Local Trust

We’re delighted to see Sonia Clyne from Par Bay, James Masters from Grange, Tracy Lowe from Grace Mary to Lion Farm and Fiona Thompson from Keighley recognised in the New Year Honours list. You can read more about their brilliant work with #BigLocal and beyond in Matt Leach's post below. Huge congratulations! 🎉

Two weeks to go! Our Community Futures essay competition is open to early career researchers and policy analysts, independent practitioners in the community sector, and graduate and PhD students.  The winner will get £5,000 and two runners up will be awarded £1,000 each.  To enter, you’ll need to submit an essay of no more than 2,500 words, answering the question: What is your policy idea for turning the most socially and economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in England into thriving communities, what is the evidence behind it, and how might it best be successfully implemented with maximum impact? We’re partnering with Demos and the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research to deliver this competition. Make sure you submit your essay by the deadline of 10 January 2025 to be considered. Find full details of how to enter at: https://bit.ly/4gtVwNr  

“Nearly six months into a new government and parliamentary intake, the place-based inequality that continues to define our country underscores how critical and urgent the APPG for ‘left behind’ neighbourhood’s objectives were – and remain.” Our policy and parliamentary manager, Tilly Steward, looks back on the work of the APPG, which platformed resident voices in Westminster and made the case for communities to take the lead in local decision-making. ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e5e2FNG8 📣 Read more in our new report: Reflecting on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods, 2020-2024. ➡️https://lnkd.in/eH4sMkAg 

Amazing to hear Somayeh telling the story of Lymore Garden Girls on the Crossways Podcast. They got started with the help of a grant from Grange #BigLocal and have gone on to achieve amazing things – while staying grassroots and accessible. Hear from Somayeh from 10:30 at https://lnkd.in/eaUqPQsC

“Big Local remains one of a kind; the only large-scale community-led regeneration programme to provide long-term, non-prescriptive funding direct to the neighbourhoods that need it most. In 2024, we have sought to inspire, incubate and kickstart legacy projects that we hope will ensure these core principles are embedded in public service delivery, funding programmes and government policy.” Our chief operating officer, Rachel Rowney, looks back on 2024 – a year of partnership building, new opportunities for #neighbourhood regeneration and a major milestone for the #BigLocal programme: https://lnkd.in/ettn9u_Z

🎉 We’re delighted to share an exciting update on the Community Wealth Fund. This week, The National Lottery Community Fund announced it will be contributing £87.5million to the fund – matching funds allocated from England’s Dormant Assets Scheme over 2024 to 2028 – taking the total to £175million.     Responding to the announcement, Local Trust’s chief executive Matt Leach said:     "It's fantastic news that the Community Wealth Fund will receive additional lottery funds, doubling the size of the programme ahead of its anticipated launch early next year.  "This is a significant step forward for empowering communities across the UK, providing much-needed, long-term investment directly to communities that have faced the greatest challenges.      "This will enable local people to take control of their futures and create lasting positive change and a step forward for empowering those who need it most."    You can explore the timeline of the Community Wealth Fund campaign so far at: https://lnkd.in/ePHTuAzz

Good to speak at new report launch today from National Academy for Social Prescribing making case for investing in community through a new fund. We know from Local Trust’s research how loss of social infrastructure can compound deprivation, leading to worse outcomes across a range of social measures including health. Investing in communities can help prevent cost falling on the NHS whilst building thriving neighbourhoods and sustaining better lives. https://lnkd.in/e3g_TNhr

We've been awarded £10million by UK Research and Innovation to lead an ambitious new project bringing together partners from across society to build stronger, more resilient communities. The Centre for Collaboration in Community Connectedness will be led by our Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research alongside partners from research, community, policy and civil society to create a powerful collaborative approach, working with communities to address complex social challenges. Find out more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eXFwSbm3 London Metropolitan University The Young Foundation Local Trust Darnall Well Being University of Stirling Queen's University Belfast

🎉 Some great news to end the year! We’re excited to announce the launch of a new research centre, the Centre for Collaboration in Community Connectedness (C4). Funded by the ESRC: Economic and Social Research Council, C4 will focus on supporting and strengthening connectedness and participation in place-based communities across the UK. C4 will be led by CRESR, and together we’ll be working with a consortium of partners including Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface (CTSI), Darnall Well Being, The Brixton Project , The Young Foundation, Queen's University Belfast, University of Stirling and London Metropolitan University. Read more from our head of research and learning, Jayne Humm, on the role the new centre will play: http://bit.ly/3OS6sYA

I’ve been researching social prescribing for more than 10 years and over that period one of the things that has really puzzled me is the dearth of studies – particularly in the academic world - that have explored the involvement and experiences of local voluntary and community sector organisations. Over the past couple of years, and with some incredible colleagues, I’ve been on a bit of mission to address that gap and in the process hopefully enable a re-orientation social prescribing policy towards the voluntary sector and communities where it is needed most. The good news is that we are now able to start sharing the findings of some of that work, starting next week. On Monday we’ll be with Darnall Well Being to share the findings and outputs of our co-produced community research project on ‘culturally sensitive social prescribing and frailty prevention’. Then on Tuesday we’ll be at Local Trust to give their staff (and colleagues from National Academy for Social Prescribing) a sneak peek into the findings of our research into ‘community-led social prescribing’ and how it could transform how social prescribing moving forward - the full report will be published in the New Year so watch this space for more info, including details for webinar where we'll share the findings in full. If that isn’t enough, on Wednesday I’m really looking forward to attending the launch of NASP’s 'Envisaging a Social Prescribing Fund in England' report, which promises to provide a blueprint for how some of our findings and recommendations might be put into practice.