Where we’ve walked
Barefoot Research and Evaluation has been carrying out social research, evaluation and organisational development since 2003. Our work has taken us into neighbourhoods, charities, workplaces, health services, prisons and partnerships across North East England and beyond.
We have worked on subjects that are personal, politically sensitive and difficult to measure. This includes disability, domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, mental health, poverty, employment, family life, offending and community safety.
The projects below are not a complete catalogue. Together, they show the questions, communities and systems that have shaped our work.
How we work
Barefoot combines independent judgement with close attention to people’s experience. Depending on the question, our work may involve interviews, focus groups, consultation, participatory evaluation, needs assessment, service mapping, stakeholder analysis, organisational review or the development of practical tools and training.
We are particularly interested in the space between policy and practice: what an organisation intends to provide, what happens when people encounter it and what would make the system work better.
Research trail one
Disability, access and employment
Our disability work examines the barriers created by workplaces, services, environments and information systems. It combines research with practical development so that evidence can lead to more accessible services, stronger employment practice and useful resources.
Disabled people’s experiences of domestic abuse
Research examining disabled people’s experiences of domestic abuse and the relationship between disability, access and support.
Disabled Staff Toolkit
Development of a practical resource intended to support disabled members of staff.
Access review
A review of access within the organisation, identifying practical barriers and opportunities for improvement.
Maintaining a healthy weight
Consultation with disabled people about their experiences of maintaining a healthy weight.
Disability employment hub
Development of a resource for organisations seeking to improve accessibility and employment practice.
Disability equality, awareness and etiquette
Delivery of a disability equality, awareness and etiquette programme for 1,000 members of staff.
Research trail two
Health, wellbeing and recovery
We evaluate how health and wellbeing services are experienced, how different parts of a programme fit together and whether support is reaching the people it was designed for.
Mental health alliance and recovery colleges
Evaluation of a mental health alliance and young people’s and adult recovery colleges.
Experiences of health and wellbeing
Consultation with disabled people about their experiences of health and wellbeing.
Drug and alcohol review
A review of drug and alcohol provision in Stockton on Tees.
Young people’s palliative care
Evaluation of a project supporting young people receiving palliative care.
Women’s health in South Tyneside
Evaluation of a women’s health service in South Tyneside.
Research trail three
Safety, abuse and exploitation
Some of Barefoot’s longest-standing work concerns violence, exploitation and the services responsible for preventing or responding to harm. This work requires careful engagement, ethical judgement and an understanding of the systems surrounding an individual service.
Transformation Project
Evaluation of a system-change project involving services responding to child sexual abuse.
Peer-led education for young males
A peer-led education programme for young males considered at risk of child sexual exploitation.
Perpetrators of child sexual exploitation
Qualitative research concerned with perpetrators of child sexual exploitation.
Domestic abuse needs assessment
A needs assessment examining domestic abuse in Northumberland.
Sex markets and sexual exploitation
A series of studies mapping the characteristics and dynamics of sex markets and sexual exploitation across parts of North East England and Cumbria.
Research trail four
Children, families and care
Our work has examined how services affect children, parents and carers, including families experiencing imprisonment, poverty, poor mental health or contact with complex systems.
Children and young people with parents in prison
Evaluation of a Comic Relief funded project supporting children and young people with parents in prison.
Musical Relationships
Evaluation of a project using music to support relationships and development.
Parents with learning disabilities
Research into provision for parents with learning disabilities in Newcastle.
Young adult carers
A needs assessment involving carers aged between 18 and 25 in County Durham.
Care to Read
Evaluation of a literacy project for looked-after children.
Research trail five
Justice and community safety
Barefoot has worked across criminal justice and community safety since the early years of the organisation. This includes research with families, offenders, police, local authorities, voluntary organisations and communities affected by crime and enforcement.
Participatory arts in prison
Evaluation of a participatory arts project involving adult male prisoners and their children.
Mentoring support to prisoners
Evaluation of a mentoring programme supporting prisoners.
Integrated offender management
Case studies examining integrated offender management and engagement with the voluntary and community sector.
Police-marshalled taxi ranks
Research assessing the impact of police-marshalled taxi ranks in Newcastle.
Crime audit and reduction strategy
Development of the crime audit and Crime, Disorder and Drugs Reduction Strategy, including consultation analysis and option appraisal.
Research trail six
Communities, organisations and systems
We help organisations understand what is happening around and within a programme: how partnerships function, whether resources are being used well, what communities experience and what is needed for good work to continue.
Help Through Crisis
Evaluation and quality assurance of the Help Through Crisis programme across six areas of England.
Foundational economic review
A foundational economy review focused on Northumberland.
Talent Match North East
Sustainability planning for a youth unemployment programme.
Fair Share Trust
Evaluation of the Fair Share Trust in East Ashington and Seaton Valley.
Community engagement for strategic assessment
A series of commissions involving consultation with communities, including groups whose experiences were often absent from conventional evidence.
What we have learned to notice
The gap between a service and people’s experience
A service can look accessible or effective on paper while remaining difficult to enter, navigate or trust. We examine both the formal system and what happens when people encounter it.
Whose knowledge counts
People living with an issue understand things that performance data alone cannot reveal. Our research creates credible ways for lived experience to inform decisions.
What sits beneath the presenting problem
Poor outcomes are rarely caused by one isolated failure. We consider relationships, resources, organisational behaviour and the wider systems surrounding a service.
Whether good work will survive
Evaluation is not only about proving that activity took place. We also examine whether learning can be retained, shared and sustained after funding ends.
Talk to us about your work
If you need to understand how a service is working, involve people whose experience is being missed or turn evidence into practical improvement, we would be pleased to hear from you.