly patchy attendance across the four taster locations - Unclear as to level of consistency in marketing activity, so impossible to evaluate this element 
• Venue seems to be key in establishing credibility and legitimacy - Needs to be a currently recognised Youth site already; the Young Batley Centre was already known and was deemed suitable 
• Marketing support needs to be more “permanent” - Posters, or leaflet board, rather than leaflets in hand 
• Exact structure of programme needs to be thought about - Local areas are tiny; localised taster sessions immediately creates expectation of localised event, but pilot then required new step for individuals - to move outside their local area

Recommendations/Conclusions

Within the delivery of the pilot, there are some points of real success:

• The dance lessons and the relationship with the dance teacher offer a point of clarity and kindness in sometimes quite complex backgrounds
• The show was a significant point of motivation and a great marker of achievement for those who took part
• The dance lessons themselves and the YBC were suitable for local girls
• The marketing support elements (Tshirts and water bottles were highly visible and liked by those who received them)
• Leafletting and posters reached some hardest-to-reach audiences

There is an appetite for things to do:

• The main elements of the pilot delivery seem fit for purpose; there is little (in terms of ‘the product’) that needs to be changed.
• Other products that could be delivered include rounders, aerobics and trampolining or yoga

Within the dance pilot, the question of how much health-related information can be given is one that needs to be addressed:

• For those who learn, the experience of dancing appears to be delivering some emotional benefits – increased self-esteem and self-confidence
• However, food education levels are still extremely low, diets are very heavy in carbohydrates (almost exclusively so in some cases) and very low in vegetables.
• Even without discussing smoking/drinking, some basic food education would be both acceptable and useful

However, the “engagement and retention funnel” (from Formative) of the young girls still needs input and attention

• For the 34 girls in total who were reached by this pilot, there has been at least an introduction to dance
• Ideally, there needs to be a strong, proactive impact from the assistant, if he/she is retained – in order to spot conflict and help resolve
• Unlikely to be possible to address if the role of the assistant is filled by someone working only four hours a week – and living outside of Batley
• A young Batley person, embedded in the community, is likely to be more effective

Importantly, the engagement and commitment mechanics either need to be met (with significant resource implications), or the attendance needs to build naturally under its own momentum (slowly)

• Efforts to ‘regroup’ at intervals through the pilot would help
• “chaotic” lifestyles are likely to always affect attendance