Catton Grove
Key points
- Catton Grove Big Local refurbished the local community centre, repurposing it to create a more flexible space and better meet community needs.
- The partnership supported volunteers to establish a “Friends of” group which significantly improved the local park.
- Through subsidies and small grants, local children and adults had access to affordable, local and regular activities, and created a new community allotment to support health and wellbeing.
About the Big Local area
Around 6,600 people lived in the Catton Grove Big Local area (ONS, 2022a), a neighbourhood just over a mile north of Norwich city centre. Densely populated, it had a large proportion (over 45 per cent) of social rented housing (ONS, 2022b; 2023). Residents had access to shops, schools, churches, a park, a community centre and an adjoining green space known as Pointers Field.
The area had more adults unable to work through long-term illness or disability; more children living in low-income households; and more adults at risk of digital exclusion than city-wide averages (ONS, 2022c; DWP, 2024; GMCA, 2021). Two local authorities provided services in the area, Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council.
How the Big Local area approached delivery
In 2013, a group of community representatives, known as the Big Local Bunch, engaged and consulted residents in Catton Grove. From this, working groups – composed of residents, community groups and organisations – formed around six community priorities including supporting residents’ health and wellbeing; creating a new community venue and a community allotment; broadening young people’s horizons; and engaging residents. These led to the formation of the Catton Grove Big Local partnership in 2014, who produced a plan informed by the groups’ recommendations around key themes.
The partnership wanted to encourage greater resident participation in community activities, having acknowledged historically low levels of community engagement in the area. They recognised that they needed to be realistic and ensure that activities were relevant and attractive to local people.
From the start of Big Local, the partnership paid a co-ordinator to promote voluntary activity and build community capacity. The coordinator also commissioned organisations to deliver local services such as access to information and advice; employment and training opportunities; and activities for young and older residents.
Catton Grove Big Local ran an ongoing ‘Community Chest’ small grants programme, supported by a panel of partnership members. This offered an opportunity for residents and local groups to try ideas out and develop community activities.
Resident engagement was an ongoing challenge and remained a priority outcome for Catton Grove Big Local. In 2021, the partnership reduced its reliance on delivery partners and increased its in-house engagement capacity by creating two community-link worker roles. However, recruitment and retention proved difficult and in 2023 the partnership decided not to re-recruit.
Catton Grove Big Local worked with three Locally Trusted Organisations (LTOs) over the course of the programme. Partnership members felt their most effective relationship was with the third, a local community church, which was appointed in 2018. The long-standing Oak Grove Community Church understood the community and its challenges, and was supportive of a resident-led approach. It was also commissioned to deliver activities on behalf of the partnership, such as debt advice.
There was a close relationship between the partnership and the Catton Grove Community Centre throughout the Big Local programme. The centre was the hub for many Big Local activities and benefited from increased room bookings. Having a physical presence helped Catton Grove Big Local to raise its profile. In 2024, the partnership allocated funds to building works at the centre as a key legacy project for Catton Grove.
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.
Many Big Local partnerships funded workers to support the delivery of Big Local. They were paid individuals, as opposed to those who volunteered their time. They were different from Big Local reps and advisors, who were appointed and paid by Local Trust.
A locally trusted organisation (LTO) was the organisation chosen by people in a Big Local area or the partnership to administer and account for funding, and/or deliver activities or services on behalf of a partnership. Areas might have worked with more than one locally trusted organisation depending on the plan and the skills and resources required.
What the Big Local area did
Health and wellbeing
Engaging residents in activities to improve physical and mental health
Early consultation in Catton Grove highlighted that health and wellbeing was a significant issue for residents, so the Big Local partnership made this a priority from the start. They worked alongside the Catton Grove Community Centre to sustain and build on existing wellbeing activities, and directed funding to a wider range of affordable classes. For a small fee, regular sessions included gentle exercise, Zumba, shuffleboard, arts and crafts, relaxation and yoga, and a ‘Try January’ campaign offered free sessions for the whole month. During the pandemic, some of the activities continued online so that people could do them at home. Participants commented on their improved physical fitness but also the social benefits.
In addition to centre-based activities, Catton Grove Big Local funding enabled wellbeing events on Pointers Field next to the community centre, financed a local football team, supported a Big Local running group, and promoted health walks.
