Kirk Hallam
Key points
- Kirk Hallam Big Local partnered with local schools to deliver support directly to young people, including after-school activities and a camping trip that gave children new and shared experiences.
- They also funded the refurbishment of a community centre to transform it into a thriving hub, where residents volunteered and also accessed services including Citizens Advice and a community pantry.
- The partnership distributed flexible funding for resident-led community events and activities, such as a toddler and parent group, and formed sub-groups for honest and open discussions and decision-making.
About the Big Local area
Kirk Hallam is a village between Derby and Nottingham, and a short drive from the town of Ilkeston. The village is surrounded by green space, including Kirk Hallam Lake and Meadows, and Nutbrook Trail nature reserve. Since local iron works and collieries closed down, the population has decreased as people have moved out of the area to find employment (ONS, 2012; 2022). In 2020, the average annual household income in Kirk Hallam was estimated to be £31,400 compared to an East Midlands average of £41,000 (ONS, 2023a).
The Kirk Hallam Big Local area covered local amenities such as a community centre, a church, a small shopping area, two primary schools, and a secondary school. In 2021, there were around 6,000 residents (ONS, 2022), and 16 per cent rented from a housing association, over double the East Midlands average of 6 per cent (ONS 2023b).
How the Big Local area approached delivery
After a year-long community consultation with over 1,200 residents, Kirk Hallam Big Local partnership launched their first plan in 2014. Their vision was to “help make Kirk Hallam an even better place to live through fostering community spirit and increasing togetherness, improving the opportunities we have and the environment we live in.”
Over the course of the Big Local programme, work was largely based around three themes: having things to do and places to go; supporting young people and families; and providing advice and support.
Kirk Hallam Big Local partnership collaborated with local schools to reach young people with activities. This was enabled by many partnership members already having links to the schools, as they were parents. The partnership regularly commissioned local schools to deliver projects and funded other organisations to deliver activities in schools that complemented the curriculum. At the start of the programme, the partnership extended the boundary of their Big Local area to include Kirk Hallam Community Academy, who became their Locally Trusted Organisation (LTO).
At first, partnership members wanted to deliver all their activities themselves, or through volunteers, to make the money go further. But over time they realised they needed to commission others to deliver their plan. The partnership funded a worker to help coordinate delivery. The partnership also created sub-groups to focus on different strands of work such as finance and commissioning.
Sub-groups accelerated discussion and agreement, and distributing decision-making enabled more residents to have ‘a voice’ in their work. Members built trust and friendship with each other and tended to make decisions through open and honest discussions, rather than voting.
The partnership also involved young people in decision-making. They trialled a youth forum with local primary schools, and had two young people join the partnership. They brought fresh ideas and felt empowered to lead on projects such as funding a permanent skatepark for Kirk Hallam.
The partnership funded a wide range of community activities, mainly through a community chest model. Over the years, Kirk Hallam Big Local partnership worked closely with the local groups and residents they funded to deliver these activities and become self-sustaining where possible. This led to what the partnership felt were lots of small, long-lasting legacies such as a parent and toddler group, young people connecting with each other through new and shared experiences, and a refurbished community hub. To celebrate the end of the Big Local programme and its legacy in the area, the partnership commissioned a sculpture commemorating the area’s local industrial heritage, made out of scrap materials from the disused Stanton Ironwork site. The sculpture was unveiled at Kirk Hallam Lake towards the end of the programme, in December 2024.
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.
What the Big Local area did
Community assets and spaces
Refurbishing a run-down community centre into a thriving hub
The existing Kirk Hallam community centre was run-down and underused. Kirk Hallam Big Local partnership used a large part of their funding to refurbish the centre and transform it into a thriving hub. This investment enabled the centre to become a more welcoming space, well used by local groups. It enabled access to volunteering opportunities, services and activities including a community pantry, a toddler group and Citizens Advice sessions. The funding was also used to create a café, which increased footfall and gave residents a new place to meet and eat affordable food.
