The Brinnington Big Local area covered the whole town of Brinnington in Greater Manchester, which had a population of 8,255 people in 2021 (ONS, 2022). Being located on the Manchester-Sheffield trainline, the town had good transport links to nearby Stockport at the outset of Big Local. However, its residents were also geographically isolated by the M60 and Reddish Vale Country Park, which surrounded the town. During the programme, nearly 45 per cent of households had no access to a car or van, compared to nearly 25 per cent in the north-west (ONS, 2023).
Unemployment rates in Brinnington were almost double the average in England (DWP, 2024a; 2024b), with particularly high youth unemployment; 16 per cent of 18–24 year olds were receiving unemployment benefits compared to 6 per cent in the north-west region (DWP, 2024c; 2024d). However, the Brinnington partnership felt their town had a strong sense of community, with well-established community organisations offering activities and services. A square in the centre of the main estate, known as the ‘top shops’, included retail units, a library, credit union, a cafe, and a community hub.
The Brinnington Big Local partnership was made up mainly of residents. Many were already volunteering in the area and were able to leverage their networks and skills to deliver Big Local’s work. They built trust with residents thanks to the long-term nature of the Big Local programme, compared to short-term community funding in the past. This allowed the partnership to create a strong network of volunteers and carry out ongoing informal consultation with local people.
Brinnington Big Local’s aim in their plan was to “make Brinnington a fun and enjoyable place to live”. The partnership focused on improving the health and wellbeing of residents; reducing domestic abuse and supporting residents impacted by domestic abuse; and building connections between residents, and with organisations across Brinnington and Greater Manchester. The partnership built strong relationships early on with local charities, businesses, support services and community organisations. This enabled them to tap into specialist support, and expand their services. Seeing value in these ongoing partnerships, Brinnington Big Local held bi-monthly partnership meetings to harness collaboration opportunities.
Partnership members organised themselves into sub-groups to lead different projects. They relied on a couple of longstanding workers employed by their locally trusted organisation (LTO) to assist with delivery, marketing and community engagement.
Through a programme of small grants, Big Local funding supported existing resident-led groups and seeded new ones, including bingo, indoor bowling, and sewing bees. One such grant supported a local boxing group focused on improving mental health and wellbeing, which later became a CIC. A partnership sub-group reviewed grant applications before feeding back to the wider partnership. Over time, the group became better at assessing the potential impact of a project, and detecting non-legitimate groups applying from outside the Big Local area. By 2023, Brinnington Big Local had distributed over £41,000 in small grants to resident-led projects that aligned with their plan.
A Big Local partnership was a group made up of at least eight people that guided the overall direction of delivery in a Big Local area.
Brinnington Big Local wanted to establish a base from which to deliver their work in the area. In early 2019, they partnered with Equity Housing and the Kier Group to repurpose an empty shop into a community hub in the high-footfall central square in Brinnington. The process was collaborative from design to delivery; Big Local and Equity Housing asked residents what they wanted from the space, and also worked with a local art group, schools and young people to design the front window. The hub was opened in July 2019 by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.
The partnership based themselves at the newly opened hub, running activities and services such as mental health support groups. In response to the cost of living crisis, the space became a Warm Hub, with the partnership securing funding from Stockport Council to provide residents with a safe, warm space, food, hot drinks and company. Brinnington Big Local then allocated additional funding to run the service year-round.
Bookable meeting rooms at the hub became a source of income, and served as space for community groups to gather. The partnership also got more feedback from residents and expanded their volunteer network by being in the centre of the estate. Through this work, the partnership created what they referred to as ‘the heart’ of Brinnington for people to meet and access services. Towards the end of the programme, the partnership were exploring a long-term lease for the hub to establish a charitable organisation that could continue delivering their work beyond Big Local.
During the early years of delivery, a local health worker and a police community support officer shared statistics with Big Local about high levels of domestic abuse in Brinnington. Making the area a safe place to live subsequently became a priority for the partnership, so Brinnington Big Local set up a working group of local domestic abuse support organisations and volunteers with lived experience to launch Brinnington Against Abuse: a resident-led organisation to support people affected by abuse in the area.
As of 2023, the organisation’s joint ‘Orange Umbrella’ campaign had trained over 250 volunteers to signpost people impacted by abuse towards safety. Volunteers wore an orange umbrella pin to indicate they could be approached for support. The partnership’s ongoing marketing campaign – via posters and social media – educated people about different types of abuse. They also partnered with local businesses, such as Stockport Homes, to provide safe spaces and emergency bags for residents needing to flee.
Brinnington Big Local paid for an Ongoing Women’s Local Support (OWLS) worker to provide a weekly, discreet, in-person advisory service from the community hub. In four years, the worker conducted 261 advice and support calls, 69 one-to-one sessions, helped 10 residents move out of their homes, and supported a further three residents to leave their abusers. Working together, volunteers, Stockport council and community organisations implemented this model in six other areas across Stockport.
