More than 30 sporta members have exchanged ideas and best practice about measuring the impact that cultural and leisure trusts make on their communities and the social and health outcomes this provides.

The impact and outcomes seminar, which took place in London at the end of February, was sponsored by Leisure-net Solutions, which is supporting a number of trusts and councils to develop Impact and Outcome Frameworks using its 'pyramid of evidence' tool, developed through work with Wigan Leisure and Cultural Trust, Herstmere Leisure and Abbeycroft Leisure.

The event included a presentation by CLOA's Policy Officer David Albutt, to explain how the LGA's improvement strategy, 'A Passion for Excellence', depends on an understanding of strategic commissioning, which requires trusts to demonstrate the value of what they do.

sporta Chairman, Craig McAteer's presentation reinforced this requirement, stressing that social enterprises should respond. He explained how, by understanding what strategic commissioners for health, social cohesion, community safety etc want in Rochdale, Link4Life has been able to demonstrate how it contributes directly to the agenda. This has helped to secure significant funding and ensure the trust is in a strong position with the council and its partners.

The event also showcased examples from three sporta members, Wigan Leisure, Hertsmere Leisure and Central YMCA.

Rodney Hill, Chief Executive at Wigan Leisure and Cultural Trust, explained how the trust had included strategic partners, such as the police, NHS and higher and further education, in the evaluation process, which he felt was as powerful as the end product itself, as it gave them a better understanding of the trust and its work.

Mark Munday, Contract Manager for Hertsmere Leisure Trust and Ed Sandham, Sports & Cultural Services Manager for Hertsmere Council explained how, working together, the Trust and Council had prioritised four themes, health, community safety, equality and capacity building, that the Trust's activities are most able to impact.

Mark Harrod, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at the Central YMCA explained that, although the YMCA is not directly related to a council, it does look for funding from strategic commissioners and, therefore, is also focussing on monitoring and evaluation in order to justify its status as a charity.

Craig McAteer said: "It's vital that we understand the impact of the cultural and leisure services we provide if we are to justify continued investment by national and local government in these tough financial times ahead. The day provided an ideal platform to share best practice and discuss how to standardise what we measure and how we measure it."

The day ended with discussion groups looking how the trusts could follow up with initiatives around impact, and also how sporta could co-ordinate and promote these activities across the sector.

Mike Hill, Managing Director of Leisure-net Solutions said: "The event, which resulted in a positive exchange of ideas, was very well received by the sporta members and should lead to a structured way forward for information sharing."