Greenmoor - Scholemoor and Lidget Green
Key points
- Greenmoor Big Local partnership worked with the local council and primary school to transform a neglected site into a multi-use games area, with a wide range of accessible equipment and facilities that were well used by both residents and those living outside of the area.
- By setting up a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) – Better Communities Bradford — to bring in resources for local groups and deliver activities in the community, they ensured resident-led work could continue after the Big Local programme was complete.
- An anti-drugs project was delivered with local voluntary groups and statutory organisations, drawing on collaboration to address complex societal issues.
About the Big Local area
The Greenmoor Big Local area included the Scholemoor and Lidget Green areas of Bradford, West Yorkshire. It was in close proximity to the city centre, and there were plenty of shops and local businesses located within the area. Housing was mostly a mixture of estates and Victorian terrace houses. Two small parks and a large cemetery provided some green space, and residents were served by a bus route to access facilities outside the area. The partnership reflected that there was little interaction between the neighbourhoods within the Big Local area.
The area had a population of 7,982 people in 2021, with 28 per cent aged under 16 compared to 19 per cent in Yorkshire and the Humber (ONS, 2022a; ONS, 2022b). Around three quarters of the population were Muslim, compared to 9 per cent in the wider region (ONS 2022c). The Big Local area was in the 10 per cent most deprived areas of England, and 75 per cent of households were on Universal Credit, almost three times as many than the wider region (MHCLG, 2019; DWP, 2025).
How the Big Local area approached delivery
Following the initial community consultation, Greenmoor Big Local partnership identified the following priorities: improving access to community and leisure spaces, reducing crime and increasing safety in the area, and creating a greater sense of community pride. The partnership intentionally made these broad so they could remain consistent throughout the programme whilst encompassing a wide range of projects.
In the early years of Big Local, the partnership was cautious about spending large sums of money. They felt that in-depth community engagement would help them to take risks, as they could be confident that their decisions were rooted in resident feedback. Throughout the programme, residents often came to the partnership with suggestions and requests about how the Big Local funding could be used, which helped inform many projects. They also carried out more formal consultation throughout Big Local, including surveys, interviews, workshops and feedback sessions with residents and local stakeholders.
The partnership appointed workers to support aspects of their delivery, including community engagement and project delivery. Several task groups were also established to focus on the priorities identified and included representatives from voluntary and statutory organisations along with residents. This enabled people from beyond the partnership to be directly involved in projects. Through these task-groups, partnership members could own different aspects of delivery, which meant leadership was distributed rather than concentrated around a few individuals. Through this way of working, partnership members strengthened their communication skills (particularly in formal meetings), made connections and gained confidence engaging in local politics.
As they approached the end of Big Local, the partnership felt they had built power in the community through providing resources and developing relationships and residents’ skills. They also reflected on the confidence and skills they had built as a partnership, including public speaking skills, knowledge about the charity sector, and confidence as a group to take risks. The partnership built many positive relationships through delivering successful projects. However, they also experienced tensions with some local stakeholders and residents in relation to how the Big Local funding was spent. With independent support from Local Trust, the partnership navigated these challenges and improved community relations.
Greenmoor Big Local partnership decided to set up Better Communities Bradford (BCB), a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), to continue resident-led work beyond the Big Local programme. The CIO brought in additional funding and resources for local groups and activities in the community, including sewing and women’s IT classes. They felt that setting up the CIO had built their confidence to fundraise, leaving them in a stronger place from which to leverage funds in the future.
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.
What the Big Local area did
Community assets and spaces
Developing new sports facilities
Through their community consultation, the partnership identified a lack of accessible community facilities in the area. Working with Bradford Council and Horton Grange Primary School, Greenmoor Big Local partnership helped to transform Spencer Fields, a local park, from a neglected site into a popular multi-use games area (MUGA).
The project was taken forward by a Greenmoor Big Local task group. Working with local schools, the group held an open day on Spencer Fields where they carried out consultation to find out how residents wanted them to transform the space.
The MUGA supported activities such as football and cricket, and the partnership worked with nearby schools to improve accessibility. The land was owned by the council and rented out to the local school who were responsible for maintaining the equipment. Part of the redevelopment also included installing lampposts along the walking path around the perimeter of the park. This made it safer for residents to exercise during the darker months and allowed residents to use the park for longer periods in the day. A ‘Big Switch On’ event was hosted by the partnership to celebrate the completion of this project.
