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blog Mar 2026
Community spirit
Community-led change created by people, not programmes
Community leaders are the key ingredient of community-led change. Drawing on learning from Big Local, Georgie Burr explores how investing in resident leadership — from listening campaigns to small grants — creates the conditions for lasting transformation in communities.
blog Feb 2026
Community spirit
Skills
Practical lessons on involving communities in place-based research
In February, Local Trust hosted a seminar bringing together academic, community and third-sector researchers to reflect honestly on what works – and what doesn’t – when involving communities in research. This blog reflects on the three major lessons from the seminar
blog Feb 2026
Health and wellbeing
How have the most disadvantaged communities improved health and wellbeing on their own terms?
Sue Ansarie shares insights from across Big Local areas on improving health and wellbeing in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
blog Feb 2026
Community spirit
When residents lead: What Big Local shows us about community power and lasting change
Local Trust’s head of programme, Alex Boys explores what happens when residents hold genuine power over resources and the lasting change that resident-led decision making creates.
tender
Expressions of Interest: Provision of bespoke support and management of Liverpool community health learning project
Local Trust are seeking an organisation or collective to administer and manage grant funding for an ambitious new community health learning project in Liverpool.
research Local economies
Making the most of it: unitarisation, hyperlocal democratic renewal and community empowerment
This report by IPPR North explores how unitarisation enables democratic renewal through hyperlocal governance and community participation
blog Feb 2026
Health and wellbeing
Spaces and services
Health, wellbeing and belonging: Lessons from Big Local communities
As Big Local comes to an end in 2026, we’re reflecting on the ways communities have addressed local health and wellbeing challenges. In this blog, Lucy Thurley explores how shared meals and inclusive gatherings in Big Local areas like Wick Award and Pimlico Million have tackled loneliness and social isolation, by creating community spaces where people feel welcome, visible and valued
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Pride in Place Winter Event Series: London
This event is your opportunity to find out more about the Pride in Place programme from MHCLG, connect with…