Strengthening communities: strategies for supporting places that have missed out on funding

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The question of how to distribute money to communities equitably, and in ways that create lasting, positive change, is a dilemma for any funder or decision maker. Our funding reaches communities through charities, community groups and social enterprises. But in many cases, communities that most need funding lack this social infrastructure, which means they risk missing out on grants and support. Over time, without the resources to bring in funding and build social capital, they may face disproportionate deprivation and decline.

One-off regeneration projects and top-down investments are rarely effective in addressing this issue. Communities need more than just money; they need support to build connections and opportunities, work to strengthen local capacity and skills, and the means to do deeply rooted, cross-community work. Over time, this can help to address the root causes of long-term underfunding.

This report shares 10 approaches that we have taken to provide these solutions in different places across the UK, many of which are designated priority one in the Government’s Levelling Up Fund index. It is intended to be read alongside our 2018 report – Putting good ingredients in the mix.

The case studies featured here show a range of different approaches to building social infrastructure through increasing the capability and capacity of local charities and networks, empowering communities to identify and address their priorities, and helping people to access funding opportunities.

The report is not intended to be an exact guide on how to solve a complex, multifaceted issue, and we can’t say for sure that the featured locations have seen longer-term or permanent improvements. However, some of the communities we discuss have seen increased levels of investment, some have seen residents given the means to directly address their priorities, and some have equipped people to use their creativity to meet long-term challenges.

We hope that the case studies offer a toolkit of potential approaches for funders, local authorities and statutory agencies looking to work with a more local focus, ensuring that funding, support and opportunities are available fairly to all.

Date published
March 2023
Contact
knowledge@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

Case studies

The case studies in the report focus on the following areas and approaches:

  • Torbay: Strengthening local capability, confidence and collaboration through targeted capacity-building work, participatory grant making, and building partnerships between local and national organisations.
  • Dudley: Building community relationships through activities, volunteering opportunities and targeted support services, in order to gradually grow trust in a community wary of external support.
  • Gosport: Establishing partnerships between smaller local groups and larger regional groups to help ensure that a smaller town doesn’t miss out on funding or support to its larger neighbour.
  • Powys: Using community land ownership as a lever for ongoing investment, by giving local people the opportunity to take control of their outdoor spaces and develop them for recreation and tourism.
  • Fair Share Trust: Long-term investment to tackle over 80 funding cold spots across the UK, building local community capacity to the point where sufficient infrastructure exists to start bringing in external funding.
  • Clackmannanshire: Maintaining community assets through diversified funding and targeted development support, helping the assets to become self-sufficient and not reliant on grants or local authority funding.
  • Northumberland: Money and power to communities, giving local people the freedom to allocate funding as they see fit, using it to address local priorities and target small investments that leverage external funding.
  • Barking and Dagenham: Empowering local people to design and deliver community activities focused on participation and community involvement, without needing to apply for funding or set up formal entities.
  • West Armagh: Engaging residents and unlocking investment through a local coordinating body, allowing funding to reach housing estates that can otherwise be cut off from access to grants and programmes.
  • Southend-on-Sea: Sustained investment into the early years, bringing local authorities, statutory services, charities, community groups and education providers together to work in a connected, strategic way.

Strengthening communities: strategies for supporting places that have missed out on funding (PDF 4 MB)

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