Levelling the land: Social investment and ‘left behind’ places
Is there potential for a social investment model to help areas that have been 'left behind'?
Local Trust commissioned independent advisor and researcher Dan Gregory to explore whether social investment in its current forms could support the regeneration of the most deprived or ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods across the country or, as our experience with the Big Local programme was suggesting, new models were needed, and if so, what they might look like.
This report draws on desk based research and interviews with community members, and its conclusion is clear: we need to rethink current models of social investment if they are to be relevant to and make a difference in the most deprived or ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods.
As Barbara Slasor from Gaunless Gateway Big Local puts it, social investment could make a difference in her area, but it needs to be “done right”.
