Platform Places

✨ 🏘 5 neighbourhoods in Bristol, Liverpool City Region, London, Newcastle & Sheffield have joined a new pilot programme of Local Property Partnerships! 🌆 🏫 We're delighted to share that The National Lottery Community Fund has supported Platform Places and partners with almost £2.5 million over three years. The funding will be used to enable communities to come together and secure long-term spaces for the activities and services that they need the most. In each neighbourhood, local leaders will work together with their partners and communities to shift buildings into long-term local ownership. This programme is being supported by national partners The Architectural Heritage Fund, Power to Change and Social Investment Business. 👉 Swipe to meet the Partnerships! 👉 Read the full press release ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eDhq8jjB #LocalPropertyPartnerships #PlatformPlaces #CommunityPower #UKHighStreets #TownCentreProperty #NationalLottery30

Through Hastings Commons, Dr Jess Steele, OBE has played a key role alongside local residents and social entrepreneurs to get 9,000 sqm into the hands of the local community, creating a whole ecosystem that serves local needs & has brought nearly £30M in funding to the area ✨ How can others start something like this in their neighbourhood? What’s the secret sauce for community leaders to get inside underutilised buildings and do great things with them? 🏘️ → Read our interview: https://lnkd.in/ejHZusQs → Join Stir to Action’s visit to Hastings Commons on 26 March as part of the 'ABCs of Community Assets': https://lnkd.in/ejwhSyfw #CommunityAssets #CommunityAssetDeveloper

Land banking. Does it make you think of absentee owners keeping buildings empty until prices soar? 🏚️ What about a ✨ People’s Land Bank? ✨ Discover a Bradford community’s plan to own a cluster of buildings & breathe life back into their beautiful city: https://lnkd.in/ehy-7sEA

It’s not every day you get to hear from someone like Annoushka Deighton, who was at the forefront of bringing Stretford Public Hall into community ownership. Annoushka is also a We're Right Here campaign leader, #PlatformPlaces ambassador AND supports other locally-led regeneration through The Architectural Heritage Fund 🏘️ 🪄 As part of Stir to Action’s 'ABCs of Community Assets', Annoushka will be co-leading workshops like: ✳️ 'Introduction to community assets' ✳️ 'Run a campaign to save a community asset' ✳️ ...plus there's a group visit to Friends of Stretford Public Hall on 21 May. Find out more via link in comments ⬇️

🙌 A community saying "Yes!" to development 🏡 In the heart of Frome lies Saxonvale – a 12-acre brownfield site where some of the town's most prominent industries were once based. Now, a community-led master plan will transform it, meet local needs, and put assets into community ownership 🤝 ✨ Could this spark a new scale of community-led planning around the country? 🗺️ Read all about it on our inspiration page ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ea53cHFu

What if your city centre was community owned? What if every space met local needs for work, play, goods & services? 🎨 🏘️ 🌃 Find out how People’s Property Portfolio is working to transform a cluster of Bradford city centre buildings & build community wealth: https://buff.ly/3CIo5Ie #Bradford2025 #CommunityAssets ( 📸 Image by Karol Wyszynski)

An exciting and emotional moment yesterday as Footwork’s 2025 community innovators - hailing from Grimsby to Plymouth - came together to kick off the programme and discover how they will be supported across the year. Meeting face to face like this is invaluable - for mutual support, to share experiences and exchange ideas. Each is setting a great example of community-led transformation, as they find solutions to local problems and bring redundant buildings back into valuable use. Read all about them here: https://lnkd.in/e_t4Nx-U

If you're in the community shop sector, this looks like a great opportunity to inform Plunkett UK's support for businesses like yours 👇 

💡 When it comes to town centre assets, how can community needs, council priorities and private sector investment forge one powerful mission? Read Brendan Conway's reflections on place-based impact with Wandsworth Town Property Partnership ⬇️ *** This Partnership is part of a programme funded by The National Lottery Community Fund: https://lnkd.in/eqU8D9xC

Some great reasons for optimism in Power to Change's new report! 👇 Community businesses are stable and resilient, on the whole. They support community cohesion, wellbeing, local growth and vibrancy ✨ Yet... When they want to take over vacant spaces that could secure the sustainability of their high street, 3 in 5 community businesses say they face barriers — mainly financial or administrative. That's one of the reasons we're piloting the #LocalPropertyPartnerships programme (with support partners like Power to Change, and funded by The National Lottery Community Fund) — equipping community leaders with time, resource and support to secure and transform multiple buildings for local needs. Read the Community Business Market Report: https://lnkd.in/epnXsABW #CommunityBusiness #CommunityPower #CommunityAssetDevelopers Kate McKenzie (nee Watson) Jessica Craig Tim Davies-Pugh