Transforming lives together: reimagining adult social care

Guild Care isn’t just a service provider. It’s a community anchor. Every day, its team works to reduce isolation, combat stigma, and help people live happier, more independent lives. From residential care homes to home support services and dementia day centres, its work is a lifeline for many.

Yet demonstrating the full value and impact of this support in ways that resonate with funders, policymakers, and the public is no easy task. This is where the University of Brighton stepped in. 

This KTP brought together the university’s research strengths in person-centred care, social impact evaluation, and financial modelling with Guild Care’s deep knowledge of the sector.

A collaboration across the university’s School of Business and Law and School of Education, Sport and Health Sciences, the KTP co-created a service user-focused framework to measure and improve the charity’s impact.

Led by KTP Associate Myles Hull-Flower and supported by academic experts Dr Aaron Gain, Dr David Haines, Professor Kathleen Galvin, and Dr Catherine Matthews, the project developed tools to help Guild Care tell its story in new ways, grounded in evidence while keeping the human experience at the centre. 

Key components of the project included: 

• Development of a Social Return on Investment framework: A robust system to assess how Guild Care’s services improve lives, offering insights to refine service design, engage donors, and better meet the needs of those they support. 
• Embedding new capabilities: Embedding new skills and evaluation methods within the organisation to foster a culture of learning, growth, and continuous improvement. 
• Service user insight and lived experience: Involving people who use Guild Care’s services in shaping the work, ensuring that care reflects the needs and experiences of the communities they support. 

The Social Return on Investment framework was built and tested across five Guild Care services, with outcome surveys, value maps and a four-year Social Impact Comparison Report. Evidence from the work has already been used by Guild Care in strategic areas, including lease negotiations and fundraising.

This project was part-funded by Innovate UK, with Guild Care also investing in the partnership.

By evaluating what works and why, this partnership between the University of Brighton and Guild Care demonstrates how academic insight and frontline expertise can help charities evidence impact, improve services and communicate value to donors and stakeholders.

Les Correia, Director of Safety and Compliance at Guild Care, said: “This partnership has been transformative for Guild Care. It equips us with the tools and evidence we need to demonstrate the difference we make in people’s lives and to present that impact in a way that connects with commissioners, funders and the wider community.

Most importantly, it strengthens our ability to support local people by delivering on our mission of reducing isolation and addressing stigma.”

For Myles Hull-Flower, who is embedded at Guild Care as part of the project, the experience has been transformative: 

“Embarking on my journey as the KTP Associate has been an incredibly rewarding experience filled with growth and learning. With Guild Care undergoing positive changes, it’s an exciting time to contribute to a unique project that bridges industry and academia to address complex challenges in the social care sector.” 

Following the conclusion of the project in June 2026, Guild Care is integrating the tools and insights from the KTP into its ongoing operations, continuing to refine how it measures impact across its services.