While investing in the community centre provided opportunities to promote the work of the partnership, it also caused confusion amongst residents about who to contact about the centre and activities being run within it. With help from their LTO, the partnership clarified their lines of accountability and communication with the centre, and their own governance. They separated volunteering opportunities more clearly, so residents understood who managed the hub.
Investing in young people
Partnering with local schools to directly support young people
Kirk Hallam Big Local partnership recognised they would be able to support a larger and more diverse group of young people by working with the schools in the area. They built on existing links they had with two primary and a secondary school to add value to what was on offer through the curriculum. For example, the partnership paid for each primary school student to receive a book in 2021, in recognition of how difficult schooling was for children during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The partnership also funded an intergenerational school lunch where grandparents and older people were invited to have lunch with local primary school children. The initiative was felt to have brought joy to residents and the community together. The lunch didn’t resume after Covid-19, instead, the partnership shifted towards funding more after-school activities.
Providing flexible funding to make new experiences accessible to young people
The flexibility of the Big Local funding enabled Kirk Hallam Big Local partnership to fund activities for young people to enjoy new experiences and create shared memories. To help young people connect with their local environment and learn new skills, they funded the first Big Kirk Hallam Camp Out. Local pupils took on new challenges and adventures including building shelters, archery, sharing stories around the campfire and camping out under the stars.
The partnership worked with FareShare and Derbyshire County Council to set up the Stay and Play Holiday Club, where every week in the school holidays children and families could meet, play and have lunch together. Activities and food were provided free of charge, helping to address food poverty and isolation during the holidays as well as offering practical support to families.
Led by two young partnership members, the partnership also funded a new skatepark with Erewash Borough Council and WREN, a not-for-profit business that awards grants to community projects. The skatepark, which opened in 2016, became a popular leisure space for local young people.
Responding to crisis and urgent need
Funding local Citizens Advice sessions to tackle hardship and poverty
When consulted by the partnership, tackling hardship and poverty was the most important priority for about a third of residents. In response to this, Kirk Hallam Big Local partnership funded Citizens Advice to provide a weekly session at the local community centre. Residents dropped in to access advice and support around benefits, housing, debt and energy advice. This made advice accessible to residents most in need without them having to leave the area.
The partnership recognised that sometimes residents who were most in need found it difficult to ask for help, but were open to support and accessing other services at the centre if they were on the site for another reason. As a result of this, the partnership ensured that the Citizens Advice drop-in was held when other activities were taking place in the centre, and when the community pantry was open.
Community engagement
Empowering residents to run local groups and activities that support community wellbeing
Kirk Hallam Big Local partnership provided small amounts of funding to local groups to deliver activities that brought the community together, promoted wellbeing and prevented loneliness. For example, the partnership provided funding for meals and transport for around 40 older people to attend a weekly lunch club.
The partnership also funded a peer-led parent and toddler group set up by a collective of local mothers. The weekly parent and toddler sessions proved popular, generating income through subscriptions to pay for materials and refreshments. This meant that the group only required funds from the partnership to rent a space at the community centre, demonstrating how a small amount of funding can have a big impact on resident-led activity.
Place-based pride and connection
Building capacity and networks to organise local events
In the earlier years of Big Local, the partnership would tag onto other people’s events in the community to increase their profile. However, over time they built the confidence, capacity, relationships and networks to successfully deliver events themselves.
Their most ambitious and popular event was the Big Kirk Hallam Christmas market. It first took place in 2021 at a local community academy, supported by volunteers. The event got the community together after Covid-19, giving residents the opportunity to socialise, browse stalls and enjoy refreshments and Christmas themed activities. The partnership ran its market annually following this success, with 23 stalls held by local groups and nearly 1,000 people attending in 2023.
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 Kirk Hallam Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
References
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2012) ‘UK Census 2011: All persons’. (Accessed 17 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 11 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023a) ‘Total annual household income estimate: financial year ending 2020’. (Accessed 18 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023b) ‘UK Census 2021: Housing rented from a Housing Association’. (Accessed 11 October 2024)