The Big Local area was based in Clubmoor, a neighbourhood in Liverpool, which had been a small village until the 1920s, when it was redeveloped to ease inner city crowding. Clubmoor was primarily residential, with some shops, including a small retail park. In 2021, it was one of the larger Big Local areas, with a population of 13,850 and higher population density than wider Liverpool (ONS, 2022; 2023). While local green spaces were limited (OS, 2025), just outside the Big Local area there was a large recreation ground with multiple sports pitches and a small, wooded area with pond at Larkhill Estate Gardens. Residents were well connected to the city via multiple bus routes and a ring road, and other community assets included primary schools, churches, and a couple of community centres.
The area was in the top 10 per cent of deprived communities in England (MHCLG, 2019), and mental health needs were higher than the rest of the city (PLDR, 2022). The impact of deprivation on children was notable – compared with the rest of Liverpool, a higher proportion of children (aged 19 or under) lived in relative low-income families and a higher proportion lived in lone-parent households (DWP, 2025; ONS, 2025).
From the outset, the Clubmoor Big Local partnership (known locally as MyClubmoor) focused on improving residents’ wellbeing and fostering community pride. Community consultation helped them develop their priority themes around encouraging residents to grow, to create, and to connect.
The partnership valued creativity and recognised how it could serve as a hook to engage residents in community activities. Big Local funding was allocated to creative initiatives, like a theatre performance in the community and a newspaper. Written by residents, the newspaper brought local stories to life and enabled people to share their reflections on the area, creating a sense of community. It also introduced residents to available activities and events happening locally, like gardening, cooking, music, and arts.
Resident involvement in delivery was important to the partnership. To promote that involvement, a grant scheme – I Heart Awards – was open to applications from any resident with an idea that could benefit the community or local economy. Grants ranged from £500 to £15,000. A grant from MyClubmoor enabled Sports Alive NW to grow their organisation, to deliver opportunities for children and young people across the wider Liverpool area. The organisation credited the initial investment from Big Local as having given them the confidence to expand their work and apply for larger grants elsewhere. The partnership felt proud to have given a ‘kickstart’ to many new groups operating in the community, enabling them to deliver within Clubmoor and across the wider Liverpool city region.
The partnership was particularly keen to not duplicate existing activity in the area. This often meant temporarily filling gaps in provision or signposting existing activity, rather than fund something new. When parents and toddler sessions at the council-run Clubmoor Family Hub were oversubscribed, Big Local funding was invested in a new session at Norris Green Youth Centre – Nurture Nest – where children could play and parents could connect. Over time, the Family Hub was able to expand their offer and provide more play sessions, while Nurture Nest was tapered off and residents were signposted to the Family Hub.
Alongside support from paid staff, partnership members also had strong relationships with the children’s centre and five primary schools in the area. This enabled the MyClubmoor partnership to understand community needs and provide opportunities to ensure a broader range of residents benefitted from Big Local funded support. These relationships proved particularly important when the partnership was no longer able to access their community hub towards the end of Big Local. Connections with Norris Green Youth Centre provided MyClubmoor with a new location to host activities and office space.
In 2023, the partnership set up a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) – also named MyClubmoor – to continue their work in the community. As Big Local came to an end, the partnership was moving their wellbeing activities to the new organisation. Plans were also in place for the CIO to lead on MyClubmoor Media Studios, a new opportunity for children and young people at the Norris Green Youth Centre.
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.
Gardening was central to MyClubmoor’s work, and the Garden Challenge – running annually from 2016 until 2019 – was one of their first gardening projects. Residents were invited to present their gardens and allotments to the Association of Liverpool Allotments for judging. The partnership saw the Association’s involvement as adding credibility to the events.
By 2018, the annual event had cumulatively received over 170 entries, and parallel events were introduced through new relationships with local allotments and schools, supporting skills development and healthy eating. One school was awarded a grant to develop a gardening club, and three schools held a Scouse Challenge, where pupils created and cooked 180 stew recipes using ingredients that had been donated.
Incredible Edible Clubmoor – set up by the partnership – was another example of creativity through gardening. This provided opportunities for residents to grow produce and share with one another. Raised planters were built across the area, taking advantage of under-used spaces to provide free produce for residents.
Volunteers recognised that skills and confidence were potential barriers to the wider community getting involved with Incredible Edible Clubmoor, so a 15-week course was developed to engage more residents to participate. As Big Local came to an end, Incredible Edible continued sessions with residents, collaborating with other groups such as Friends of Larkhill Gardens.
Partnership members felt that all the growing spaces fostered local pride and aspiration and helped build confidence among residents who learned new skills. The success of these gardening projects led to the idea of a permanent community garden on a previously unused open space. After a period of development, changes to planning laws meant the project was no longer financially viable due to a new national levy. The partnership had built resident support for the garden, so the decision to pause development was particularly disappointing for the community. The MyClubmoor Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) remained committed to exploring opportunities for the garden in the future.
MyClubmoor wanted a space where residents could connect and take part in Big Local activities. The partnership rented a former builders’ merchants, setting up the MyClubmoor Community Hub as a vibrant, creative space with multiple opportunities.
Before opening, the hub was renovated with help from local artists and Good Gym (an organisation where volunteering provides exercise). Following a partnership-led competition, the building’s shutters were painted in graffiti style, becoming a talking point in the community.
Residents produced a weekly programme of activities, including line-dancing, drumming, a cookery course, and a photography group (which also hosted exhibitions in the hub). A resident and Big Local funded Reader Leader introduced a monthly reading and writing group, which helped build poetry writing and critical reading skills, and encouraged new friendships.
