Reading Type: How we did it

Nicol McConnell on Sunderland City Council’s work towards making Sunderland a fully digitally inclusive city.

2nd July, 2025

Community engagement • Community Voices • Digital • Sunderland City Council

Emma Bull, Local Partnerships and Emily Bolton, Cambridgeshire County Council give insight into best practices for embedding climate resilience across council operations

23rd June, 2025

Cambridgeshire County Council • Climate change • Local Partnerships • Net Zero • Strategy and leadership

Alice Black, Sophie Taylor and Sue Sheehan explain how the London Borough of Camden is embracing neighbourhood ways of working.

22nd April, 2025

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Strategy and leadership

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.

19th March, 2025

Economy and business • Housing • Local government

Graham Beamish and Marie Pye explain how Suffolk and Norfolk County Councils have saved 1000 years’ worth of care days for children and young people.

17th February, 2025

Childrens' Services • Local government • Partnerships • Prevention • Public Services

Caroline Wilson, Director of Inclusive Economy and Jobs at Islington Borough Council, explains how the council’s approach to community wealth building has emerged and deepened, how it’s helping to tackle inequalities, and how it touches the lives of people...

11th November, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Economy and business • Local government

We put Hal Khanom in our ‘How We Did It’ hot seat to hear how the London Borough of Barnet has developed its equalities strategy, A Fairer Barnet.

17th October, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Equality • Local government • Strategy and leadership

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.

11th July, 2024

Community Power • Homelessness • Measurement and Evaluation • Public Services • Young people

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 to find out what they like about their area and...

4th March, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Health and social care • Local government • Public Services

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 solar farm which powers the local hospital.

27th February, 2024

Climate change • Healthcare • Public Services

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 and its relationships with residents.

24th November, 2023

Community engagement • Community Power • Health and social care • Local government • Public Services

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 Wandsworth Town.

17th October, 2023

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government

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

6th September, 2023

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Participation and co-production

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

4th April, 2023

Community engagement • Council Voices • Homelessness • Poverty and inequality • Public Services

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.

15th February, 2023

Commissioning and Procurement • Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Public Services

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 experience of setting up a coordinated warm spaces project.

22nd November, 2022

Charities • Community engagement • Council Voices • Interview • Local government • Poverty and inequality • Powerful Communities

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 Trafford, Greater Manchester.

20th September, 2022

Community engagement • Community Voices • How to guide • Interview • Poverty and inequality

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.

18th May, 2022

Asset transfer • Council Voices • Events • How to guide

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

28th February, 2022

Citizens Assemblies • Community engagement • Council Voices • Crime and justice • Events • Local government

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.

15th June, 2021

Community Power • Crime and justice • Young people • Youth