The Community Hub Handbook

Opening a community hub is no small achievement and keeping it open and active is harder still. People who succeed at it are canny folk – they show grit, ingenuity and determination. Yet they’ll often talk about how much more they wish they had known at the outset – mistakes they later see were avoidable.

That’s one reason why we’ve created The Community Hub Handbook – to fill a gap in practical guidance, help people avoid common pitfalls and ensure those running community hubs have access to the best information available.

Spreading the knowledge and tools to help community hubs survive and thrive is much needed, and not just by those ‘do-ers’ who typically get involved in running community spaces. Local, accessible meeting places directly benefit people living nearby, and it’s increasingly recognised that they matter nationally too.

Creating fun activities is something that communities excel at – no advice is needed there. But for business essentials – managing buildings, securing income, attracting bookings and demonstrating impact – this Handbook can help. It is packed with tried-and-tested tools and essential, hard-won knowledge to inform your plans and decisions. Explore it, test it, try it and share it. We’d love to hear what happens next.

This handbook is a response to the Community Hubs: Understanding survival and success research, accompanied by two blogs. The first from Steve Wyler, co-author of the report and Niamh Goggin, Director of Small Change and member of Local Trust’s community hubs advisory panel.