The Central Boston Big Local area was a three-kilometre area in Boston, Lincolnshire, comprising a medieval port and market town. It included the town centre, shops, police and railway stations, recreation and leisure areas, historical sites, and schools and colleges. St. Botolph’s Parish Church (referred to locally as ‘the Stump’) was a prominent architectural and historical local landmark.
Substantial demographic shifts took place in Central Boston following the turn of the millennium. There was a 12 per cent population increase between 2011 and 2021 to a total population of 10,626 (ONS, 2012; 2022a). The Central Boston Big Local area was home to a large Eastern European migrant community, and in 2021, Lithuanian, Polish, and Romanian were the most common languages after English (ONS, 2022b; 2022c; 2022d).
Central Boston Big Local partnership worked to a vision of ‘a happy vibrant area where people feel a sense of belonging’. They focused on generating local pride and capacity (largely through supporting activities and events that celebrated the area), bringing residents together, increasing accessibility, and rejuvenating the area.
The partnership’s goal was to leave a legacy of self-sustaining local groups and initiatives, rather than continuing to operate as a group or organisation.
The partnership wanted to maximise the impact of Big Local funding and act as facilitators, enablers, and motivators, and therefore focused on commissioning rather than delivery. They focused on small community grants, working through local agencies, supporting social investment, and encouraging enterprise. With community engagement an essential component of their overall approach, the partnership held open Annual General Meetings, distributed yearly questionnaires to identify local needs, and built open dialogues with partner organisations. This holistic approach, woven throughout the work, led them to often make ‘the positive decision to not do things’.
Relationships with local groups and bodies underpinned the Central Boston Big Local partnership’s work. They worked with two locally trusted organisations (LTOs) in their time, fostering a key relationship with Age UK Lincoln and Lincolnshire. Similarly, the partnership worked closely with key members of Boston Borough Council, collaborating on numerous projects and hosting one council worker as a non-voting member. Through this collaborative work (and through providing small grants through a ‘community chest’ programme) the partnership helped bring local groups together.
The partnership felt that their local interconnectedness helped their vision come to life. One member reflected that they were like ‘Venn diagrams’ which allowed initiatives such as the community chest programme to blossom largely through word of mouth.
The Central Boston Big Local partnership had one chair throughout, a vice chair and finance lead, and an average of 11 members at any given time (with a total of 21 members from start to finish). This internal stability was reflected in high long-term member retention, and meant the partnership required minimal support from the paid worker around plan design, delivery, and evaluation.
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.
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.
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.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Central Boston Big Local partnership adapted the focus of the Big Local funding process to enable effective, flexible responses to community need. Big Local funds were reallocated from events and activities that could no longer go ahead, and barriers to funding were reduced through changes to their small-grants application process. These adaptations, which reduced the process to a five-minute application form, led to a noticeable increase in applications for Big Local funding.
One member reflected that the adapted process enabled members to develop new skills around identifying unmet needs in the community, which resulted in proactive decision-making. Members became more confident at communicating, negotiating, and networking through handling increased applications.
The local Restore Church in Boston successfully went through the simplified funding process when applying for Covid-19 pandemic support. This enabled them to set up and run a social supermarket, Restore Pantry, which allowed residents to access affordable food. Because of the Big Local seed funding, the Restore Pantry was able to continue beyond the Big Local programme, and in 2023 was continuing to provide affordable food to residents.
As part of the goal of building community pride in the Central Boston Big Local area, the partnership worked to engage residents in the area’s rich history. The partnership saw this as a way to educate and unify residents and to generate local pride – particularly in younger people and an increasing number of residents who had moved to the area. The partnership developed games that celebrated Central Boston, designing bespoke versions of Monopoly and Trumps cards based on local heritage sites.
The partnership developed both games themselves rather than commissioning externally. The Trumps cards were funded by the partnership, with the chair leading design in 2020, and sold well in local shops. This paved the way for the development of Boston Monopoly in 2021. Big Local funding contributed towards 83 per cent of the cost of the game, while Boston Borough Council funded the remainder. Up to 1,500 sets were distributed to 14 designated local charities and groups to be sold at £30 each. This raised £44,500 in local funds, and following this success, a second round of production was funded for Christmas 2023.
The partnership felt that the heritage games formed the most tangible part of their otherwise intentionally non-physical legacy, and had engaged the community in a truly creative way.
As part of the partnership’s focus on community cohesion, they held an annual ‘beach’ event in Boston’s central park. The event included a range of activities for the whole community, including donkey rides, free ice-cream for children, and music. The event had a specific focus on accessibility, including for children, older people, and residents who were not usually engaged in such events. Some sessions were run only for certain groups, such as residents with dementia or those with additional support needs.
The beach event began early in the programme, in 2015, delivered collaboratively with the local council who organised the event and brought other local voluntary organisations on board. This initial collaboration helped the beach to become self-sustaining – a key part of the partnership’s vision.
Big Local seed funding helped launch the Boston Marathon, which was another key project to bring the community together. Launched in 2016, the marathon became a self-sustaining annual event with a strong volunteer base, putting Boston on the regional map by increasing visitors to the area and increasing local spending. Through these increases in tourism and local networks, and by serving as a focus for the community, the partnership felt the marathon increased community cohesion and civic pride.
Big Local funding helped seed fund Boston in Bloom, an initiative to make Boston a cleaner, greener town. Boston in Bloom won gold in the ‘East Midlands in Bloom’ competition for two consecutive years, and became financially self-sustaining. A local retail square, transformed with landscaping improvements and public art installations, included a poignant mosaic by the Memory Lane support group (a dementia support group funded by the partnership), and garnered a special Judges’ Award.
Boston in Bloom went on to collaborate with Boston Borough Council and other local agencies, garnering sponsorship from multiple local groups and ensuring its continuation beyond Big Local.
Central Boston Big Local partnership supported improvements to Blackfriars Theatre, specifically improvements in disabled public access to the auditorium and rehearsal and conference rooms. The installation of a lift at Blackfriars Theatre as part of this investment was recognised by the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA), with one member of NODA reflecting that it was one of the top theatres nationwide for enabling disabled performers to access the stage (BBL, 2019). The partnership’s members expressed pride in this accomplishment, underscoring the importance of improving accessibility as a cornerstone of their broader mission to grow community cohesion.
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 Central Boston Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2012) ‘UK Census 2011: All persons’. (Accessed 17 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022a) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 17 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022b) ‘UK Census 2021: Main language, English language proficiency, and household language in England and Wales: Lithuanian’. (Accessed 17 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022c) ‘UK Census 2021: Main language, English language proficiency, and household language in England and Wales: Polish’. (Accessed 17 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022d) ‘UK Census 2021: Main language, English language proficiency, and household language in England and Wales: Romanian’. (Accessed 17 October 2024)