The community hub closed in 2022 after an accident rendered the space unusable. To maintain momentum and delivery, the partnership approached Norris Green Youth Centre to rent space for activities. This sparked a longer-term collaboration, with Big Local funding invested in various new projects for young residents at the centre.
With their new office and delivery space in the Norris Green Youth Centre, the MyClubmoor partnership could expand their offer for young residents. Before this, Big Local funding had been used for low- or no-cost creative activities for young people, like drama groups and shadow-puppet performances. Towards the end of Big Local, funding was invested in creating MyClubmoor Media Studios – spaces within the youth centre where young people could record music and podcasts, or edit films and other digital media.
The funding went towards new equipment, instruments, software, and a part-time technician to provide training and support. A 10-week pilot course on filmmaking was developed, teaching skills like special effects, editing, acting, and make-up. This generated a lot of interest, leading to the creation of From Script to End Credits – a programme where young people worked together to create a film, which premiered at an event for friends and family.
The partnership felt it was important to offer young people creative opportunities they may not usually be able to access. So, the programme let young people try different filmmaking skills, to find those they liked best. Connections with the youth centre enabled the project to include young people at risk of being, or having already been, excluded from school. The partnership found that trusting young people with expensive equipment helped build their confidence, while the screening provided an opportunity to make their families proud.
From Script to End Credits was set to form a core part of the MyClubmoor Charitable Incorporated Organisation’s (CIO) community offer as Big Local came to an end, with studio hire bringing in additional income.
The partnership knew of residents whose mental health needs went unmet, and others experiencing low self-esteem and poor wellbeing.
Feedback from local women highlighted long waiting-lists for NHS provision were impacting their ability to access support, so the partnership reached out to a counsellor to set up a women’s support group. This provided a weekly session with group counselling and peer-support, alongside activities at the Norris Green Youth Centre (like meditation and sound therapy). The women’s support group was often oversubscribed, and the partnership reflected that it often seemed to improve participants’ wellbeing after just a few sessions.
A similar project aimed at men was less successful, with low turnout. The partnership returned to their approach of using creative activities as a hook to engage residents and set up an arts group. This was aimed at residents experiencing social isolation, with art encouraging connection, and additional mental health support available if required. The partnership worked with the local GP surgery to enable referrals through social prescribing. The art group was also oversubscribed, with many attendees referring to it as the highlight of their week.
MyClubmoor created an annual dog show in 2013 to promote responsible dog ownership, in response to a fatal dog attack in the area. The show featured stalls, dog health checks, community projects, and a competitive dog-show. Working with local police, the partnership offered microchipping in preparation for the 2016 legislation, which made it compulsory for all dogs to be microchipped. Between 2013 and 2015, over 300 dogs were microchipped at the show.
The partnership thought the dog show had also been effective at engaging local men, opening pathways to discuss other issues such as health, through related stalls. Over time, these events developed into family fun days every summer, with food vans, a DJ, and activities for families. Through the success of these events, the partnership developed opportunities to collaborate with other local organisations and groups on other events, such as Liverpool City Council’s Walton Hall Festival.
The MyClubmoor partnership recognised that Christmas could be a challenging time of year for many local families due to increased financial pressures. Big Local funding was used for a Christmas Grotto and Christmas hampers for many years over the course of Big Local, supporting residents through the festive period.
The Christmas Grotto gave local children the chance to receive a Christmas present and meet Father Christmas (played by a partnership member). Initially families could book a free ticket through local schools, but the partnership increased this to £1 per ticket as they found people did not turn up when tickets were free. This was more successful and still cheaper than similar commercial offers to meet Father Christmas, particularly for large families. The partnership worked with schools to ensure tickets were available to those families with the greatest need. Many families attended every year as a tradition and saw it as the highlight of the Christmas period. In 2025, 170 families attended the Christmas Grotto.
Partnership members recognised other financial pressure on families during the Christmas school holidays. Big Local funding was invested in Christmas hampers. The partnership allocated 25 to each of the five local primary schools to distribute at their discretion, and provided some as Christmas Grotto raffle prizes and to residents facing financial insecurity.
Initially, partnership members collected things from local supermarkets and made the hampers. However, it was felt to be too physically demanding to make the large hampers, and it was hard to find storage for the food prior to its distribution. The partnership adapted the hampers to include a few treats and a voucher for families to use on a food shop over the Christmas period. Over time, the partnership negotiated for the hampers to be partially subsidised through local councillor budgets. As Big Local came to an end, the partnership was proud of having met a community need at such a busy time for families.
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 Clubmoor Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2025) ‘Children in low income families: local area statistics’. Available at: gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2024 (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) (2019) ‘English indices of deprivation 2019’. Available at: gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019 (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/ populationandhouseholdestimatesenglandandwalescensus2021 (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023) ‘UK Census 2021: Population density’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS006/editions/2021/versions/4 (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2025) ‘UK Census 2021: Families and households: Lone parent households with dependent children’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/ birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/datasets/familiesandhouseholdsfamiliesandhouseholds/current (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Ordnance Survey (OS) (2025) ‘Open Greenspace’. Available at: osdatahub.os.uk/downloads/open/OpenGreenspace (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Place-Based Longitudinal Data Resource (PLDR) (2022) ‘Small Area Mental Health Index (SAMHI)’. Available at: pldr.org/dataset/2noyv/small-area-mental-health-index-samhi (Accessed 10 October 2025)
