Dartford
Key points
- A building on the high street was purchased and renovated to create a hub for local economic development.
- Local organisations were supported to collaborate and deliver youth programmes.
- A community pantry and kitchen were created to address food insecurity and support residents’ wellbeing.
About the Big Local area
The Big Local area was in the Borough of Dartford, on the border of Kent, London, and Essex. It spanned the town centre and several housing estates — Tree, Little Tree, and Phoenix Place — and contained a high street, weekly market, historic library, and central park.
In 2021, Dartford had a population of 8,877 people, with a younger profile than the wider region – 23 per cent aged under 16, compared to 19 per cent in the South East (ONS, 2022a; 2022b). Compared to the South East, Dartford had higher levels of food insecurity (CDRC, 2024) and deprivation (MHCLG, 2019), with 24 per cent of children aged 0–19 living in relative low-income families (DWP, 2025). There was also a higher level of social rented housing, with 30 per cent of housing rented from the local authority or housing association, compared to 14 per cent in the South East (ONS, 2023).
How the Big Local area approached delivery
Wanting to embody the resident-led focus of Big Local, the Dartford Big Local partnership ensured they consisted almost entirely of residents. They supplemented this by hiring paid workers (a Community Development Worker, Youth Worker, and Partnerships Support Manager) to support delivery, raise the profile of Big Local, and help build relationships with community groups.
To create their first plan, the partnership commissioned Groundwork South to run a consultation called Getting People Involved to find out how residents wanted Big Local funding to be spent. The partnership also ran several community events to gather feedback, including activity days, horse-race viewing nights, breakfast with Santa, and a soft-play day for children under five. They found that residents valued the local park (described by residents as the ‘jewel in Dartford’s crown’), but felt there was a lack of local and affordable leisure activities and wanted to see investment in the town centre and retail facilities. The partnership developed their vision from these findings – which was to build a vibrant, accessible and welcoming town centre, and a cohesive, healthy and prosperous community. They continued to consult with the community as they went, and in 2018, were the main sponsor of the Dartford Festival (attended by over 22,000 people), furthering the presence of Big Local in the area.
However, governance challenges and internal conflict meant that the Dartford Big Local partnership was increasingly unable to meet Local Trust’s core criteria and guidance, and in 2020 – mid way through the Big Local programme — the original partnership disbanded. By this time, Dartford Big Local had spent £828,110. From this point, Local Trust sought to engage and involve new residents and trialled several approaches to ensure remaining funds could be spent in line with community priorities in the area. This included a series of participatory budgeting events, to allow resident-led decision-making to continue and identify fundable projects. However, local engagement was not as high as hoped, and the approach did not take off.
Towards the end of Big Local, with a lack of suitable community organisations, Dartford Borough Council was appointed to distribute the remaining Big Local funding and ensure that key projects identified by the community continued to be supported. They reflected on the previous partnership’s priorities and community consultation insights, and distributed funding according to three main themes: supporting activities for young people, building community spaces to target food insecurity and build social connections, and support resident-led initiatives through grants.
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.
Each partnership was expected to reflect the specific needs and characteristics of its own area and was therefore unique. However, every partnership was expected to meet the following criteria:
- it must have at least eight members
- the majority (at least 51%) of members should live within the Big Local area’s boundaries
- members should broadly reflect the range and diversity of people who live in the area – for example, in relation to age, ethnicity, gender, faith, disability or income levels.
Partnership members were asked to participate ‘in their own right’, meaning they could not represent the views of any other person or organisation.
A Big Local Plan set out what changes the partnership planned to make, how they planned to deliver on this and how funds were to be allocated. It was written for themselves, their community and Local Trust, as a guide and action plan.
What the Big Local area did
Community assets and spaces
Creating a community space
In the early years of Big Local, the Dartford partnership explored opportunities to purchase and refurbish a building on the high street, with the intention of creating a community hub where they could deliver work.
Initially, they agreed a ‘right to occupy’ process with the local authority for the Tree Community Centre. The centre had not been in use for several years, and this offered an opportunity for the partnership and their locally trusted organisation (LTO) to use this as a temporary place to deliver activities.
In 2018, the partnership secured a freehold property on the high street, and following renovations the hub opened the following year. In the context of high rent in local shopping areas, the hub aimed to support local businesses and entrepreneurship by providing space for makers to sell goods under a ‘Made in Dartford’ label. The partnership anticipated that the income generated by the hub would cover associated running costs. The ground floor was a retail space where local entrepreneurs could rent a shelf at a low monthly cost, enabling people to shop for local products and find out more about the area. The first and second floors provided co-working spaces and meeting rooms that could be hired. Funding was also allocated to employ a shop worker and a hub coordinator, to support operations.
When the Covid-19 pandemic began, the retail space was fully rented, and expansion was being considered. However, the pandemic brought significant challenges, and the hub closed. Sellers were refunded and the upper floors could not be hired out, creating financial strain. The space continued to operate after the partnership disbanded in 2020, but the financial impact had been significant, and the hub was sold the following year, with the proceeds being returned to the Big Local budget.
Despite this outcome, the high street building was successfully refurbished, and nurtured local enterprise and creativity for the time that it was open.
