Hill Top and Caldwell
Key points
- A community hub was created in an empty shop front, becoming a valued space for activities and support.
- The partnership brought residents from different neighbourhoods together through varied low-cost or free community activities, including fun days and coach trips, creating a more connected community.
- Provision for young people was improved by supporting activities and organisations, including a youth club, holiday activities, and upgraded play equipment at Sorrel Road Park.
About the Big Local area
The Hill Top and Caldwell Big Local area was based in Nuneaton, a market town in the West Midlands. It included three neighbourhoods – Old Hill Top, New Hill Top, and Caldwell – a few miles from the centre of Nuneaton, with its shopping centre, leisure centre, and other amenities. In addition to local assets (schools, churches, parks, a community centre, canal, green space, shops, and a post office) there was also a business park, trading estate, and warehouse.
In 2021, the area had a population of 3,725 (ONS, 2022). It was among the top 20 per cent most deprived areas in England – children were particularly affected and there were higher levels of poor physical and mental health than in the wider borough (MHCLG, 2019a; 2019b; 2019c). Of households in the area with dependent children, 31 per cent were lone parent households (ONS, 2024).
How the Big Local area approached delivery
For most of the programme, the Hill Top and Caldwell Big Local partnership represented all three neighbourhoods and included councillors and representatives from local organisations. They developed a constitution and code of conduct, setting out expectations, values, and ways of working. This included being open to stakeholders and partners as non-voting advisory members, and decisions being made by majority vote.
The partnership’s initial priorities were informed by community consultation and a conference with organisations working locally. Later on, they commissioned external consultants to help develop their plans, consult the community about progress, and ensure that priorities remained relevant. The community’s views remained broadly consistent over the years, and the partnership focussed on five themes – children, young people, and families; counteracting poverty; community pride, safety, and environment; community health and wellbeing; and employment and skills.
Paid workers helped deliver activities and build relationships. Partnership members also organised and delivered activities, which helped them grow confidence, skills, and experience. However, they recognised challenges in delivering activities themselves (such as lacking time, skills, or capacity), which alongside interpersonal challenges and difficulty prioritising projects, impacted their progress in delivering the plan.
Wanting to respond to the community’s priorities, the partnership changed their approach to move things forward. They introduced decision-making sub-groups and re-committed to majority voting, which helped improve decision-making. They allocated more grant funding and commissioned more organisations (bringing in additional expertise and capacity), particularly for projects for young people, employment, and skills. Opening their community hub in 2021 was a turning point for delivery, as it provided space for activities and community engagement.
Following the development of their final plan, the partnership faced a challenging period, including public interpersonal disagreements. They received additional support from Local Trust to ensure activity could continue, by commissioning organisations to deliver new initiatives, in line with the plan.
However, the partnership experienced ongoing challenges with interpersonal dynamics. While Local Trust offered significant support to the partnership to work through these challenges, members were unable to move forward as a group. As the partnership was not meeting Big Local’s core criteria, in September 2024 Hill Top and Caldwell moved away from the Big Local model. By this point, over £929,500 had been spent. From this point onwards, the Locally Trusted Organisation (LTO) – Warwickshire and Solihull Community and Voluntary Action (CAVA) – who had been involved since the beginning of the programme, oversaw delivery of the final plan, supporting projects focussed on young people, wellbeing, pride, and safety, in line with the community’s vision and priorities.
As Big Local came to an end, an organisation (that had been supported by Hill Top and Caldwell Big Local to deliver a youth club) took on the lease and management of the hub, enabling the space to continue to be available for the wider community. In the same year, CAVA shared their final report highlighting Hill Top and Caldwell (HTC) Big Local’s achievements and legacy. Within this, the community and local organisations reflected on the improvements made to the local environment and residents being more connected and better supported. For many residents and stakeholders, the hub- was seen as one of HTC’s most impactful achievements and legacies in the 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.
