This short publication has been produced with the aim of supporting organisations running peer volunteering programmes to strengthen their impact measurement. it is not a “how to” guide. Many of those are available, setting out a range of approaches, methods and tools that can be used and adapted to suit the needs and circumstances of individual programmes

Rather, the purpose here is to offer some conceptual frameworks and insights from practice to encourage organisations working with peer volunteers to rise to the impact measurement challenge. Our starting point is the recognition that peer volunteering makes a distinctive, multi-dimensional contribution to bringing about change in communities, and that peer volunteers themselves are at the heart of this process.

It provides an analysis of impact measurement in the context of peer volunteering. It looks at the rationale for measuring impact, what “impact” means and how to approach impact measurement.

It draws on the experience and expertise of members of the National Advisory Group on Peer Volunteering and Learning, and is accompanied by a series of case studies of different approaches which have informed the analysis presented here.