Creating an outdoor space for residents to come together and learn new skills
During early consultation, residents asked the partnership to set up a community allotment so they could grow fruit and veg. The city council offered the partnership an overgrown plot on a local allotment site and a small group, led by a resident with a passion for gardening, worked together to establish it as a growing space. Big Local funding paid for tools, a shed and annual allotment fees, and Big Local staff supported volunteers to establish a stand-alone and constituted community group. The resident-led community allotment continued with support from the Catton Grove Big Local small grants programme. Volunteers stressed that the project was about much more than growing vegetables:
Investing in young people
Broadening the horizons of children and young people
Catton Grove Big Local heavily invested in children and young people’s activities following consultation. These ran in schools and parks, as well as in the wider community. Children expressed a need for safe space to meet friends with some craft and internet-based activities. The partnership was more ambitious, aiming to provide opportunities which would increase children’s self-esteem, broaden their horizons and raise their aspirations.
Youth providers were commissioned to deliver weekly junior and youth clubs. Levels of participation from Catton Grove residents however were generally low, particularly amongst teenagers, and despite some re-commissioning and reshaping of the activities, this remained a challenge for the Catton Grove partnership.
The partnership also supported other community groups and organisations to provide activities during school holidays. These were often organised through open calls for suggested activities, and became more popular as time went on. In addition, ‘Community Chest’ grants were awarded to groups and organisations supporting children and young people. These were often one-off projects including drama workshops, a community gardening project, a summer playscheme and musical equipment.
Community assets and spaces
Creating a community hub for local services and activities
Residents were keen to have a new community venue in the area, so Catton Grove Big Local rented a disused police station, redecorated it and opened it as “The Box” community hub in 2016. The partnership commissioned a delivery partner to provide information, advice and support services, and develop the building into a viable community facility. However, the space was underused. Tensions arose about access to and ownership of the space between Catton Grove Big Local and the delivery partner, due to lack of clarity in the initial agreement. This made it difficult for Big Local to run The Box as a multi-use community space and it eventually closed in 2019.
After that, the partnership turned its attention to the Catton Grove Community Centre, located in the middle of the Big Local area. It was local authority-owned and managed by a voluntary management committee. Many of Catton Grove Big Local activities were already being delivered from the centre, alongside a range of other community activities. In 2019, Big Local allocated funding to refurbish the common areas and, a few years later, created a new multipurpose room. The community centre became the partnership’s main legacy project, providing a local facility with income-generating potential. Community feedback showed improvements to the community centre were appreciated by its users, and helped to raise the profile of Big Local.
Bringing people together to improve green space
One of Catton Grove Big Local’s most successful projects was the development of Waterloo Park. Residents felt that the park was neglected, park facilities could be improved and that there were few opportunities to influence the use and management of the park.
In 2017, partnership members held an open meeting in the cafe in Waterloo Park to see if there was any interest locally in developing a support group. The response from the wider community was very positive, and a Friends group began to take shape, bringing together local residents and park users living further afield.
The emerging Friends group carried out a survey of park users which provided an understanding of how people used the park and the improvements they wanted to see. It also raised the profile of the new Friends group, allowing them to build a database of supporters and potential volunteers.
With some financial as well as development support from Catton Grove Big Local, the Friends of Waterloo Park became an independently constituted charity. Subsequently, the group developed a large pool of volunteers, worked with the city council to create a 10-year management plan for the park, improved flower beds and borders, created a wildflower meadow, hosted events, and were involved in selecting a new tenant for the park café.
The park was awarded Green Flag status and, in 2024, became recognised as a Garden of Sanctuary. Towards the end of the programme, the Friends of Waterloo Park were managing 30+ beds, and regularly organising free family activities during school holidays.
How the Big Local area spent their funding
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 Catton Grove Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
References
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024) ‘Children in low income families: local area statistics’. (Accessed 9 January 2025)
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) (2021) ‘Digital Exclusion Risk Index: DERI score’. (Accessed 9 January 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022a) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 9 January 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022b) ‘UK Census 2021: Population density’. (Accessed 9 January 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022c) ‘UK Census 2021: Economic activity status, England and Wales: Economically inactive: long-term sick or disabled’. (Accessed 9 January 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023) ‘UK Census 2021: Social rented housing’. (Accessed 9 January 2025)