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
Converting a shop into a community hub
The Hill Top and Caldwell Big Local partnership helped strengthen community spaces in the Hill Top and Caldwell area, by supporting activities and improvements. For example, Big Local funding was invested in a fire alarm system, defibrillator, and play area at All Saints Church, and new boilers, carpets, heaters, and emergency exit doors at Wembrook Community Centre. However, they also wanted their own space to engage residents, host activities, deliver training and support, and enable drop-in services.
The partnership identified an empty shop unit in Hill Top, which Warwickshire and Solihull Community and Voluntary Action (CAVA) leased on their behalf, following negotiations with the local authority. The space needed renovation before re-opening and Big Local funding was invested in painting, new flooring, furniture, artwork, and a logo – creating a modern space with different areas for activities. The hub opened in 2021, with a celebration attended by the Mayor of Nuneaton and Bedworth.
The hub was an important project for the partnership – they felt it helped them build confidence and they were excited by the opportunities it presented. Its programme of activities and support included commissioned services (like Citizens Advice and youth activities) and activities led by partnership members (like tea and toast sessions, coffee mornings, and craft sessions). The hub was valued by the residents who used its activities and support. With its increasing importance, the partnership explored taking over the lease to sustain the space beyond Big Local, however challenges within the group made this difficult to pursue.
From 2024, a small group of residents (including former partnership members and residents new to Big Local) continued to be involved in the hub. They delivered activities (like coffee mornings) alongside services delivered by organisations funded through Big Local. They wanted to stay involved beyond Big Local, but didn’t want to incorporate or take on the responsibility of a lease. So, they remained as an unincorporated group — The Unity Association — and (with the support of Big Local workers, CAVA, and Local Trust) developed their activities, capacity, and relationship with The Positive Impact Foundation, which took over the hub’s lease and management in 2025.
After the Big Local programme ended, many people felt that the hub was one of Big Local’s most impactful projects, offering access to services and support, and helping people to connect through regular social activities. Enabled by The Positive Impact Foundation, the hub continued to host a range of community activities, including bingo, afternoon teas and crafting.
Working together to revive a park
The partnership wanted to increase provision for young people, building pride and engagement with green spaces. Upgrading local play parks was raised as an important issue in community consultations.
The partnership and local authority explored opportunities to collaborate in upgrading play facilities and parks. Following the local authority’s audit of local green spaces and play areas, Big Local funding (£100,000) was allocated to upgrades at Sorrel Road Park.
Residents helped facilitate community consultations, while the local authority secured a further £150,000 and committed to maintaining the park. Upgrades included new play equipment (for older and younger children), outdoor gym equipment, new paths, fencing, benches, and bins. The park was officially opened in May 2025, becoming a community hub for children and families and forming part of the legacy of Hill Top and Caldwell Big Local.
Investing in young people
Providing affordable activities and support
The Hill Top and Caldwell area had a high proportion of children living in poverty, and a lack of activities for children and young people was consistently raised in community consultations. As part of their commitment to investing in children and young people, the Hill Top and Caldwell partnership helped to build the capacity of the youth club at the Wembrook Community Centre. Delivered by different organisations over time, Big Local funding enabled the club to deliver additional sessions for older children, holiday activities, and outreach play sessions in parks.
When The Positive Impact Foundation initially took over the youth club, Big Local funding helped the club to continue for six months whilst the organisation waited for the outcome of a separate (successful) funding application. This enabled the organisation to run two youth club sessions a week, as well as summer activities and a new club for girls.
By the end of Big Local, the club was attracting 20 to 40 young people each week. The Positive Impact Foundation felt they had built strong relationships with young people and the wider community. At the end of 2025, they took over the lease for the hub, providing them with a base in the area and enabling the hub to continue as a space for the community.
Big Local funding was also used to bring new organisations into the community to deliver free and low-cost activities for children and families. Think Active supported residents to access opportunities for physical activity, such as through Warwickshire Cricket Foundation, while Aspire in Arts engaged young people in activities such as DJing and t‑shirt printing and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust delivered outdoor nature awareness and education sessions during school holidays. Parents highlighted increased confidence in their children.
