SROI Workshop in Dundalk
January 2024
On January 30, 2025, members from the local charity group called ‘Autism Rocks’ – is group primarily but not exclusively made up of parents of children with Autism, were invited by our Pilot team in Dundalk (Louth County Council) to participate in a Social Return on Investment (SROI) Workshop, organised at the Pilot site. The SROI methodology is a tool derived from the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) methodology to enable the comprehensive evaluation of VARCITIES’ interventions (its three Visionary Solutions in Dundalk) by accounting for their social, economic, and environmental impacts. Unlike traditional assessments, which prioritize economic metrics, SROI provides a framework for quantifying and prioritizing social outcomes.
Autism Rocks is a local arch club in Co Louth set up by parents to provide space and time for autistic children to meet. Formed in 2023, the main purpose of this group was to create a place the members can go to have some fun outside of school. The committee of this group felt that most children can go to summer camps, scouts and drama classes but there was not much out there for children with additional needs, and so Autism Rocks was created in the hope to fill this void.
The morning started with an introduction to the 3 Visionary Solutions and a walk around the Pilot site, followed by a demonstration of the Cubbie. The sensory garden, sensory paving and Cubbie were of particular interest to this group.
Feedback was very positive. It was expressed by those in attendance that Cubbie allows those with autism to pick their very own experience, the person with autism is choosing and participating… and so this provides a unique and fully inclusive experience to the pilot site.
Safety was also very important to this group and given the confined nature of the area, fully protected with CCTV and with traffic confined to sporadic delivery vans, the group expressed that the public space offered a safe and secure space for those with additional needs to come and play.
