Evaluation of the Culture, Heritage and Sport ArWAP Grants Programme

The evaluation aims focussed on implementation processes, outcomes achieved, and the contexts shaping delivery and impact of the Culture, Heritage and Sport (CHS) ArWAP grants programme across its three strands.

The evaluation methods included surveys and interviews with funded project leads across all strands; surveys with project participants, trainees, and staff involved in delivery; in-person and online visits to projects involving participants in funded activities; analysis of end-of-project reports and monitoring data; engagement with a lived-experience Expert Advisory Panel and community mentors to support co-design and interpretation of findings.

The programme made contributions to the CHS ArWAP goals, with positive impacts at multiple levels; individual, organisational, and sectoral. There is clear evidence of positive change, and a strong appetite from organisations and communities to build on this foundation.

The programme was widely recognised for centring anti-racist values in its objectives and its structure and delivery. This was particularly evident in the roles of community mentors, flexible reporting arrangements, and support for applicants and project leads.

The report outlines more than 30 recommendations, grouped into the thematic areas such as grant management, communications, co-production, legacy, and the responsibilities of Welsh Government as a funder.

The findings suggest that the CHS ArWAP Grants Programme has made a valuable contribution to the Welsh Government’s vision for an anti-racist Wales.