YGAM act on independent evaluation findings in order to improve engagement with BAME communities

ClearView Research (CVR) the audience insight consultancy which produced the widely respected ‘Gambling: a young BAME perspective’ on behalf of GambleAware and includes the NHS, unicef and the Vodafone Foundation among its’ clients, has completed a six-month independent evaluation of the YGAM portfolio of products and educational resources.  The evaluation was commissioned by YGAM to help it understand how to engage effectively with ethnic minority communities in a purposeful and meaningful way.

The first phase of the evaluation saw CVR conduct an organisational audit of YGAM and its ‘In The Know’ booklet. As part of this phase, CVR also reviewed YGAM’s website, social media channels, staff team, senior leadership team and the board of trustees. Phase two involved working closely with a co-creation group of seven people aged between 16 and 35 from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background to further develop YGAM’s strategy of delivering culturally appropriate materials and services that meet the needs of BAME communities.

Based on the evidence from the co-creation group discussions, as well as all the insights gathered to shape YGAM’s strategy of delivering culturally appropriate materials and services, CVR have presented a number of recommendations which the team at YGAM has already started to implement.

Kenny Imafidon, Managing Director and Co-Founder of ClearView Research said: “Our team has really enjoyed working closely with the YGAM team over the past six months. They have been open-minded to constructive feedback and have truly taken on board any uncomfortable truths we have shared with them during this process. What I am most pleased about it though, is that they have already begun implementing some of our recommendations too.”

Kev Clelland, Operations Director at YGAM praised the collaboration by saying: “It has been a pleasure to work closely with the talented team at CVR. We have been talking to CVR since October 2019 however we have seen this piece of work become more relevant and important than ever in recent months. We are proud of our progress, however more work still needs to be done by this sector to safeguard every young person and we are committed to lead the way.“