Over the past 3 years, the North East CA has invested over £4.5 million into local communities via 3 Local Community Partnerships.
Co-ordinated by local authorities but driven by local VCSE groups and residents, these Local Community Partnerships have shaped and delivered grassroots activities to:
· Increase opportunities for people to come together and build strong and trusting relationships
· Strengthen the capacity of VCSE sector organisations to meet the needs of the local community.
· Support the community to play a stronger role in shaping and making decisions on local activities and developments
Over the course of this programme, we learned a lot about what it takes to build strong, connected communities in neighbourhoods where opportunities to come together are few and far between. Our Community Driven Investment Playbook captures our key reflections and outlines what we think it takes to build trust, create new opportunities for connection, and leverage the decision-making power of local communities.
We would welcome a conversation about how these recommendations might be embedded into similar programmes in the future. Please email equalities@northeast-ca.gov.uk if you would like to explore this further.
