Farley Hill
Key points
- Working closely with local schools, Farley Hill Big Local provided tutoring and mentoring programmes for young people.
- The partnership responded quickly during the Covid-19 pandemic, creating relationships with other organisations to process referrals and to support different communities.
- They also developed two green spaces in the area, and maintenance agreements were secured for their care for the next ten years.
About the Big Local area
The Farley Hill Big Local area was a post-war housing estate, located between Luton town centre and the M1 motorway in central Bedfordshire. The area consisted of residential housing with a shopping precinct in the centre, and a wide avenue stretching to Stockwood Park to the south east. Four primary schools and a secondary school served the area, which was surrounded by redevelopments to Luton Airport and Luton town centre. The area had access to green spaces including Stockwood Park, Bluebell Wood, and Winsdon Hill.
The population of the Big Local area was 12,864 in 2021, and had increased from 11,966 over the preceding decade (ONS, 2022a; 2012). The area was ethnically diverse, with 31 per cent of the population identifying as White British, 15 per cent as Pakistani, seven per cent as Bangladeshi, and six per cent as African (ONS, 2023a; 2023b; 2023c; 2023d). The area was in the top 10 per cent most deprived areas in England (MHCLG, 2019), with especially high levels in terms of income, education, and health. Almost a quarter of the population were younger than 16; a higher proportion compared to 19 per cent across the wider region (ONS, 2022b). More children aged 19 and younger (34 per cent) lived in relative low-income families when compared with the wider region at 16 per cent (DWP, 2025).
How the Big Local area approached delivery
Farley Hill Big Local was known locally as Farley Big Local. Its partnership’s vision was for “an improved, safer community with more opportunities and facilities,” with plans for the area to be “community-led with a healthier and more qualified community”. The partnership initially identified three key priorities: green spaces and parks to meet the needs of the local community; raising the aspirations of young people; and a cohesive community working together for the future. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, they revised their priorities to include vulnerable people and wellbeing.
The partnership was composed of residents, alongside representatives from local organisations, including Luton Adult Learning, Luton Borough Council, and local schools. In order to build the confidence of residents on the partnership, councillors were given a reduced vote. The membership reflected the local community, including a range of different ethnicities, genders, and ages ranging from 16 to 80. The partnership engaged with the wider community by translating their literature into different languages, and through word-of-mouth. Local people could apply to join, with existing members ensuring the group was made up of residents with a range of skills and experiences, and who could commit time to the programme.
Early in the programme, partnership members acted as community champions for diverse sections of the community, including a Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) champion and an older people’s champion. This system developed into one in which individual theme leaders worked in subgroups based on key priorities, utilising their expertise to progress and monitor projects. This included a teacher who was the theme lead for the young people’s project. Other subgroups focused on community engagement and the community chest scheme.
The partnership began the programme with awareness of their accountability to their community, due to negative perceptions of previous regeneration programmes in the wider area. They therefore took a cautious approach to spending, conducting research and feasibility studies, and identifying suitable delivery partners before progressing with plans. A community development worker supported partnership members to deliver activities, engage with contractors, and administer their Community Chest scheme. Through the Community Chest scheme, the partnership allocated grants of up to £1000 to organisations and residents to support their ideas, develop their skills, and increase their confidence. The partnership also provided opportunities for skills development to build the capacity of residents and partnership members through training and shadowing employees at their locally trusted organisation (LTO). The partnership reflected that they were able to progress with projects due to combined support from their LTO, their long-term worker, and teamwork between members.
The partnership wanted to set up a legacy organisation themselves, rather than working with other organisations to continue their projects in the future. In the final years of the programme, two partnership members set up a Community Interest Company (CIC) – Farley Community Group – to continue delivering activities with support from their LTO. They secured a community room at a peppercorn rental rate to continue their events programme and held an event day to engage with new people and share ideas for future plans.
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.
What the Big Local area did
Investing in young people
Partnering with schools to raise aspirations and give opportunities to young people
Farley Big Local considered young people to be a key priority, and identified them as a group missing from community consultations. Early in the programme, young people designed a survey written in accessible language to identify activities young people in the area might want. The partnership also built relationships with local primary and secondary schools, and commissioned educational organisations to deliver courses, aiming to raise young people’s aspirations.
The partnership worked particularly closely with the local secondary school, Stockwood Park Academy, providing educational materials and allocating funds for an online GCSE computer science masterclass for 60 students. The partnership also commissioned a tutoring organisation to provide a programme of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects. Other initiatives included a mentoring programme for 62 students in Year 11, with one-to-one peer support in study strategies, and mental health and wellbeing check-ins from those who had recently completed exams.
Farley Big Local also supported students working on the Silver Crest Award with three face-to-face workshops and two online sessions for 12 students in Year 9, who created their own homemade lipsticks using scientific experimentation. They held a ‘Girls into Computing’ event with the academy and two other local schools, attended by 140 girls who worked in teams to design an AI product and create a marketing campaign.
The commissioned tutoring organisation reported some improvements in academic grades, as well as students feeling more confident and involved in their community. Stockwood Park Academy also received an improved rating following inspection by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), whose report mentioned the mentoring and tutoring support received. The partnership reflected that it takes time for change to happen, and felt it was important for the tutoring organisation to continue working with the school beyond Big Local. Towards the end of the programme the legacy organisation, Farley Community Group, were making plans to continue supporting the project.
Responding to crisis and urgent need
Adapting quickly to work with organisations and respond to Covid-19 through emergency grants and parcels
At the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the partnership formed a Covid-19 subgroup who met online to set up and coordinate Farley Big Local’s response. The subgroup contacted local groups and schools to establish what support was already in place and where Farley Big Local could step in. The partnership also adapted their Community Chest application process to provide emergency grants. Within this, grant payments of £100-£200 were given to families to help pay for electricity and gas.
