We work closely with clients to consult, co-create, and deliver services that maximize the use of and learning from outcomes-based mechanisms to achieve social impact.

We bring deep expertise across a range of sectors impacting social policy, including sport and physical activity, youth development, criminal justice, education, mental and physical health, and tackling inequalities.

Our services What we can do for you

Whether you’re just starting on your outcomes journey or scaling an established programme, Substance provides the tools, expertise, and support to help you succeed in delivering, evidencing, and communicating meaningful social impact.

We work with organisations to design, implement, and scale outcome-based approaches that drive measurable social change. We specialise in preparing organisations to access outcomes funding and confidently engage in social outcomes partnerships.

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Working collaboratively to ensure your programme is strategically aligned, evidence-informed, and outcomes-focused:

  • Needs Assessment & Identify Best Practice: Identify where support is needed most by exploring policy landscapes, current challenges, and best-in-class benchmarks within the sport for development sector.
  • Outcomes Frameworks: Help you define success using outcomes-based thinking, developing clear metrics and KPIs that reflect the real-world change your programme aims to deliver.
  • Strategic Partnerships & Resources: Support cross-sector collaboration by engaging a mix of policy, funding, and delivery partners to ensure a strong foundation for impact.

Providing comprehensive support to embed outcomes-based delivery into everyday practice:

  • End-to-End Project Management: Deliver technical assistance across governance, finance, data, and risk management while building internal capacity for sustainable delivery.
  • Performance Management: Use real-time data and constructive feedback to drive continuous improvement and ensure resources are directed where they can have the most impact.

Turning data into actionable insight and credible evidence of success:

  • Robust Data Infrastructure: Set up systems for credible, transparent outcomes reporting, including data collection processes and monitoring tools (dashboards, software, etc.).
  • Quality Assurance & Verification: Provide data quality services, including outcomes verification and support for meeting funder or investor accountability requirements.
  • Stakeholder Reporting & Storytelling: Create compelling impact reports tailored to different audiences—combining quantitative data with visualisations, case studies, and storytelling to bring your impact to life.

Chances the world’s first social outcomes partnership which uses sport and physical activity as a pathway to tackling deep-rooted social issues.

With 41 partners involved, Chances is considered the world’s largest social outcomes partnership.

The Chances programme supports disengaged young people from deprived backgrounds to attend school more regularly, gain qualifications, get into training, reduce or avoid offending whilst also improving their physical literacy.

In partnership with:

Social Impact with Substance Case Studies

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Skill Mill Social impact Bond (SIB)
Social Impact with Substance
London United
Social Impact with Substance

The Social Impact with Substance Team

We have an experienced team with backgrounds in community development and supporting delivery chains, investment and fund management, programme design and management.

Sangita Patel
Sangita PatelHead of Programmes

which included everything from public consultation to managing protests to hosting dignitaries. I then went on to work at Premier League, as senior manager for the Charitable Fund. It was a privileged role of working with the 92 professional football club charities, supporting them with their organisational development and development of quality interventions.

When not working you can usually find me on a yoga mat in a hot room. And when I’m not in a hot room I like to run up hills.

Why Sangita works at Substance?


I’m so lucky to be working on the first Social Impact Bond that uses sport and physical activity in England and this project brings together everything I’ve enjoyed about my work life – supporting with delivery organisations with quality interventions, using data and evidence to intelligently develop programmes and most importantly trying to tackle important social issues.”.

Matt Baird
Matt BairdPerformance & Insight Manager

Matt’s role at the PLCF that saw him primarily responsible for supporting the 100+ professional football club charities to deliver high quality and impactful sports participation, social inclusion, health and wellbeing and employability projects for communities up and down the country.

At Substance, Matt provides main role is to provide performance and insight support for the Chances Social Impact Bond, the only sport and physical activity based social outcomes contract currently in Europe. In addition, Matt also provides support and expertise to London United.

When not at work you can usually find Matt either travelling up and down the country in his quest to watch a decent game of football, or enjoying the fresh air and amazing views the Sussex countryside provides.

Why Matt works for Substance?

Prior to joining Substance, I had been extremely fortunate to have worked alongside many of the team at Substance through my role at the PLCF. This not only made me fully appreciate the vase array of skills, knowledge and experience the team possesses but also to understand the difference the organisation is making both up and down the country and globally. Therefore, when the opportunity presented itself to join Substance, the rest became history, so to speak’.”

Provide a better service to your audience and society.

We can provide unbiased, evidence-based understanding, to help you adapt and grow your organisation to provide a better service to your audience and society.