Brief for an External Evaluator
1. Background
The Roman Baths requires an evaluator for the Beau Street Hoard project; our programme
to acquire, publish and display this Roman coin hoard and to deliver a wide range of
learning and community engagement activities based on it. Access works are included in
the display alterations and a platform lift will be installed during the gallery re-fit. This will
provide full access not just to the new display but also to the great majority of other objects
on show in The Roman Baths. Altogether there are 33 actions in the project Activity Pan.
Many will take place off site.
The Roman Baths is an Accredited and Designated museum at the heart of the City of
Bath World Heritage Site. It receives around 1m visitors a year. In 2013 Visit England
awarded the Baths silver in the large visitor attraction of the year category. The Roman
Baths is managed by Bath & North East Somerset Council. The Roman Baths display the
Roman heritage of the city and the museum also acts as the depository for archaeological
material of any date from throughout Bath & North East Somerset.
There was wide consultation in the development of the project and several organisations
have joined in partnership with the Roman Baths to deliver the project outcomes. Principal
partners are the British Museum, Bath Spa University and the U3A but many other
organisations are involved.
The project has been supported financially by seven different organisations, but the largest
grant by far has been from the Heritage Lottery Fund without whose contribution the
ambition and scope of the project would be significantly reduced.
2. The Project
This is fundamentally a learning and audience development project. Its objectives have
been built around the acquisition and the long term care and display of the hoard to
enhance people of all ages’ understanding of Roman life in Bath. Central to project
delivery is a significant learning and community engagement programme that provides a
variety of learning activities. This builds on work with existing audiences and also creates
new audience relationships for The Roman Baths.
It is also a heritage conservation project - it will preserve this remarkable hoard within the
public domain for the benefit of this and future generations, and prevent its break up and
dispersal. This will be achieved just a few metres from its point of discovery.
The project has an important access dimension as it will provide wheelchair access not
just to the newly acquired hoard, but also to the great majority of all the other existing
collections at The Roman Baths.
3. The evaluation
3.1 The requirement
The Roman Baths is looking for an external evaluator to help us assess the impact of the
project. Our outcomes are:
 Measuring the difference the project made to learning opportunities in The Roman
Baths onsite and outreach work,
 Measuring the difference the project made to the hoard’s conservation
Measuring the difference the project made to the ability of The Roman Baths visitors and
community members to participate in learning, enjoying, and be inspired by our collections,
especially the Beau Street Hoard. We would like the evaluator to:
 Advise and assist with the production of an evaluation report for submission to the
HLF at the end of the project describing : what we wanted to happen (the aims of
the project), what actually happened (how things turned out), a review section (what
we think worked well and why, what didn’t work and why) and a summary of
lessons learnt
 With the project team, to design and implement appropriate evaluation tools to
measure the success of each activity
 To attend a variety of engagement activities during the life of the project to talk with
participants
 To review evaluation information collected as part of the project activities
Measures of success include:
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How many people have engaged with the Beau Street Hoard through taking part in
our family events programme, public lectures and roadshows, special projects such
as money management with the Genesis Trust and Community Learning, Roman
coins and maths outreach sessions in schools and projects working with university
departments and placement students.
Whether a wider range of people have engaged with their heritage
Whether visitors, participants and volunteers have gained new skills as a result of
the project
The quality of the experience of the visitor/participant/volunteer
In carrying out the evaluation, the 2008 guidance on evaluation published by HLF should
be taken into account and applied where relevant and practical.
3.2 Project and evaluation report timescale
The Beau Street Hoard project started in March 2014 and will run until the end of April
2015. This timescale includes the preparation and submission of the evaluation report.
The evaluation report must be submitted not later than Friday 29 May 2015.
3.3 Reporting arrangements
The project is managed by a board which is serviced by staff in the Beau Street Hoard
Project team. Team staff are Stephen Clews (Roman Baths and Pump Room Manager),
Susan Fox (Collections Manager), Iain Johnston (Facilities Manager), Verity Anthony
(Collections Assistant), Lindsey Braidley (Learning & Programmes Co-ordinator), Katie
Scaife (Beau Street Hoard Project Officer).
The Evaluator will report to Stephen Clews, Roman Baths & Pump Room Manager.
3.4 Evaluation budget
The budget for this evaluation report is £4,000, inclusive of all travel and other expenses.
Any printing or postage costs will be agreed and met additionally and directly by the
Project.
4. Application procedure
Please submit a proposal of no more than 8 sides of A4 paper covering:
 Company and/or consultant background
 Your proposed methodology
 Outline of a similar project you have delivered with details of methodology and
outcome
 Names and contact details of two referees; preferably previous clients or employers
for whom you have carried out similar work.
Please send your proposal to arrive no later than noon on Friday 19 Sept in either hard
copy or electronic form to:
Katie Scaife
Beau Street Hoard Project Officer
The Roman Baths
Stall Street
Bath
BA1 1LZ
katie_scaife@bathnes.gov.uk