Inspiration Hub

Real life stories of community power

Find tips, ideas and hope in our library of case studies. Featuring examples from councils, the NHS, local people and others who are transforming their places and services with the help of community power.

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In Practice: Planning an inclusive economy in Calderdale

About the Project Calderdale Council and the Calderdale Inclusive Economy Board worked with New Local to refresh their inclusive economy strategy. The overarching aim of the strategy is that...

In Practice: Planning for community power in Westmorland and Furness

New Local worked with the newly formed Westmorland and Furness Council to develop a vision, strategic approach and delivery plan to put communities at the heart of its operating...

How We Did It: Measuring the impact of community-led approaches

Lydia Hutchings and Beth Kilheeney explain how the Greater Manchester Better Outcomes Partnership works with young people to prevent homelessness and how the project is being evaluated.

Podcast

“Everything we do is driven by our communities”: Inside Test Valley’s ground-breaking approach to community engagement

From giving residents a blank sheet to determine the council’s priorities, to making statutory consultation processes interactive and fun, Test Valley Borough Council is pushing the envelope on community...

Leadership Lucky Draw: Katie Kelly

As Depute Chief Executive of Scotland's East Aryshire council, Katie Kelly was a leading part of some of the most radical power sharing done by any UK council. Now...

Leadership Lucky Draw: Tony Clements, Ealing

The chief executive of Ealing council takes a chance on our Leadership Lucky Draw, exploring topics from how to get things done, to why Ealing is taking a positive...

How We Did It: Building intentionally inclusive community conversations

Jo Fitzpatrick and Jim Leyland explain how Wakefield Council had a Big Conversation with residents, training 100 ‘conversationalists’ to have over 1,300 face-to-face conversations with people across the district...

Leadership Lucky Draw: Anthony Okereke, Greenwich

Anthony Okereke is the Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. He took on New Local's leadership lucky draw.

How We Did It: Reducing our carbon footprint through retrofit and local energy

We put Des Keighan in our hot seat to hear how Swansea Bay University Health Board has become low carbon by retrofitting buildings and turning unused land into a...

“The impact is palpable” – How upturning healthcare is serving East Surrey  

Dr Gillian Orrow is a GP and co-founder of Growing Health Together, an East Surrey initiative which helps Primary Care Networks collaborate with community members and local organisations to...

In Practice: Tackling health inequalities in Edmonton

North Central London Integrated Care Board (ICB) recognised that some communities face barriers to accessing health and care services which plays a significant factor in widening health inequalities. They...

Five times communities sowed the seeds of healthier places

Five brilliant examples of what communities can achieve when money and decision-making power are in their hands.

How We Did It: Transforming public services into people power with Good Help

Helen Chicot from Rochdale Council introduces a three-year project which has used Good Help principles to tackle the council’s most pressing challenges, transforming the way the way it works...

In Practice: Neighbourhood working in Stockport

We worked with Stockport Council and its partners to inform future neighbourhood working arrangements, particularly in relation to local area working among communities, health and social care teams.

How We Did It: Starting a Local Property Partnership

Lorinda Freint from Richmond and Wandsworth Councils and Bex Trevalyan from Platform Places introduce a new process to unlock town centre buildings and explain how they got started in...

“It felt like a levelling out”: How people in poverty are changing the system in Trafford

Built on the power of relationships, this project brought together local residents with lived experience of poverty and key decision makers in the public, private and third sectors to...

In Practice: Putting people and communities at the heart of integrated care

We worked with Stockport Council, Healthwatch Stockport and the People and Community Voice Sub-Group in Greater Manchester to shape proposals for how people and communities can be put at...

Video

How We Did It: Participatory Action Research

Xia Lin from Toynbee Hall introduces a research method designed to embed resident participation in local change-making.

Podcast

Joint venture: how an NHS physio waiting list was shrunk in just two days

Is it possible to significantly reduce health and social care waiting lists overnight? It may seem like a policymaker’s – or patient’s – pipedream. But a new innovation from...

In Practice: Addressing inequality in Islington

The Islington Inequality Taskforce was established to develop recommendations for how Islington Council could address inequality and poverty, taking account of residents’ hopes and aspirations.

How We Did It: Tackling Rough Sleeping

Shuff Tariq and Sarah Cooke explain how Manchester delivered one of the most successful homelessness projects in the UK.