Place-based pride and connection
Bringing people together through social activities and community events
An ongoing priority for the Hill Top and Caldwell partnership was to deliver and support affordable, local activities to engage the community and bring people together across the different neighbourhoods. Big Local funding was allocated to community grants and commissioning, for groups and organisations to deliver varied activities, helping build community spirit, increase availability, and build capacity among local organisations.
Events and activities included coffee mornings, fun days, coach trips, outdoor cinemas, and seasonal events. These were well attended and partnership members felt they helped build a sense of community, potentially improving wellbeing through social interaction.
Towards the end of Big Local, residents continued supporting activities but moved away from directly organising them. For example, in 2023, Big Local funding was used to purchase tickets from a local coach company which were then sold at a subsidised rate to residents, leading to sold-out trips to Skegness, Chatsworth House, Melton Mowbray, York, and the Peak District. Big Local funding was also used to purchase 60 tickets to a pantomime in Nuneaton at Christmas which were sold to residents for £1.
Responding to crisis and urgent need
Increasing support for basic needs
Responding to high levels of poverty within the Hill Top and Caldwell Big Local area was a consistent priority for the partnership. Alongside supporting skills development and employment initiatives (like job clubs), free and low-cost activities, and providing financial support, Big Local funding was used to increase access to food.
A three-year project early in the programme involved the Nuneaton and Bedworth Healthy Living Network using surplus food from the food redistribution charity network FareShare to provide three meals a day at Wembrook Community Centre, with people contributing what they could afford.
The partnership’s support for food provision continued in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, when Big Local funding was used for Nuneaton Foodbank and schools to distribute food hampers. They also worked with the Healthy Living Network, selling £1 food parcels of surplus food, and accessed Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) funding, in order to provide 600 meals across their commissioned holiday activities. Rather than sourcing food from a shop, residents and Warwickshire and Solihull Community Voluntary Action worked with a local business to provide fresh lunch boxes for participating children and families.
The partnership also used Big Local funding to bring free financial support into the area, and to ensure residents were accessing the benefits and support that they were entitled to. From 2021, mid-way through Big Local, Citizens Advice delivered weekly sessions at Wembrook Community Centre, offering free and confidential advice, information, guidance, and signposting. An additional weekly session was also held at the partnership’s new hub, although this ended due to low engagement. From 2023, Citizens Advice took on the partnership’s existing Helping Hands grants for individuals, enabling them to distribute and target grants to those who needed it.
Citizens Advice continued providing support until the end of Big Local, reporting that 481 residents benefitted from the service, with an estimated £500,000 in financial outcomes (through removing debt and increasing uptake in benefits).
Addressing affordability of cash services
Early on, a partnership member advocated for the community’s need for local free-to-use cash machines (ATMs), as they wanted to “put cash back into people’s pockets” (particularly in communities facing greater financial challenges). There were two pay-to-use machines locally, while the two free-to-use machines were considered relatively inaccessible, requiring users to cross multiple main roads or use their own transport.
Working with others and supported by the partnership, the partnership member contacted their MP, met with representatives from LINK (one of the main cash machine network companies) to raise awareness, and submitted evidence to the national Treasury Select Committee.
These community advocacy efforts led to an initial trial in 2020, followed by the permanent replacement of a pay-to-use ATM with a free-to-use ATM in a shop in Caldwell. In recognition of their efforts, the partnership member won a national award.
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 Hill Top and Caldwell Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
References
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) (2019a) ‘English indices of deprivation 2019’. Available at: gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019 (Accessed 21 August 2025)
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) (2019b) ‘English Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2019 – Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI)’. Available at: gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019 (Accessed 21 August 2025)
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) (2019c) ‘English indices of deprivation 2019: Health deprivation and disability domain’. Available at: gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019 (Accessed 21 August 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationandhouseholdestimatesenglandandwalescensus2021 (Accessed 21 August 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2024) ‘UK Census 2021: Families and households: Lone parent households with dependent children’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/datasets/familiesandhouseholdsfamiliesandhouseholds/current (Accessed 21 August 2025)