In Practice: Understanding Opportunities in Health and Employment in Barry
About the Project
New Local partnered with Vale of Glamorgan Public Services Board (PSB) to design and deliver a series of multi-stakeholder workshops focused on improving local services across three LSOAs in Barry, highlighted as being in the top 10% most deprived in Wales. Building on qualitative insights gathered by the Council’s community development team, the project aimed to support shared sensemaking and co-produce short-term action plans in two key areas: employment and health. By bringing together service teams, councillors, residents and other local stakeholders, the workshops helped generate a more holistic understanding of local needs and develop practical recommendations to tailor services in ways that respond to the unique challenges faced by Barry’s communities.
Who we worked with
Vale of Glamorgan Public Services Board
How we did it
- Reviewed existing data, strategies, and community insights to identify key themes around employment and health, developing accessible thematic summaries and community personas to inform workshop discussions
- Identified and developed relevant case studies to demonstrate practical ways services could be adapted to better meet the local needs of communities living in poverty
- Designed and facilitated multi-stakeholder workshops, co-developed with the Council, to support shared understanding and surface actionable ideas, ensuring participation from councillors, service leads, frontline staff, VCSEs and residents
- Captured insights from the workshops into clear formats to support analysis and translation into short-term action plans
What was achieved
- Developed tailored action plans outlining practical service improvements, potential pilot initiatives, and roles for PSB partners, with guidance on implementation and impact measurement
- Generated discussion amongst different partners about how collectively they might leverage strengths within communities to be able to deliver against core missions
- Development new ways of working between council and its partners that can be replicated across other domains
“Working with New Local on this project was a genuinely transformative experience. Their facilitation of the workshops was thoughtfully designed, inclusive, and expertly delivered. What stood out most was how they helped develop a true co-partnership model. This approach fostered a sense of shared ownership among all participants, including residents, councillors, service leads, and VCSEs. By grounding the discussions in real community insights and practical case studies, New Local enabled us to co-produce action plans that are not only grounded in local realities but also widely supported. Their work has laid the foundation for more collaborative, responsive service delivery in our most deprived areas of Barry, and we’re excited to build on this momentum.”
Sarah Cutting, Senior Community Development Officer, Vale of Glamorgan Council
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