Planning for the future of Local Trust and Big Local Trust

Over the last decade, residents of 150 Big Local areas across England have demonstrated the incredible power and potential of local people when they are trusted to take the lead in improving their local communities. With most Big Local areas now reaching the peak of their activity, and many now putting in place plans to ensure ongoing impact beyond the lifespan of the programme, Local Trust, the charity established to support delivery of the Big Local programme, is setting out its own plans to ensure that the programme continues to have impact and influence well into the future.

In 2010, The National Lottery Community Fund announced Big Local – one of the most radical and exciting grant programmes ever launched by a major lottery funder. Residents of each of the 150 Big Local areas in England were awarded over £1m to spend on making their neighbourhoods even better places to live, with delivery agency Local Trust established to provide them with all the advice, support and assistance they needed to make the most of a unique opportunity presented to them.

We have seen incredible examples of what can be achieved when you trust local people with time, money and power to improve their own neighbourhoods.”

The funding could be spent in any way residents chose, provided they organised themselves locally to plan and manage that funding, and involved the wider community in setting the priorities and making decisions on how resources were spent. Over the subsequent decade, across the country, we have seen incredible examples of what can be achieved when you trust local people with time, money and power to improve their own neighbourhoods.

Much has changed since the launch of Big Local in 2010. The programme was conceived of and launched before austerity, COVID-19 and, most recently, the global economic crisis. But one constant has been the commitment and energy that so many people have committed to making the most of Big Local as a positive force for change in their local areas. Local people have also demonstrated their ability to flex, change and adapt in ways that have helped their communities respond to all of those challenges in ways that might not otherwise have been possible.

We have seen new civic life emerge in neighbourhoods that previously saw little community activity; new organisations have been set up to bring together and harness the power of local residents; thousands of volunteers have been mobilised; food hubs and youth initiatives have been established; and new partnerships formed to improve the lives of local people.

We have seen new civic life emerge in neighbourhoods that previously saw little community activity.”

More recently, we have seen more and more Big Local areas build or take on new assets, establish successor bodies and raise new funding to continue to deliver change in their communities well after the Big Local funds in their area have been spent. While partnerships have at times faced challenges, positive change has been achieved in every Big Local area as a result of the programme.

At Local Trust, we have always sought to deliver the best possible support for Big Local residents in achieving their plans and ambitions, and we will continue to do so as areas move towards spending the balance of the Big Local funds available to them. This is due to take place in all areas by or before March 2026, with the Big Local Trust Deed itself due to end in February 2027.

As we approach that date, we will increasingly do so with the aim of ensuring partnerships have the flexibility and resources to carry out their final Big Local plans and, where they wish to, develop ambitions to continue to deliver change into the future. Alongside that, we are determined to ensure that the learning from 15 years of the Big Local programme helps inspire and inform policy makers, funders and those working in and with communities in the future. We want to ensure that, as a result of the Big Local programme:

• There is a wider understanding within the public debate of the central importance of robust and vibrant locally-led institutions and infrastructure as the foundation of powerful communities and successful neighbourhoods.
• Public, private and civil society organisations increasingly seek to embed that insight in how they work, prioritising building and strengthening the social infrastructure of communities through all aspects of their work.
• The principle of placing money and assets in the hands of local people, and providing them with long-term patient support to help initiate and build those institutions, in particular where they do not already exist, is well established in policy and practice across sectors.
• The resources and institutions exist to support those working towards these goals and there is a clear evidence base to support this, expressed in terms that are relevant and accessible to key audiences.

To help achieve that, we will focus even more on sharing learning from what is now an extensive programme of research and evaluation, reviewing and reflecting on the approach, the impact, and the challenges of delivering a long-term, resident-led, place-based programme like Big Local.

We are determined to ensure that the learning from 15 years of Big Local helps inspire and inform policy makers, funders and those working in and with communities in the future.”

This will be particularly important as the government considers how best to deliver the Community Wealth Fund (CWF) – a key achievement of the Community Wealth Fund Alliance, of which Local Trust was a founding member. And as we approach the 25^th anniversary of the New Deal for Communities and the 30^th Anniversary of the Single Regeneration Budget later this year, we will be reflecting on how learning from the Big Local programme sits alongside the insight and evaluation gained via other radical place-based initiatives of the past.

Finally, we are determined to celebrate all the amazing achievements of those involved in the Big Local programme and celebrate with Big Local areas as they review what they have achieved through their work. We will be creating a Learning from Big Local website, which will both act as a repository of research and learning from the Big Local programme and an enduring record of what has been achieved in the communities we have supported over the course of the programme. This will include information on every Big Local area, outlining the partnership’s approach to delivery, their key achievements and what they’ve learned.

We are hugely fortunate that we have time to plan and prepare for a positive organisational and programme-wide legacy having delivered the Big Local Trust Deed through to its conclusion.

If you are interested in finding out more you can download and read the full document.

*This blog has been changed since it was first published.