The Brief
Our evaluation demonstrated the outcomes achieved for stakeholders by the Lemon Aid service, the social value of these outcomes and how this value has changed over time.
Citrus Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary social enterprise of Cunninghame Housing Association (CHA), was established in 2013 to help businesses and home energy users to reduce their energy cost and consumption. In October 2013 CHA started Lemon Aid, a branch of Citrus Energy that helps people addressing fuel poverty. Cunninghame commissioned Social Value Lab to undertake an SROI evaluation on the impact of its service in the first six months of operation, the first full year of operation, and again for 2018/19. We were asked to conduct an updated SROI study for 2020-22.
We devised a programme of consultation to capture evidence of the outcomes achieved for a range of stakeholders. This included additional questions inserted into Lemon Aid’s customer telephone survey, and semi-structured interviews with Lemon Aid staff and delivery partners.
Our analysis provided Cunninghame with a clear picture of the outcomes being achieved by Lemon Aid and how these outcomes are experienced by stakeholders. Using the SROI approach we were able to demonstrate the social value (expressed as a monetary ratio) created by these outcomes for customers, Energy Advisors, partner agencies, and the service overall. Being an update to previous studies, out report also illustrated how this SROI ratio has changed over time.
