Changemakers: Inspiring local connections in a West Yorkshire community

Rastrick Big Local in West Yorkshire has focused on strengthening connections between community groups, helping them to share resources and support each other. As the area comes to the end of their Big Local journey, chair Amanda Caldwell reflects on how investment in community spaces has attracted further funding to the area.

Amanda’s story

I first heard about Rastrick Big Local around 11 years ago from the chair at the time, who was stepping down. I thought it was an interesting concept – putting money into local hands and seeing how effective it was. This different approach appealed to me.

I’ve learned so much from my time as chair. I came from the corporate world of finance where everything felt very square. Through Rastrick Big Local, I’ve had my corners rubbed off and I see the world in a completely different way.

Our village of Rastrick has lots of green spaces, but it was desperately in need of updated infrastructure and all the play equipment was run down. We have lots of community organisations, but there was no coordination. There was quite a divide between the areas with private housing and those with social housing. It was clear we needed to bring people together.

When I went to my first Big Local meeting, I ended up getting voted in as chair. This was in the middle of an engagement programme, called Voice your Choice. It involved consulting all the residents, including children, about what type of projects they wanted to see funded.

Small grants had started being awarded to local organisations, like cricket, golf and tennis groups and local schools. We’ve been doing these grants every year since, helping to buy equipment or upgrade facilities. This includes funding a cardiac defibrillator at Rastrick Junior Football Club, therapeutic art lessons for adults at the community centre and a skip project to clean up the local area.

We’ve awarded around £200,000 to the community centre … This meant it could be renovated to a gold standard, making it fully accessible.”

Investing in a new community space

We launched our Big Impact fund in 2018 to support larger projects. Our first substantial investment was the renovation of a community centre on the Field Lane estate.

It has around 2,500 people living there in 800 homes. More than half are social housing. The community centre had been closed for almost a decade and was run down. There was a team working to reopen it, to create a space for local services and activities in the heart of the community. They’d already raised around £400,000 but they needed more funding and running costs to secure the first couple of years.

We’ve awarded around £200,000 to the community centre, which is called Space@Field Lane. This meant it could be renovated to a gold standard, making it fully accessible for disabled people with hoists and adult changing tables. We encouraged and supported the renovation team to consult and engage with the community widely. So, when the centre opened in 2019, it was much more community-led, with activities that local people wanted.

It’s an incredible asset for all the community to enjoy. A lunch club runs twice a week providing subsidised warm meals to around 50 people. It’s helping to bring isolated people together.

There’s an IT suite with eight computers for adult learning. The centre hosts a craft group, exercise classes, a youth club and a parent and toddler group. The private room is used by the local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services NHS team and Sure Start.

Bringing in extra investment to Rastrick

It’s been wonderful to see how initial investment from Big Local can help projects bloom in all kinds of directions. We’ve had a good model for bringing in more investment to the area from external sources. Residents have seen this and it makes them feel positive about the area and that the people in it are cared about.

Rastrick’s community centre, Space@Field Lane.

For example, several residents came together to form a group called Rastrick Plays Better, to improve a number of playgrounds in the area. We provided £40,000 towards new play equipment, including a cycleway, zip wires, swings and football goals. The group were then able to secure an additional £35,000 in funding from SUEZ Communities Trust, Co-op, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s to install exercise equipment at the Burnsall Road play area.

Another example is that the community centre has been awarded a further £240,000 of funding from the National Lottery Community Fund. Over three years, this will fund a volunteer coordinator, a summer programme for 8- to 14-year-olds, three catering apprenticeships and a contribution to monthly overheads.

At Space@Field Lane, we receive referrals from local social prescribers, who connect people to services to improve their health and wellbeing. We then invite these people, who are lonely and isolated, to come for lunch or take part in an activity.

These links have recently been strengthened with £20,000 of funding from the local clinical commissioning group. As part of the Integrated Neighbourhood Teams, we’ll be provided with training to do basic health checks, like blood pressure. The idea is to widen primary care in the community, alleviating pressure on GP services and providing early intervention.

Rastrick Big Local provided the majority of the funds to make the local library accessible by building a ramp. We also renovated the garden at the front, with the council making up surplus costs. This project has helped to secure the future of the library and for it to be somewhere everyone from the community can enjoy.

The local library in Rastrick

Small projects we’ve funded have also made great progress. One resident came to us for support to start mindfulness lessons. This has become so popular, it’s now a social enterprise. Projects like these are highly valued by the community.

Big Local work has transformed people’s lives. For example, two young lads started volunteering at the community centre, to organise youth events and help out in the café. They both became trustees of the centre two years ago. One has gone onto higher education to train to be a nurse and the other is starting as a kitchen apprentice. Their volunteering has helped them build skills and gain vocations. It’s wonderful to see how they’ve come from a challenging start in life to finding their feet.

It’s taken time, but [organisations are] now working collaboratively to benefit the community. This approach is the real legacy of Rastrick Big Local.”

Tackling rising energy costs

We have lots of hubs and organisations in the area, but they tended to work in silo and compete for funds. I had the idea to bring all the local organisations together to share information and work in collaboration.

Many community groups were struggling with rising energy costs, so initially we suggested getting together to talk about that. For example, the local bowling club’s energy costs were higher than salaries.

We invited the local church halls, community centre, visitor centre, local wildlife reserve and sports clubs to the first meeting. Since then, we’ve provided £150,000 of funding to support these organisations with energy efficiency. This includes installing solar panels to eight venues and switching to LED bulbs. These changes are helping to bring down energy bills and support their running costs, long into the future.

This group has now evolved into what we call the Rastrick Partnership. Meeting monthly, the group shares information on grants and funding and exchanges skills in areas like social media. It’s strengthened connections, with organisations referring opportunities to each other. It’s taken time, but they’re now working collaboratively to benefit the community. This approach is the real legacy of Rastrick Big Local.

We’re holding our final celebration event in spring 2025 and spending the last of our funds. This includes supporting a new garden next to the community centre. The community will be deciding what to do with the space. It’s important that they decide what’s best, which has been the essence of our Big Local.

I’m staying involved with the community centre as a volunteer trustee and I’ll be supporting the garden project as it develops. I can’t wait to see how all these projects continue to flourish.

Interview by Elspeth Massey

Photos: Amanda Caldwell

Discover more inspiring stories from our changemakers series on our Voices page. You can also listen to the latest series of our community power podcast to hear from more people making change happen through Big Local.