Place: South East

Steve Grimshaw explains how Kent County Council brought more than 8,000 empty properties back into use over 20 years through its No Use Empty project.

Cllr Beverley Egan is a councillor for Thundersley in south-east Essex. In 2023, she was appointed to chair of Essex Council’s Caring Communities Commission, an ambitious two-year look at the future of health and social care, led by independent...

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 engagement.

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 improve health and prevent disease. She reflects on three years...

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 physios in Sussex suggests it is.

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 tools and strategies to support a more collaborative and community-powered...

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.