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Local Trust is a place-based funder supporting communities to achieve their ambitions.
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Resources
Resources
Essential guidance and information to help you deliver change in your community
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Evidence and insights
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Evidence and insights
Demonstrating the value of long term, flexible, resident-led funding
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Programmes
Programmes
A series of projects sharing what worked in the Big Local programme and why, and supporting the Big Local legacy in the communities that were involved.
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News and blogs
News and blogs
The latest news and blogs from Local Trust, Big Local and beyond, exploring community power and resident-led change
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About
About
Local Trust is a place-based funder supporting communities to achieve their ambitions.
Find out moreGo straight to…
< Back to main menu -
Resources
Resources
Essential guidance and information to help you deliver change in your community
< Back to main menu -
Evidence and insights
< Back to main menu
Evidence and insights
Demonstrating the value of long term, flexible, resident-led funding
Find out more -
Programmes
Programmes
A series of projects sharing what worked in the Big Local programme and why, and supporting the Big Local legacy in the communities that were involved.
< Back to main menu -
News and blogs
News and blogs
The latest news and blogs from Local Trust, Big Local and beyond, exploring community power and resident-led change
ExploreGo straight to…
< Back to main menu
Recommendations from the programme
Key learnings and advice for those involved in running community-led creative projects, including recommendations for the community, arts sector, and funders.
- Value, invest in, and support people as your key resource.
- Listening is vital. Who are you listening to? How are they heard? How often?
- Creativity is not a luxury – it improves all our lives, in all kinds of ways.
- Every aspect of this work is about relationships – invest in them.
- Working small can be beautiful, valuable and impactful.
- Creative community engagement is highly skilled and requires hard emotional labour. It is also mainly done by women. It deserves to be more highly valued and better paid.
- Be transparent about who gets paid and how much, and who doesn’t. Don’t expect volunteers to do tasks that paid workers could and ensure that workers are paid enough to meet the project’s needs.
- Create a clear and shared long term vision at the start with your community, and keep this visible throughout your work.
- Ensure all parts of the community are involved in your decision–making. Keep reaching out to the most marginalised and excluded.
- It’s not co-creation if the ideas haven’t come from your community.
- Have an experimental mindset – take risks, be flexible and responsive.
- Prioritise environmentally sustainable practice.
- Artists can help you achieve the social impacts that are important to you.
- Artists need to be paid properly; they are skilled professionals, making a precarious living.
- Don’t dismiss the poorer neighbourhoods in your area; they are rich with ambition and talent.
- Re-think your relationship with community organisations. They are not just a ‘bridge’ to communities, but your partners or even leaders.
- Artists need help and support to truly co-create with communities.
- Be led by your values and make sure you live them in your funding practice.
- Fund work in a way that is process orientated and that prioritises outcomes over outputs.
- Think longer term. Three years is the minimum time for programmes like Creative Civic Change to have any real impact.
- Be as brave and trusting as you can, you will be rewarded.
- Peer learning as a principle and as a practice is crucial, and needs resourcing.
- You can play a role in driving change in your sector, as funders and convenors of important conversations.
- Fund core costs and allow resource for reactive spending – sometimes the most impactful money spent is unplanned and of low monetary value.
- Create space to hear about intangible impacts and stories.
More evaluation
Ahead of our planned closure in early 2027, discover Learning from Big Local – your resource for community-led change.
Ahead of our planned closure in early 2027, discover Learning from Big Local – your resource for community-led change.