We use cookies where necessary to allow us to understand how people interact with our website and content, so that we can continue to improve our service.
We only ever receive anonymous information, and cannot track you across other websites.
View our privacy policy
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the first event in the Big Local North West Learning Programme. The session brought together people from across the region to explore the legacy of Big Local, share learning on community led change and build new connections. Catch up with the recording and presentation slides, discover what participants told us, and find out what’s coming up next, including the new Learning into Action Awards.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the first event in the Big Local North West Learning Programme. It was fantastic to see so many people from across the North West come together to explore the legacy of Big Local and what we can learn from more than 15 years of community led change.
We’d also like to extend our thanks to our speakers for sharing their expertise, insights and experiences, and to our colleagues from the VS6 Partnership for their support in delivering the programme.
The session sparked thoughtful discussion around resident leadership, community power and the role communities play in shaping better places.
The feedback from the session highlighted the importance of collaboration, trust and community as the foundations of lasting change. Participants also expressed a strong interest in practical learning around infrastructure, governance and decision making, as well as opportunities to continue learning from one another through future events and peer connections.
These insights will help shape the rest of the programme as we continue to explore what community led change looks like in practice across the North West.
If you were unable to attend, or would like to revisit the discussion, the presentation slides are are now available.
You can read more about Windmill Hill Big Local and what they did with their Big Local funding in their area summary on the Learning from Big Local website. You can find out more about Groundwork CLM and the work they do on their website here.
In this blog, Local Trust CEO Rachel Rowney discusses some of what they’ve learned about building lasting community-led change.
What does success mean in Big Local? – Success in a programme like Big Local is complex and multi-faceted. In this article, Rob Macmillan from Sheffield Hallam University, examines how success was and could be understood by different stakeholders in Big Local, and what factors or conditions might have helped or hindered progress towards each of the four broad programme outcomes.
The Learning from Big Local website has much to explore with a wide range of research, practical insights, resident stories, Q&A articles, themed resources and reports that help you explore what happens when communities lead lasting change.
This is just the beginning of the learning journey, and we hope you’ll continue to be part of it.
Over the coming months we’ll be exploring:
There will also be opportunities to visit Big Local areas in Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region, giving participants the chance to hear directly from communities and see community led approaches in action.
Later in the programme, we’ll also be launching our Learning into Action Awards.
These small grants of up to £500 will give participants the opportunity to test a new idea, explore a different way of working, strengthen partnerships or put learning from the programme into practice within their own organisations, partnerships or communities.
As you continue through the programme, we encourage you to think about one simple question:
What could you do differently because of what you’ve learned?
We look forward to welcoming you to the next event and continuing this learning journey together.
