The road to the Community Wealth Fund: reflections one month on

The government’s announcement in September 2025 that the Community Wealth Fund will be targeted at doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods marks a significant victory for the Community Wealth Fund Alliance (CWFA), for which we have served as the secretariat since its inception. Our senior policy officer, Roshni Mistry, reflects on this achievement one month on.

This year has seen the government shine a spotlight on the need to invest in the country’s neighbourhoods, starting with those with low levels of community capacity and social infrastructure.

In the past year alone, the government has announced a Plan for Neighbourhoods, a Pride in Place Strategy and the long-awaited confirmation of the creation of the Community Wealth Fund (CWF). As a founding member and secretariat of the Community Wealth Fund Alliance (CWFA), this latter announcement is a huge achievement for Local Trust, one which we have been working towards since January 2019 alongside the cross-sectoral 800+ CWFA members.

Last month’s CWF announcement, with its focus on funding at a hyper-local level, targeting communities in doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods, is an exciting milestone in what commentators are calling “the neighbourhood moment”. We know from delivering the Big Local programme that this type of long-term investment, combined with community-led decision-making, has the potential to improve and transform disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

CWFA campaign: the journey to a neighbourhood-focused approach 

Our journey towards campaigning for a CWF began seven years ago with the release of a report, ‘Strong resourceful communities’, which made the case for a Community Wealth Fund. Over that time, the campaign successfully amended the Dormant Assets Bill, secured a 10-minute rule bill, held a Westminster Hall Debate, triggered a technical consultation, oversaw the passage of secondary legislation, gained over 800 Alliance members, and advocated for the CWF through three general elections and five prime ministers.    

The campaign called for the CWF to be designed with the following core principles:

• Provision of long-term, patient funding (10-15 years) 

• Neighbourhood investment at the hyper-local level 

• Community-led decision making 

• Building community confidence and capacity 

To help build cross-party support among MPs, the APPG for Left Behind Communities launched in July 2020. During the passage of the Dormant Assets Bill 2021, APPG co-chair Paul Howell presented a 10-minute rule bill proposing that the CWF be set up using dormant assets. This helped lead to the government opening a consultation on the creation of the CWF, which was accepted in March 2023, where the CWF was added as the fourth beneficiary of the Dormant Assets Scheme.  

By early 2024, the campaign was so close to achieving its goal, only to be halted by a general election, which slammed the brakes on an eagerly anticipated announcement of the design and detail of the scheme. Only a short year and a half later, in June 2025, the government released the Dormant Assets Strategy for 2024-2028 and confirmed that the CWF would receive £87.5m from the expanded Dormant Assets Scheme alongside an additional £87.5m from the National Lottery Community Fund, taking funding to £175m.  

Finally, after seven years of campaigning, September 2025 saw the government confirm that the Community Wealth Fund will be targeted at the doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods most in need of investment and community capacity building support. The funding will be long-term, with the intention to target underserved neighbourhoods that have not had the same access to funding and support as other communities.  

This announcement signifies a huge achievement for the Alliance, with the CWF’s design and delivery falling in line with the campaign’s core objectives. As with most campaigns, the journey towards this achievement has not always been straightforward – there were instances where it seemed like we would not get the outcome we had all been looking for. However, with perseverance and the strength of our 800-strong cross-sectoral Alliance, we managed to secure a truly transformational amount of money for neighbourhoods across England. 

The Big Local legacy 

The Community Wealth Fund has only been possible because of the evidence, learning and experience of the Big Local programme – the largest investment in resident-led funding England had ever seen until now. As we look forward and begin thinking about the lasting legacy of the Big Local programme, we hope that the establishment of the CWF will help demonstrate the value of long-term investment targeted at rebuilding community social infrastructure.

The Big Local programme shows that resident-led long-term funding does help to shift the dial in doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods, helping residents to build the vital social and economic capital that enables lasting positive change.  

Research such as the 2021 Frontier Economics’ report Impact of Social Infrastructure Investment provides a solid economic case for the value of building social infrastructure. It found that £1m investment in community-led social infrastructure in a left-behind area could generate approximately £1.2m of fiscal benefits and £2m of social and economic benefits over a ten-year period. 

Through the work of Big Local and now the Community Wealth Fund, there will be a strong precedent for future funders and governments, which illustrates that when trusted with time, resources and appropriate support, local residents are able to identify local needs and develop solutions that are sustainable over the long term.  

Next steps 

With the CWFA’s campaign aim achieved, the Alliance will be closing down.  To relive all the major milestones from our campaign, please visit our campaign timeline. We would like to thank all of our members for their support in helping to make the CWF a reality. 

The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) is the named distributor for the Dormant Assets Scheme.  The NLCF are currently designing the details of the programme and developing the methodology for selecting the areas set to benefit from the Community Wealth Fund. For further information and updates, please contact communitywealthfund@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk.