Small charities need help to prove their value

Kate Mulley, policy development and research manager at Action for Children, said providing evidence of the effectiveness of work is crucial in the current climate. But she believes small charities often lack the means to make the academic case for their programmes.

"Evidence-basing is incredibly important and incredibly expensive," she said. "What is difficult for smaller organisations is finding the time and manpower to establish and maintain relationships with the academic world."

The warning came as Barnardo's challenged the Children's Workforce Development Council to support voluntary organisations in evaluating parenting programmes as it takes over the work of the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners.

Barnardo's is currently working with the University of London on a programme offering tailored training to parents of children with ADHD. But Mary Connor, Barnardo's business development manager for ADHD, said the charity is only able to carry out this work because the university waived its fees.

A spokesman for CWDC said it has been asked by the government to examine the challenges charities face in evaluating programmes.