MILLIE VAN DER BYL WILLIAMS
Evaluation
Work
Evaluating Charity Projects
In recent years I have been able to combine my academic and creative practice in undertaking evaluative projects for charities. This work is an amazing opportunity to become immersed in different projects, interview participants and facilitators, explore new areas of research, and work with fantastic collaborators.
I have been fortunate enough to present findings from a report at a British Library event. Recently I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with the fantastic illustrator Sorrel Milne, we look forward to fostering this new partnership in further projects and continuing to explore the way in which creative and academic evaluative methods can be integrated and complement one and other in order to produce informative, accessible, and beautiful reports.
Creative Arts East
In my evaluation work with Creative Arts East, we have used a mixture of quantitative scales and qualitative interviews and focus groups to build a fuller picture of the effect on older people of attending arts groups (online and in person), cultural events (theatre and film), or taking part in remote arts activities. I have written a number of reports for them over the past couple of years both with Hannah Zeilig and independently.
CAE have been incredibly supportive of research relating to their projects allowing me to explore interesting themes and present new findings resulting from their work. In my most recent report for CAE I evaluated Breckland Arts for Health Programme, commissioned by Breckland Council between 2022-24. The report focusses on wellbeing, loneliness and digital inclusion. To read the report please click the link below.
What Will Survive of Us (Entelechy Arts & Kit Green)
This report evaluated the What Will Survive of Us project, run by Kit Green and Entelechy Arts. The project partnered with a hospice, a care home, and a queer space and supported individuals in selecting 6 pieces of art to leave behind as a creative legacy. As part of the project I attended 5 workshops and interviewed participants, facilitators, and staff. For this project I also brought on board illustrator Sorrel Milne and we were able to work together to explore the key themes that arose from these workshops. Sorrel illustrated these themes and I wrote them up drawing on quotes and my reflections from attending the workshops.
We were able to present our findings at a British Library sharing event and found the process of collaborating on this report incredibly rewarding. Below is a link to the report and some of Sorrel's illlustrations