Through the improvements to Spencer Fields, the partnership showed the community they could deliver projects that were informed by residents. They also viewed this space as a key part of their legacy and reflected that the facilities were well-used. In 2022, Spencer Fields was attracting an estimated 1,000 visitors a week, including people from outside the area.
Improving community spaces
To create more green spaces for residents to enjoy, the partnership worked with Bradford Council to set out plans for a ‘pocket park’ on unused land outside a local church in the area. Plans included creating a memorialisation space for those affected by past and current wars and conflicts. The design also included a mixture of hard and soft landscaping, such as planting beds, paved pathways, seating areas, and fruit and nut trees.
The partnership worked together with the local authority, who granted permission for use of the land, and the Fields in Trust charity, who helped to secure Centenary Field Status for the site.
Volunteers from local community groups and children from the local school supported with planting, and the space – named Lidget Green Memorial Garden — opened with a ceremony attended by the Mayor of Bradford. During the ceremony, a dedication plaque was unveiled and a Sweet Chestnut tree planted to commemorate the occasion.
Community engagement
Supporting community-led activities through grants
The partnership dedicated a portion of the Big Local funding to run a grants programme to support activities and community groups that aligned with their priorities, which they considered helpful for quick wins. The programme offered small grants of up to £2,000, supporting local activities such as a football club, a local dementia project, and a walking club. While small grants were originally considered an opportunity to engage residents in Greenmoor Big Local’s work, the partnership later came to see it as a valuable way of building the capacity of local groups and organisations.
Towards the end of the programme, the partnership reflected that capacity building can look different between projects, and that changes do not need to be visible (i.e. through physical spaces or equipment purchases) to mean they had an impact.
Larger grants were also made available. For example, Big Local funding was used to support improvements to Scholemoor Beacon, a local community centre working to reduce health inequalities and develop residents’ skills and capacity. Funding from Greenmoor Big Local, alongside other stakeholders, supported building developments to improve the centre’s facilities. By 2023, the centre was offering a range of well-attended classes, community activities, youth work and drop-in support.
Working collaboratively
Collaborating to tackle difficult issues
Greenmoor Big Local partnership worked with a range of local stakeholders including the West Yorkshire Police and local voluntary organisation, Bridge, to reduce (particularly drug-related) crime, and to increase support available to drug users. Workshops with young people on topics including drugs and knife crime were held as part of the project, which the partnership felt resulted in a raised awareness of the dangers of drug use among local children. The partnership felt that the success of the multi-use games area at Spencer Fields had helped build their credibility in the area and made it easier to attract specialist stakeholders to support the project.
While some partnership members initially had concerns about negative attention and impact potential, the partnership reached consensus to deliver this work. They later reflected that the project established positive and effective relationships with local authorities and organisations, which highlighted how even the most challenging issues within communities can provide opportunities for successful collaborative work.
Place-based pride and connection
Bringing a community together
Events helped to form new bonds within the area. For example, Better Communities Bradford ran a South Asian Heritage event and awards ceremony in 2022. The awards ceremony was held to celebrate the work of Greenmoor Big Local partnership and promote Better Communities Bradford as a future local development body. Over 300 guests attended. Events like these had not been held previously, and connected residents in new ways.
The partnership also held an event for Armed Forces Day at the Lidget Green Memorial Garden. A mix of local councillors, business owners, and school children were invited to watch the signing of the Armed Forces Covenant – a commitment to supporting members of the armed forces during and after service. The partnership invited speakers from a World War 1 group and a military historian to talk with those in attendance.
Creating a community cinema
Following a request from parents, a community cinema project began after a screening of a children’s movie at the Healthy Living Centre during a summer holiday. To help set up the project, members of the Greenmoor Big Local partnership visited a community cinema in Leeds and worked with several organisations experienced in supporting community cinemas.
By 2022, they had supported the creation of six other community cinemas in Bradford, and around 500 people attended screenings each month. The project helped those involved learn how to work collaboratively and to ask for support when needed.
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 Greenmoor Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
References
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2025) ‘Universal credit’. (Accessed 7 October 2025)
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) (2019) ‘English indices of deprivation 2019’. (Accessed 10 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022a) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 10 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022b) ‘UK Census 2021: Age structure of the population: Population aged under 16’. (Accessed 7 October 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022b) ‘UK Census 2021: Religion: Muslim’. (Accessed 17 October 2024)