In Practice: Kickstarting a community-led vision in Wokingham

About the project New Local supported Wokingham Borough Council to shape its Programme around Community and Partnerships. This involved assessing its current position, identifying future aspirations, and shaping the...

How We Did It: A Truly Person-led Service

Ben Hughes from Essex County Council shares his experience of setting up the Essex Recovery Foundation and putting the community at the heart of service design.

How building trust can help tackle health inequalities

Drawing on recent work in Edmonton, North London, Nicola Steuer charts an impactful and cost-effective route for Integrated Care Systems to tackle health inequalities.

Good health is about much more than clinical interventions. It starts with us listening to our communities.

Shane Devlin shares the learnings from Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire health and care system in their new community engagement approach.

How We Did It – Setting up warm spaces

With a difficult winter looming, councils are searching for innovative ways to support their residents. In our latest ‘How We Did It’, Alison Dunn of Gateshead Council shares her...

Islington: a community powered approach to inequality

New Local has been working with Islington Borough Council’s Inequality Taskforce to launch a bold new approach to tackling inequality in one of London’s most deprived boroughs. We spoke...

In Practice: Creating a community powered county

Warwickshire County Council came to New Local with a big ambition: to create a community powered county.

How We Did It: Poverty Truth Commission

In the latest of our ‘How We Did It’ event series, Claire Vibert shares her experience of setting up and running a complex and collaborative Poverty Truth Commission in...

Identity issues: How two councils rewrote their narratives

How does a council rebrand its place, building a story and narrative that helps it to thrive? We explore how it was done in York and Hackney.

How We Did It: Transferring assets to communities

In our latest How We Did It event, we spoke to Zoe Sharratt of Gateshead Council. They've passed around 45 buildings and spaces to communities.

“I’d like them for all my patients”: The community members transforming a GP practice

Meet the UK's first Community Heath Workers, local people attached to a GP's surgery who check-in on the health of the neighbours. And who are already showing a different...

How We Did It: The first citizens’ assembly on hate crime

Interview with Waltham Forest's Laura Butterworth on lessons learnt from hosting a citizens' assembly.

Three lessons from local fights against climate change

What can local battles against climate change teach us about what needs to happen on the national stage?

Podcast

Circuses in suburbia: How we’re transforming Tolworth

Once described as the 'scrag-end' of Kingston-upon-Thames, Tolworth was less a destination, more a place to pass through or avoid completely. That was until a group of local residents...

Podcast

Re-occupying Union Street: How we built back our neighbourhood

A quarter of the buildings on Plymouth's Union Street were standing empty until local residents decided to do something about it. Now they've taken over four - bringing hope,...

How we are tackling violent crime by listening to other young people

Jessica Tunks, 18 years old, shares the story of Streetbase in Waltham Forest – a project to tackle violent crime that shows the value of young people’s voices. ...

‘Becoming the dog, not the wagging tail’: Transforming a Bristol estate

Mark Pepper was born and bred in Lawrence Weston, an historically neglected estate on the outskirts of Bristol. After one of the area’s last public spaces was closed, Mark...

‘Folks have lost a third of their body weight by singing. ‘ The GP doing things differently

Why do we keep sending people back to the conditions that have made them ill in the first place? This question is at the core of GP Dr Mark...

Why I’m Building a Youth-Powered School

Jaiden, 19, is a trustee at Rekindle School - the South Manchester-based supplementary school where everything - from the curriculum, to safeguarding, to funding, will be youth-led. Before speaking...

Activist Voice: Keeping a Wirral Bathhouse Afloat

Built in the 1930s, the Grade II-listed Bryne Avenue Baths had fallen into a state of disrepair when the council made plans to knock the building down. That was...

Many like it HOT: Building hope in Halifax

We meet Alison Haskins, who taught sewing in Lesotho before helping to revitalise a community in a diverse area of Yorkshire.

‘We can walk along the street and feel a change’: The Community Builder

Get to know Hannah Sloggett who revitalised an area of Plymouth through Nudge Community Builders, starting with a street party and going on to turn an empty pub into...

People, Place & Prosperity: How we’re creating a more inclusive Manchester

Elizabeth Mitchell explains how Manchester City Council is creating a more inclusive city.

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