“This is the place”: The case for investing in community centres

Community centres have long stood as pillars of local life, as places where people can meet, mix and connect; where care, fun and friendships bloom and problems are shared. But we are losing these spaces at pace and at scale. As we launch our latest research, Summer Simpson explores why this matters.

When a community centre is thriving, it is both a place where people can meet their basic needs and somewhere that adds colour to people’s lives, providing a sense of calm or joy, connecting them with their community – its history and culture – and generating a sense of belonging, attachment and local pride.

The loss of these spaces is tangible in our everyday lives. Areas where there are no places to meet face poorer social and economic outcomes, including higher rates of ill health and child poverty. Felt most strongly in our most economically deprived communities, this is compounding the challenges of entrenched disadvantage and regional inequality.

“If our centre disappeared it would pull the thread on the fabric that holds everything together.”

Research participant

Our new report, Where People Meet: How we celebrate, sustain and reimagine community centres, uncovers the distinct and valuable position that community centres occupy in local areas, both physically and operationally, but also in the hearts and minds of communities. We spent time in community centres across the country and spoke to more than 100 people connected to these vital spaces. What emerged is a story of fragmentation and precariousness offset against the deep and far-reaching skills, expertise and commitment of those that keep community centres running.

The strengths to build on

Our research focuses on four key areas of impact and how these can be deepened in the future:

1. Community centres are important local hubs for people to meet and connect to one another, building social capital and tackling isolation.
2. By supporting the health and wellbeing of people locally, community centres relieve pressure on the formal health system.
3. Community centres have a unique and valuable role to play in the local ecosystem, providing the foundations for place-based ways of working.
4. As well as being social goods, community centres are physical assets that communities can depend.

The challenges to overcome

What community centres achieve is all the more noteworthy when we consider the context that they operate within. Our research reveals that community centres collectively navigate a distinct set of challenges. More often than not, people in power fail to acknowledge the value of community centres, their contribution instead regarded as a ‘nice to have’. Funding shortfalls threaten their long-term viability. Real and perceived barriers to access undermine their universality and inclusivity. They are expected to prove their worth according to metrics that are not set up to recognise their value. And the people that run community centres are under considerable pressure, without the support needed to make both their roles and their organisations sustainable for the long term. Taken together, these factors erode at a centre’s capacity to do good and prevent it from realising its full potential.

The community centre of 2040

At the core of our research is a vision for what community centres could become if fully optimised: vibrant, inclusive hubs that are financially secure, environmentally sustainable and deeply embedded in local decision-making. This vision is grounded in the past and the present. It is inspired by workshops held with the Sutton Centre in Bradford, Trinity Rooms Community Hub in Stroud and Shenley Court Hall in Birmingham, where we worked alongside people closely connected with each centre to imagine what life might be like in 15 years’ time and how their centre would respond.

The vision reinforces the community centre as a place of human connection; a source of local pride; offering something inherently preventative and universal; championing its community and, crucially, not a ‘nice-to-have’ but a core, dynamic, essential part of their place.

This vision is not intended to be a one-size-fits-all. What the future holds for a community centre will vary from place to place, depending on local assets, resources and priorities. It is, however, designed to influence the direction of travel and cement the position of community centres as places of first resort.

Recommendations: From vision to reality

For this vision to become reality, community centres need to be recognised as a core part of the essential infrastructure of a place. Achieving this demands sustained investment, effort and focus at both the national and local level, as well as a shift in the mindset and behaviours of their key partners.

We offer practical recommendations for national and local government, funders, housing associations and health partners. This includes:

• National policymakers developing a stronger understanding of community centres as a sector and its collective needs
• Decisionmakers from local to national recognising community centres as key strategic and delivery partners
• A broader range of partners playing a role in the financial sustainability of community centres
• Greater support being provided to communities to take ownership of local assets
• The development of approaches to measurement that capture the holistic impact of community centres.

“This building is a community within a community – there’s so much going on from cradle to grave, all condensed in one place. You just walk in and you feel safe, you think ‘this is the place’.”

Research participant

The full report charts the rich and varied history behind the modern community centre and outlines the common ownership models, funding streams and functions of community centres today. The vital role that community centres play in local life is illustrated by inspiring examples from across the UK. From social isolation to community cohesion, the report provides compelling evidence that dismantling the challenges standing in the way of community centres could help overcome some of the most pressing issues affecting the health and happiness of our communities.

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