For the last 12 years, residents have been at the heart of a programme which has created innovative projects ranging from youth boxing classes and digital training sessions to programmes aiming to support people into employment.
These free youth boxing classes have become a lifeline for local teens, with 22 young people attending regularly. “These things are not offered in this area, and especially not for free,” said Vanessa Kelly, Project Manager at WELR Big Local: “In the current cost-of-living crisis, families just don’t have the money for this. That’s why it matters so much.”
As the programme comes to an end, Vanessa emphasised the importance of continuing this work: “If [WELR] Big Local closed tomorrow, so much would be lost — the community hub, the activities, the connections. That’s why the legacy matters.”
WELR Big Local is one of 150 Big Local areas, 100 of which have now completed their journey – a major milestone for the programme. The Big Local programme was designed to be radically different from other funding programmes and has enabled areas to spend their funding over 10 to 15 years, according to their communities’ plans and priorities.
Notes to Editor:
About Local Trust
Local Trust is a place-based funder supporting communities to transform and improve their lives and the places in which they live. We believe there is a need to
put more power, resources, and decision-making into the hands of communities. We do this by trusting local people.
Our aims are to demonstrate the value of long term, unconditional, resident-led funding, and to draw on the learning from our work delivering the Big Local programme to promote a wider transformation in the way policy makers, funders and others engage with communities and place.
To read more of our research, please visit localtrust.org.uk
