The start of 2026 marks almost a decade and a half of a resident-led change programme across England. As the final Big Local areas complete their spending, we’re sharing the lessons learnt from supporting thousands of residents to take the lead in improving their communities.
Designed to inform future policy and funding approaches with content curated for national policymakers, researchers, funders and community leaders, we’re launching Learning from Big Local – a website that brings together 15 years of research, stories and learning from the Big Local programme, set up by The National Lottery Community Fund. The site, officially launched on 26 January, offers the most comprehensive evidence base to date of what long-term, resident-led investment can achieve.
Lessons for the future
The Big Local story provides a uniquely rich, long-term evidence base showing what happens when power, trust and resources sit directly with local residents. As national debates continue around the future of neighbourhood policy, devolution and place-based regeneration, the learning from Big Local is clear — ordinary people can deliver real change when they are given the tools to do it.
The programme has seen thousands of people in some of England’s most disadvantaged areas coming together to improve their neighbourhoods and support their communities. Evidence from across the programme shows it has:
- Improved healthcare – many people living in Big Local areas experienced improved mental health and better access to healthcare in their community.
- Boosted local economies – Big Local areas helped local businesses and people through the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
- Invested in young people – with 266 youth-focused projects funded across the programme, including ones specifically focusing on skills and employment.
- Reduced crime – Big Local areas saw a significant reduction in both overall crime and criminal damage.
Case study: Ambition Lawrence Weston — Taking a climate-positive approach to improving local quality of life
In 2018, the residents of Lawrence Weston Big Local in Bristol wanted to play their part in tackling climate change, as well as improve domestic energy efficiency and help residents reduce their energy bills. They landed on a novel approach – using some of the grant from Local Trust to build a wind turbine to supply the area with electricity.
Opening in 2023, the 4.3‑kilowatt community-owned wind turbine generates enough power for 3,500 homes, with all profits going to Ambition Lawrence Weston to support the wider community. This lengthy, complex project took seven years to deliver from the initial idea to the launch of the turbine, and it’s still going, with excess profits being sold back to the grid.
Improving lives in communities across England
Rachel Rowney, CEO of Local Trust, who has been involved since the programme’s early days, said:
“The Big Local programme is the largest non-state investment in resident-led, place-based change in England. The Big Local programme was a unique experiment, placing funding and decision-making directly in the hands of communities, on this scale, had never been tried before. The results are a testament to the power of those people who stepped up and volunteered. If you trust residents with the tools they need, they will build better communities.
“Throughout England, in some of the most disadvantaged areas, thousands of residents have developed the confidence, skills and networks to improve their neighbourhoods.
“As Big Local reaches its conclusion, we’re making our learning accessible to everyone through a new website, capturing 15 years of insights, stories and evidence. Our hope is that it supports future policy, funding and practice long after the programme ends.”
Phil Chamberlain, England Director – Strategy, Partnerships and Engagement at The National Lottery Community Fund, said:
“At The National Lottery Community Fund, we champion bold approaches leading to real and long-term change. Big Local is a testament to the truly life-changing impact putting agency, power, and control at the heart of our funding can have. It has empowered communities with the fewest opportunities to influence the systems and decisions affecting them – and created a legacy for future generations.
“Lessons learned from Big Local, and other Trusts like it, will help shape our future work across our England Portfolio – including schemes such as the £175 million Community Wealth Fund, where local people will be empowered to decide how to spend individual funding pots, according to what’s best for their area, and will oversee plans to make their community’s ambitions a reality.”
Visit our new website, Learning from Big Local.
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact Benjamin Jackson at press@localtrust.org.uk or 0203 588 0428.