Emily Brook from Care City CIC and Elspeth Paisley from Community Resources work together in Barking and Dagenham as part of the BD Collective, a member-led co-operative CIC which recognises that we’re better […]

17th August, 2026

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New Local is delighted to partner with two leading thinkers and practitioners, Cormac Russell and Lisa McNally, to host their provocation paper, which we hope will spark much-needed debate on […]

15th July, 2026

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This member-exclusive Innovation Explored focuses on the practical opportunities and challenges of integrating services at neighbourhood level, and how place-based collaboration can support better outcomes for residents.

14th July, 2026

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Community centres have long stood as pillars of local life, but we are losing these spaces at pace and at scale. Summer Simpson explores why this matters.

7th May, 2025

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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 […]

5th February, 2025

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The complexities of transforming health services are vast with many different priorities and variables to consider.  Place-based systems leadership can unlock barriers and open doors within services to help deliver […]

11th November, 2024

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Using outcomes-focused relational working to reduce demand on statutory services can be difficult, but it has the potential to help local authorities effectively deliver preventative interventions.

5th November, 2024

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New Local worked with partners in Yorkshire and Cumbria to develop a learning programme that puts communities at the heart of health and care.

5th November, 2024

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This practice review shares inspiring community-powered approaches to health and care, alongside the learning we can draw from them and practical actions to implement this learning. 

25th June, 2024

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Adam Lent tackles some of the most common questions about community power in the public sector, from its benefits, to real-life examples, to its why its time has come in today's 'permacrisis'.

8th April, 2024

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Mari Roberts-Wood, Managing Director at Reigate and Banstead Council tells us about what makes the council unique and what you can expect to find along Banstead’s majestic Narnia Trail (complete with a lion, a witch and a wardrobe).

27th March, 2024

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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

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A former secretary of state is calling for Total Place style pooled budgets as the best use of public spending when there is no financial quick fix for public services. […]

31st January, 2024

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This report sets out a new approach to public service investment and reform in England. By identifying all public money spent within a local area, and enabling it to be used more flexibly, spending could be more closely aligned...

31st January, 2024

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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...

16th January, 2024

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Our board member, Samira Ben Omar, has dedicated her career to addressing inequalities in health and other spheres. She talks about why the NHS needs to relate differently to communities, her groundbreaking work with health champions and what brought...

9th January, 2024

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Adam Lent takes a look back at the ups and downs of 2023, shares his hopes for the year to come (and channels Marilyn Monroe).

19th December, 2023

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The unrelenting demand crisis facing our public services demands radical innovation. This is what a Sussex NHS physio practice achieved with resounding success through a Community Appointment Day. We hear from the people who turned a bold vision into...

14th December, 2023

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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 wanted to listen to those communities, understand their barriers and...

14th December, 2023

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

11th December, 2023

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We explore the positive health and wellbeing impact of the Big Local programme - a hyperlocal community-led initiative.

11th December, 2023

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How can communities prevent illness and create their own good health? Could investment at the grassroots help ease the burden on the NHS?

10th December, 2023

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A vibrant community set around an ancient village on the edge of Darlington, Haughton and Springfield has its challenges. But a wealth of local pride and a strong voluntary network knits people together, say Darlington Borough Council’s Chris McEwan...

6th December, 2023

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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

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Mila Lukic from Bridges Outcomes Partnerships spells out the problem with centralisation and why we need to think about service design and delivery in a very different way.

16th November, 2023

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How can we tackle the growing crisis in the NHS? TPXimpact’s Iain O’Neil says shifting towards community-led approaches can protect the NHS’s future and improve health for all.

15th November, 2023

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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.

20th October, 2023

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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 the core of the new ICS model and Locality Board...

12th September, 2023

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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.

30th August, 2023

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What can health professionals, councils, charities and communities do when they come together to work on reducing health inequalities? At Stronger Things, changemakers behind some of the most innovative practice come together to talk practical responses to one of...

5th July, 2023

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Building a community-powered NHS is urgently needed to overcome the current and future challenges facing the system. On the 75th anniversary of our much-loved health service, Laura Charlesworth delves into an innovative model of healthcare that puts community connection...

5th July, 2023

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What does it take to bridge health inequalities that have been widening across the UK? We speak to the woman tasked with this formidable task, Prof Bola Owolabi.

4th July, 2023

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Big Local is a Lottery funded programme that committed £1m each to 150 neighbourhoods across England. These communities were given 10-15 years to spend the funding, at their own pace […]

29th June, 2023

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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.

16th June, 2023

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Hear why we think Stronger Things might just be the most valuable eight hours of your year.

21st April, 2023

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In recent years we’ve seen a continued and increasing link between health and economic outcomes, brought into sharp focus by COVID-19. Imran Hashmi and Laura Charlesworth examine what this means for the UK labour market and for levelling up.

14th March, 2023

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We are working with What Works Centre for Wellbeing, the National Lottery Community Fund and People’s Health Trust to explore the impact of agency and control on community wellbeing.

2nd March, 2023

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We are looking for examples of community centred approaches to health across the UK.

7th February, 2023

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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.

17th January, 2023

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

15th December, 2022

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Laura Charlesworth unpacks what the Autumn Statement means for a health and care system in crisis.

18th November, 2022

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Practice needs to shift in the council itself, in the local system and in working with communities to develop a community-focused approach to addressing health inequalities.

18th October, 2022


Building a community-powered NHS that is capable of supporting good health in neighbourhoods and reducing demand pressures on hospitals has never been more needed. But it goes against all the instincts of our top-down system of managing healthcare, writes...

4th October, 2022

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We know the diagnosis: the NHS is at risk from ever-increasing demand. We need a new approach to healthcare that makes prevention a reality – by putting communities first.

4th October, 2022

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In response to the Chancellor’s Growth Plan, we set out some of the key announcements that could impact councils up and down the country.

23rd September, 2022

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Jessica Studdert on a new way of treating healthcare: one that puts communities – and therefore prevention – first.

12th July, 2022

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The NHS could cease to be fair and free at point of use, unless it shifts focus to building health in the community, new research has found.

12th July, 2022

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As the NHS faces ever-rising demand, its founding principles are under threat. But there is a solution: a radical shift towards a healthcare system focused as much on preventing illness as treating it. Working collaboratively with communities in the design...

12th July, 2022

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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 possible future for primary care.

25th April, 2022

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The NHS is embarking on the biggest reforms of a generation - creating an integrated system that should usher in joined-up care and improved outcomes for patients. As new guidance on local partnerships is published, Prof Donna Hall diagnoses...

12th April, 2022