The partnership also awarded £4,000 to Luton Foodbank to provide families with weekly food packs, and volunteers delivered food parcels directly to people’s homes. Churches and community leaders referred families who needed support to the partnership, who supported 56 families with shopping vouchers. Simultaneously, the partnership referred people to other organisations providing support, including a pop-up shop at the local church to support families through school holidays, and Community Interest Luton’s Food Parcel Project. Farley Big Local became a first port of call for families in need of support, and provided signposting to ensure people’s needs were met quickly and services were accessible.
Following a report from Luton Borough Council, the partnership recognised that Covid-19 had disproportionately affected people in Luton, and they built on their newly established relationship with Luton Foodbank to continue providing support to residents (Luton Council, 2020). They commissioned an outreach worker from the food bank for two years to utilise existing networks in order to help residents who were on reduced or no income to access services. The outreach worker liaised with schools for referrals, and supported residents to access benefits, helping one resident to open a bank account and another to secure permanent accommodation. They received 156 referrals, and over 2,000 food parcels were distributed.
Place-based pride and connection
Community activities for different groups and individuals
Regular seasonal events were provided for a wide range of people in the community throughout the Big Local programme. During the summer, wanting to offer residents new experiences, the Farley Big Local partnership organised two coaches to take them to the seaside and to theme parks. Attendees made a small monetary contribution, and were provided with wristbands for rides at theme parks, or with buckets and spades to participate in activities.
Over several years, to mark the Christmas season, the partnership delivered events for both older and younger members of the community. Members visited residents at local sheltered housing accommodation, where they gave out hampers, danced with residents and played music. During the Covid-19 pandemic’s festive seasons they also distributed afternoon tea boxes for 200 senior residents, and together with the community development worker chose, wrapped, and delivered over 1,800 toys for local primary school children. In an effort to raise spirits in the community during the pandemic, they also delivered Iftar packs (pre-prepared food and drink parcels to break the daily fast during Ramadan) to 500 people. They then held a Zoom event for residents to open their packs together, while sharing information about the Muslim festival of Eid and holy month of Ramadan with attendees.
Holding events to bring the community together
Over the course of the programme, the partnership held a range of events supported by volunteers, including Farley Fireworks, Fright Night, and a watch party for the finals of the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship. An annual Farley Big Local Festival was established early in the Big Local programme (in 2013) as an engagement strategy with support from the local authority and community centre. Later the festival, which was free to attend, included stalls to encourage residents to sign up to classes and a Community Chest showcase to celebrate grant recipients, along with food, music and dancing. Midway through the Big Local programme the festival attracted 1,400 attendees, and was mentioned in international news items in Turkey and Pakistan. The festival continued throughout Big Local, and towards the programme’s end Stockwood Park Academy provided a venue, extra staff, and health and safety support for the festival which provided a space for family-friendly entertainment and opportunities for free health checks and wellness advice.
Working collaboratively
Creating a long-term project with the council to improve and maintain outdoor spaces
In the partnership’s initial plans, they identified improving parks and outdoor spaces as a key priority from their community consultation. They completed an audit of local green spaces, and volunteers undertook soil testing in areas to check their suitability for trees. The partnership also commissioned a report with recommendations for a bike trail.
Midway through the programme, the green spaces subgroup and the area’s long-term worker developed a list of five potential projects, including a community orchard, pocket parks, and a forest garden. The partnership were keen to ensure the longevity of these open spaces beyond Big Local, so they commissioned the parks department at Luton Borough Council to project manage, deliver, and maintain the projects. There were delays in finalising the agreement with the council, and ultimately two of the five potential projects were realistic to establish within the timeframe of the Big Local programme.
In consultation with residents at community venues and the council, it was decided that Farley Forest Garden’s location should be in the nearby Bluebell Woods to ensure road safety. The partnership commissioned the installation of benches and gym equipment, along with animal sculptures, forest panels, and a pathway inside the woods. They held an opening event late in the Big Local programme, offering food and goodie bags to attendees, and the garden remained in regular use at the end of the programme.
Farley Big Local also allocated £150,000 to the Farley Neighbourhood Park at Stockwood Park, which opened in the final years of the Big Local programme. The partnership commissioned a company to build a new playpark specifically designed to incorporate sensory play opportunities and accessible play equipment. This project was delivered under budget, and the partnership considered allocating these further funds towards the park and equipment. Due to their previous experience of delays in securing planning permissions, however, they ultimately focused their resources on building the capacity of residents in order to support the legacy organisation Farley Community Group, and to continue delivering other activities instead.
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 Farley Hill Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
References
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)
Luton Council (2020) ‘Luton Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan Crisis, Rescue, Recover, Reform 2020 to 2022’. Available at: democracy.luton.gov.uk/cmis5public/Document.ashx (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) (2012) ‘UK Census 2011: All persons’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/2011censuspopulationandhouseholdestimatesforenglandandwales (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022a) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationandhouseholdestimatesenglandandwalescensus2021 (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022b) ‘UK Census 2021: Age structure of the population: Population aged under 16’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationandhouseholdestimatesenglandandwalescensus2021 (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023a) ‘UK Census 2021: Ethnic group: White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/3 (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023b) ‘UK Census 2021: Ethnic group: Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Pakistani’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/3 (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023c) ‘UK Census 2021: Ethnic group: Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Bangladeshi’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/3 (Accessed 10 October 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023d) ‘UK Census 2021: Ethnic group: Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African: African’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/3 (Accessed 10 October 2025)