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< Back to main menuBig Local is an exciting opportunity for residents in 150 areas to create lasting change in their communities.
About the programmeEssential guidance, information and ideas for Big Local partnerships, to help you deliver change in your community.
Visit the support centreFind out how the principles of Big Local have inspired other programmes creating change in local communities.
Community Leadership Academy
Supporting volunteers involved in Big Local projects to develop their skills and knowledge.
Find out moreCreative Civic Change
This new approach to funding enabled communities to use art and creativity to make positive local change.
Find out moreThe latest news and stories from Big Local areas and beyond, exploring community power and resident-led change.
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Voices of Big Local
Inspiring stories from the people making change happen in their communities.
Read moreLocal Trust is a place-based funder supporting communities to achieve their ambitions.
Find out moreGo straight to…
< Back to main menuBig Local is an exciting opportunity for residents in 150 areas to create lasting change in their communities.
About the programmeEssential guidance, information and ideas for Big Local partnerships, to help you deliver change in your community.
Visit the support centreFind out how the principles of Big Local have inspired other programmes creating change in local communities.
Community Leadership Academy
Supporting volunteers involved in Big Local projects to develop their skills and knowledge.
Find out moreCreative Civic Change
This new approach to funding enabled communities to use art and creativity to make positive local change.
Find out moreThe latest news and stories from Big Local areas and beyond, exploring community power and resident-led change.
ExploreGo straight to…
Voices of Big Local
Inspiring stories from the people making change happen in their communities.
Read moreWith decades of experience behind him and an in-depth understanding of his community, Junior Collins has engaged residents and helped them to bring to life what they want for Wembley.
After a challenging time at Wembley Central Big Local (WCBL), Junior Collins stepped up. In just four years and with decades of youth work behind him, project manager Junior has inspired residents to turn the Big Local area around. Here, he shares how he is engaging the community to create a sustainable organisation fit for the future.
I’ve never seen so many people over 65 at an event. Normally, this age group might not come out, even though they are often people we target because of loneliness and isolation. But at the 75th anniversary of Windrush event we organised in Wembley Central there were over 200 people, including grandchildren with their grandparents.
They were from West Indian and Asian backgrounds, enjoying Caribbean food and a showcase of local talent. The event was about bringing people together, celebrating diversity and promoting community cohesion.
I’ve worked in the Wembley Central area in youth work for over 40 years, so I know the area and people know me.”
It’s a highlight for me when I see intergenerational families and our diverse community coming together. When I first started as a part-time project coordinator for WCBL in October 2019, there were lots of plans but little community engagement.
Now, we’ve got 13 residents who are working on creating a legal structure for our organisation to carry on its work when Big Local funding ends in 2026.
I’ve worked in the Wembley Central area in youth work for over 40 years, so I know the area and people know me. Wembley Central has a population of 17,900 across 31 streets and around 55% come from a southern Asian background. It’s a highly populated area – there are a lot of new build housing developments. These are unaffordable to locals, which has caused resentment.
My energy was high because I didn’t want the community to lose out on the money it was awarded to spend before 2026. There is too great a need in the community.”
The high street is vibrant but there’s a lot of neglect on the outer edges. Around a third of residents are unemployed, crime is high and there are a lot of shared houses with people from different families living in them.
When I joined WCBL, the partnership was facing a lot of challenges and it soon disbanded. We needed to set up another partnership quickly. My energy was high because I didn’t want the community to lose out on the money it was awarded to spend before 2026. There is too great a need in the community.
So, myself and the area’s other worker knocked on doors in Wembley Central to inform local people about Big Local and the opportunities it presented. We prioritised areas such as dilapidated looking flats and blocks where the most disadvantaged individuals and households live.
Many of the people we spoke to didn’t believe that we had over £1million to develop projects based on the needs and views of local people. But we engaged and got the details of 200 residents.
Residents have invested in themselves for the local area and being part of Big Local has given them a chance to be heard.”
When the pandemic struck, the data we got from the door knocking came in very useful. We called the 200 people and asked if they wanted to be involved in our Big Local. Of those, 32 said they’d be interested in joining the partnership of residents who would decide how the National Lottery Community Fund money was spent.
Some of the residents who joined the partnership live on the same street and block but had never seen or spoken to each other before. They have invested in themselves for the local area and being part of Big Local has given them a chance to be heard.
The partnership has a subgroup model. We have groups of three or four residents who lead on different aspirations in our community plan. For example, our ‘celebrating community’ subgroup organised the Windrush event, with the assistance of an external organisation.
The smaller groups help people who don’t have the confidence to articulate their views in the larger one. Everybody gets a say and feels of equal value to the organisation.
One of the first things the new partnership did was to purchase 6,600 plants and leave them on people’s doorsteps after COVID-19 restrictions lifted. The aim was to lift people’s spirits and improve their wellbeing.
Soon, our community wellbeing subgroup developed the Grow Your Own Wembley project, based at a local allotment. The community garden addresses isolation, helps develop friendships and provides support to get people involved in their local community.
As WCBL is a commissioning vehicle, we deliver what local people tell us they need.”
A group of 20 regular volunteers learn how to grow and harvest crops and 10 have attended gardening and emergency first aid courses. This is about upskilling these individuals, as the garden group is now forming a separate legal entity to WCBL.
They’re looking at doing more ‘guerilla gardening’. So anywhere there’s a space, they want to create growing projects for the community.
As WCBL is a commissioning vehicle, we deliver what local people tell us they need. Despite my vast experience in youth and community work, I had minimal knowledge about Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). So, I have loved learning from the parent, carers, and guardians of SEND children and young people at our coffee mornings and stay and play sessions. I listen to the everyday issues that these families are faced with and feed it back to the partnership.
The summer holiday stay and play sessions have brought back memories of when my mother, a single parent, struggled to rear a family on a low income. Brent play schemes and youth services really helped her financially and provided me with a safe environment and platform to develop my personal and emotional skills.
Our partnership is also supporting refugee and asylum seeker families who have no recourse to public funds and live in the area. We’re organising food aid and grocery shopping, and are buying school uniforms and making clothing donations to local schools. We also made a donation to a local Polish organisation for medical supplies for Ukrainian refugees and soldiers involved in the war with Russia.
I’m focused on building residents’ confidence and self-esteem and upskilling them so that when Big Local finishes, the community is in a safe place to be able to apply for funding elsewhere.”
With just over 18 months to go before WCBL closes, I’m supporting our legacy subgroup to find ways to continue our work developing the community.
This involves networking with developers who are building 14,000 more homes in the area by 2030. We want them to consider creating a space that we can use as a community café. We’re also setting up construction training for local people to get into employment.
I’m focused on building residents’ confidence and self-esteem and upskilling them so that when Big Local finishes, the community is in a safe place to be able to apply for funding elsewhere.
We have trained board members to be community researchers so that they can carry out consultations with residents. For the next six months, residents in the legal entity group will have training in legal structures, leadership and management, budgeting and bid writing.
I have felt a duty of care to make sure everybody is engaged with and a beneficiary of Big Local. There have been challenges, but we have had no choice but to continue because we want to accomplish a lot more in the time our Big Local has left. For example, we’re setting up a youth advisory board, a decision-making body representing the concerns of 14 to 19 year-olds.
We’re in a good place to get our house in order, to get more funding that will continue to have an impact on local people in Wembley Central for years to come.
Interview by Trina Wallace
Read more Changemakers stories from the people delivering Big Local on our Voices page.