Big Local Unpacked: Learning from 15 years of community-led change

As part of our commitment to sharing our learning and evidence from Big Local, we announce our partnership with London Funders to deliver a learning series for funders and civil society organisations in London. This is the first in a series of regional learning programmes we’ll be running across England throughout 2026. 

Big Local began in 2010 as a bold experiment: putting money directly into the hands of communities that had missed out on their fair share of funding. The last 15 years has seen residents transform their communities in many amazing ways, from refurbishing and purchasing community assets; campaigning over housing and environmental issues; providing vital activities, services and advice; and running brilliant events and festivals to bring communities together.

Over £150m has been spent by and for local communities in 150 Big Local areas across England, and evidence from the programme shows that supporting local residents to lead on decision-making in their communities builds skills and confidence needed to lay the foundations for lasting positive change. 

Fifteen years of learning that funders and civil society can use today

Big Local is a nationally significant investment in neighbourhood-level change. The original endowment from the National Lottery Community Fund was the largest single-purpose Lottery-funded endowment ever made, and the biggest ever investment by a non-state funder in long-term, place-based, resident-led change. 

How it has been delivered – by residents in Big Local areas, and by Local Trust – offers many lessons for how neighbourhood-level outcomes can be improved, and for how local communities can be supported to take more control over their futures. 

As well as supporting Big Local areas to tell their own stories of neighbourhood change, at Local Trust we have put a lot of resource into evaluating the impact of Big Local, reflecting on what worked well and what has been challenging in delivering the programme. And as we approach the end of Big Local in March 2026 it’s time to share this learning with funders and the wider voluntary and community sector who are interested in enabling community-led change. 

These conversations feel particularly timely given the changing context and landscape. Not only are we seeing a shift in legislation around devolution, more investment in neighbourhood-level programmes such as the government’s Pride in Place strategy and the commitment to a Community Wealth Fund (which Local Trust has long campaigned for) – but there is also growing interest from funders to adopt a more community-led, participatory and place-based lens to their work. 

There are many lessons from Big Local that are applicable to funders and wider civil society.

Before Local Trust closes in 2027, we want to make sure that the insights from Big Local and what we and the communities we work with have learned becomes useful, practical knowledge for funders today and can inform future funding programmes, ultimately ensuring better outcomes for communities in the long-term. 

Introducing the 2026 learning programme – Big Local Unpacked – as a way to go deeper 

We’re excited to be partnering with London Funders to launch Big Local Unpacked – a learning series for funders and civil society organisations in London. This is first in a series of regional learning programmes we’ll be running across England throughout 2026. 

Across six sessions, the series will bring together people directly involved in the design and delivery of Big Local, alongside funders, charities, infrastructure bodies and community organisations for honest reflection, practical insights and space for shared learning. We’ll take a deep dive on key themes and questions such as: 

• Long-term funding as a catalyst for confidence, skills, and sustainability – and how to build and deliver effective support alongside the funding  

• The context of place and existing social infrastructure and how this shapes delivery – and the pros and cons of working on a hyper-local neighbourhood level 

• Inclusion, representation and participation in place-based work, and how to build and convene effective partnerships 
• The practicalities of how the money flows in a way that genuinely puts local people in the driving seat – unpacking the ‘nuts and bolts’ of programme design and delivery.

We’ll explore what really happened over more than a decade of neighbourhood-led change – what worked, what didn’t, and what funders and the wider voluntary and community sector can take forward into the future. 

To find out more or to sign up to the events visit the Big Local Unpacked page, and stay tuned for more information about the learning series in other regions soon.