Investing in young people
Building partnerships to facilitate local youth provision
Wanting to provide more activities for young people in Dartford, the Big Local partnership hired a part-time Youth Outreach Worker, who ran a programme of activities, including a free holiday club. In line with the partnership’s original priorities, Dartford Borough Council continued to use Big Local funding to support youth activities.
Towards the end of the programme, Big Local funding was invested in a sports programme delivered by local clubs Central Park Athletics and Dartford Harriers. Children who were not already club members were invited to train alongside coaches in long jump, high jump, shot put, and running, with a final sports day at the end of the summer. Some of the children became full members and competed for the clubs.
Big Local funding was also allocated to Youth Unity to run activities and support from their hub and Dartford’s Central Park. This included counselling, a Futsal Sport Event (a five-a-side football-based game), and a community podcast series aimed at providing a platform for young people to share their thoughts and experiences on different topics. Youth Unity also set up a referral service to support young residents (aged 14 to 30), matching them with a mentor to help explore training, employment, and educational opportunities.
The council, aware of many youth organisations operating and often competing for funding locally, focussed on building partnerships. Inspired by the success of local youth initiatives that received Big Local funding, the council created a youth delivery network and hosted a Big Youth Forum. Local organisations came together to share what they were doing and identify opportunities for collaboration, and decided to continue meeting regularly as the Big Youth Forum beyond Big Local.
Community engagement
Funding resident-led initiatives
Dartford Big Local supported small-scale, resident-led projects through a community chest programme. This programme provided grants of up to £1,000 to increase local activities, build social connections, and increase residents’ skills and confidence. Projects included a community barbeque, a knitting group, a community garden, an intergenerational arts initiative, day trips for families, and a day centre for older residents.
After the partnership disbanded, Dartford Borough Council wanted to continue the success of their grants programme. They therefore allocated £125,000 of Big Local funding to support local initiatives and resident-led decision-making.
The new programme offered two types of grants – six small grants of up to £5,000 and eight large grants of up to £20,000. The programme became very popular, with about 70 applications in total.
A range of community activities were supported through these grants. Kent Association for the Blind were given a small grant to purchase and kit out a vehicle to use as a Mobile Sight Centre — named ‘Iris’. They used this to travel to different areas, schools, community venues, and events, offering help and advice to residents whilst raising awareness of good eye health. Another large grant supported local charity Head In The Game to deliver regular free sports sessions with the aim of supporting positive mental wellbeing. This included mixed ability football and badminton sessions. Head In The Game reported that the sessions regularly reached 20 attendees with many repeat attendees.
Working collaboratively
Tackling food insecurity through collaboration
Aiming to tackle local issues around food inequality, diet-related ill health, and food waste, Dartford Borough Council worked with community organisations to create a community pantry and kitchen. Partner organisations (Crossways Community Church, New Avenues, and the Healthy Living Centre) were given licenses to occupy a council building, where the kitchen and pantry could run together as the Dartford Larder.
Designed to make the most of the large open space, the larder was a place where residents could get coffee, socialise, and learn how to use ingredients they had chosen from the pantry in the kitchen. Community growing on council-owned allotments at Wilmott Gardens was intended to support the larder by providing produce to the pantry.
Inspired by Peckham Pantry, New Avenues and Crossways Community Church planned to run the pantry through a membership model, where members would buy groceries at a subsidised rate. Because there were already several foodbanks locally, partners wanted to move away from the crisis model and create something different – providing a vital service while supporting dignity and choice, through a ‘social supermarket’. They planned to work with local food banks, so residents using these services for longer periods could be referred to the Dartford Larder. The Healthy Living Centre led on the community kitchen side of the project, where a community chef would cook meals, host demonstrations, and run nutrition classes, using surplus food and local produce from the pantry to reduce waste.
Big Local funding was used to commission partners to deliver the Dartford Larder service for a year, and the council provided the building and designated £150,000 in match-funding to convert the ground floor. Volunteers supported with decorating and the larder received donations in preparation for opening.
The Larder officially opened in June 2025, for three days a week. In its first three months, an estimated 630 people were supported, with an average of 11 new members each week and a total of 1042 food packages distributed. The working group also recorded who was using the larder, how often, and what for. This helped create an understanding of some of the overlapping challenges residents were facing. As a result, Dartford Larder quickly became more than a food provision point — it was a first point of contact to signpost residents to a range of support services. People were helped with acquiring bus passes, referred to debt and budgeting services, or supported to attend NHS appointments. Representatives from local organisations including Citizens Advice, Mind and the council housing department were also given regular slots at The Larder to provide support to residents. Towards the end of Big Local, the working group continued to monitor attendance and research the social value of the service, with the aim of raising more funds to continue.
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.
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 Dartford Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
References
Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) (2024) ‘Priority Places for Food Index’. (Accessed 22 May 2025)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2025) ‘Children in low income families: local area statistics’. (Accessed 22 May 2025)
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) (2019) ‘English indices of deprivation 2019’. (Accessed 22 May 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022a) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 22 May 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022b) ‘UK Census 2021: Age structure of the population: Population aged under 16’. (Accessed 22 May 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023) ‘UK Census 2021: Social rented housing’. (Accessed 22 May 2025)