Despite a good bus service between Brinnington and Stockport, many residents could not afford the bus fare to access Citizens Advice there. As a solution, Brinnington Big Local allocated funding to Citizens Advice to run from their new Brinnington hub once a week, making the service accessible to all residents. By 2023, over 600 residents had received advice on more than 1,700 issues – including housing, debt, unemployment and benefit claims. Residents also collectively claimed over £250,000 in benefit entitlements accessed through Citizens Advice. As the programme came to a close, the partnership were planning to continue this service as part of their Big Local legacy plan.
In the face of COVID-19 lockdowns, Brinnington Big Local evolved rapidly to adapt their services. They asked local businesses for support and donations; for example, the Go Local shop (next door to the partnership’s hub) donated £1500 worth of food and the staff donated a week’s worth of wages. The partnership then coordinated emergency response volunteers to deliver over 1,800 food parcels and care packages to residents. Brinnington Big Local also worked with local partners to identify people in vulnerable situations, and delivered meals-on-wheels and DVDs to them to help tackle isolation.
The partnership adapted and responded quickly in the face of uncertainty and changing rules, becoming stronger, more efficient, and better connected as a committee. The partnership felt that community engagement increased during this time, and that their reputation solidified.
At one point during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Big Local hub was forced to temporarily close due to restrictions. During this time, the partnership allowed Stockport Council to use the space as a testing centre, with the local council covering all running costs for this period.
To support residents’ health and wellbeing, the partnership leased unused church land to turn it into a community garden. Brinnington Big Local funding helped create 40 growing plots on the land that any resident could apply for. Known as Green Thumbs Garden, the space became a popular place for residents to meet, grow, learn new skills, and access the wellbeing benefits of nature.
A committee made up of partnership members and volunteers managed the garden and organised events, such as a gardening club for kids; competitions for young people; and wellbeing ‘meet, grow and eat’ sessions for residents in vulnerable situations, such as older residents and those impacted by domestic abuse. Profits from selling produce, and seasonal items like Christmas wreaths, were put back into running the garden.
Brinnington Big Local’s Green Thumbs hub model won several awards, including the mayor’s ‘Age-Friendly Award: Neighbourhoods’, which recognised initiatives that make Greater Manchester the best place in the UK to grow older. The partnership’s LTO was inspired to use this model as a template to design a ‘green corridor’ of green hubs across Manchester.
During the pandemic, Brinnington Big Local found that many families were struggling to cook at home. Further consultation uncovered demand among residents for cooking classes. The partnership therefore developed a programme called ‘Cooking Up a Storm’ to help residents cook and eat well. As part of the initiative, families received food packs and recipes to cook at home. The partnership also released weekly cooking videos on social media to support healthy eating. Some residents specifically requested energy-efficient and cost-saving cooking methods; in response, the partnership purchased and loaned slow cookers, provided along with recipe packs, to 21 families in Brinnington for six weeks. After this, the slow cookers were gifted to residents.
Brinnington Big Local went on to expand their offer with ‘Growing Up a Storm’. For this initiative, they partnered with Green Thumbs community garden to provide residents with recipes, a portable plot, compost, seeds and potatoes to grow and cook their own seasonal fruit, vegetables and herbs.
Towards the end of Big Local, the partnership expressed pride in having set up their own ‘grow, cook, and eat’ model, supported by their Green Thumbs community garden and partner organisations across Brinnington and Greater Manchester.
Through their engagement with residents, the partnership found that many families in Brinnington were concerned they couldn’t pay for holiday activities for their children. In response, they organised two events in August and October 2022 with free food, ice cream and activities for children, which were attended by over 800 residents. Conservationist Crocodile Joe shared wildlife facts at the event, and children had the opportunity to get up close to animals.
Following the popularity of these events, the partnership organised a trip to Blackpool Zoo for Brinnington families on low income, or those receiving free school meals. Heavily subsidised tickets covered the cost of the coach, admission to the zoo, and a packed lunch for the children. Over 300 residents attended, and many children saw exotic animals for the first time.
Each Big Local area received approximately £1.2 million (ranging from £1.199 mil to 1.209 mil) to spend over 10–15 years, depending on how much additional funding they accessed from Local Trust to address specific needs. For example, to bring people together at the start of the programme or to access training and support. This has been categorised for areas and at the programme level based on reports received from areas.
Partnerships chose their own priorities and categories for reporting, and were encouraged to use broad categories so they could use the funding flexibly. All areas spent a significant amount of money on ‘Big Local delivery costs’ such as workers’ salaries, stationery and IT equipment. You can find out more about programme level spend in this article. This is how Brinnington Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024a) ‘People on universal credit: not in employment’. (Accessed 7 January 2025)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024b) ‘Jobseekers allowance’. (Accessed 7 January 2025)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024c) ‘Universal credit: Employment status by age’. (Accessed 7 January 2025)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024d) ‘Jobseekers allowance by age’. (Accessed 7 January 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 7 January 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023) ‘UK Census 2021: No cars or vans in household’. (Accessed 7 January 2025)
