At the time of Big Local, Mossley was an urban area within the market town and civil parish of Bloxwich, located in Walsall in the West Midlands. The Big Local area included the Mossley housing estate – a late 1950s development with a mixture of semi-detached and detached houses and flats – the residential area Broad Lane, and Kempthorne Gardens. Within the area were schools, churches and green spaces, including a nature reserve. The area was well-connected internally and to nearby towns, with access to regular local buses, two train stations, and the nearby M6. As of 2021, the population was 5,682 (ONS, 2022).
Although residents had access to many everyday amenities in Mossley, the area lacked social infrastructure – most significantly, meeting places for residents (OCSI, 2019). In 2021, it was in the top 10 per cent of the most deprived areas in England (MHCLG, 2019a). Children and older people were particularly worse off compared to national averages (MHCLG, 2019b; 2019c). 38 per cent of 0–19 year-olds were in low-income families (DWP, 2024), and 33 per cent of residents aged 16 and over had no qualifications (ONS, 2023).
Following community consultations, the Mossley Big Local partnership identified several priorities, including reducing isolation and loneliness (particularly for residents in vulnerable situations) and providing safe spaces and activities for local young people. The partnership also wanted to bring residents together, enhance community spirit, and to improve the negative feelings some residents held about the area.
As well as residents, partnership members included local councillors (who shared a vote), and individuals from community groups and organisations, such as Tenants and Residents Associations, churches and community associations. Extra capacity was brought in through their Locally Trusted Organisation, One Walsall, who supported with volunteer training, community engagement and communications. The partnership also allocated funding to employ as paid worker, who played an important role in supporting members, developing and delivering projects, engaging the community and attracting additional funding.
Organisations with the skills, capacity, and experience to deliver specific projects and services in line with the partnership’s priorities were commissioned to do so, while community groups, organisations and individuals accessed community grants to deliver a range of activities and projects. The Mossley Big Local partnership felt their grant-giving broadened horizons in the area, creating opportunities for residents, and helped the partnership to engage residents and develop strong relationships with local groups and organisations.
Mossley partnership members prioritised accessing support to build their capacity over the course of the Big Local programme. For example, when the partnership established a new organisation — Mossley Big Local Limited — to support their work, members were trained for their new roles as directors and enabled to take on new roles within the partnership. The group also built confidence to make difficult decisions around priorities and resource allocation, including moving away from some longer-term commissions to focus on delivering a new community hub.
Throughout the Big Local programme, community consultations identified the need for a community space, and this remained a key focus for the partnership throughout. While it took a long time and a lot of perseverance, they eventually purchased and renovated the Mossley Youth Club from the local authority.
The Local Hub opened a year after Mossley Big Local had completed the programme. The hub was described as a space for all residents across Walsall, and the partnerships’ Big Local legacy. The partnership created two successor organisations, The Local Hub (Bloxwich West Ltd) to own and manage the hub, and Mossley Community Connection CIC to continue delivering volunteer-led activities.
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.
The Mossley Big Local area had a limited number of community spaces and early consultations highlighted resident’s interest in a well-located space where they could access support, services and activities, and where the community could come together.
After exploring options, which included developing a space from scratch, the partnership decided to acquire the disused Mossley Youth Club. The building had been closed since the early years of the Big Local programme, and the partnership aimed to turn the space into a new hub for the community.
It was important to the partnership that any new hub was also community-led, so they created a new organisation to own and manage the space — Mossley Big Local Limited (MBL Ltd). MBL Ltd was a community benefit society, meaning profits would be returned to the community, and members of the Mossley Big Local partnership became directors.
The process of purchasing the building from Walsall Borough Council took many years. However, the partnership made use of the time by investing in other local spaces and activities for the community. This included match-funding improvements to St Thomas’ Church and Community Centre and commissioning a range of local activity to maintain engagement with residents. Through this work, partnership members built their skills, experience, and confidence, preparing themselves for their roles as future managers of the community hub.
By the middle of the Big Local programme, the purchase of the building was complete, however the partnership faced further setbacks due to the condition of the building and damage caused after a break-in. Support from local organisations and the council with funding, governance and business planning helped to ensure the space could sustain itself long-term. The partnership also created a new successor organisation — The Local Hub (Bloxwich West Ltd) — after reflecting that the community benefit society model had made it challenging to attract additional funding.
After securing over £320,000 Community Ownership Funding towards refurbishment works, the redeveloped building — called The Local Hub — opened in summer 2025. The hub was described as an asset for the whole community and a source of pride and determination for the partnership. After opening, it hosted a range of activity, events and support for Walsall residents, including health and wellbeing sessions, crafting, music nights, a community pantry, and tabletop sales.
To build community spirit and improve residents’ feelings about their area, the Mossley Big Local partnership used various community engagement methods. They created a local Facebook group and accompanying newsletter to publicise local events and activities. The group grew to over 2,600 members during the Covid-19 pandemic, and remained in regular use at the end of the Big Local programme.
A few years into Big Local, the partnership allocated funding to the local Walsall Housing Group, to support their outreach work through recruitment and training over two years. Some residents were employed as ‘community champions’ to engage and consult with others. The partnership felt that these champions helped to create opportunities for residents, supporting them to volunteer and engage with the Big Local programme. When the commission ended, the partnership funded a dedicated community worker to help continue this aspect of their outreach work.
Throughout the programme, the Mossley partnership wanted to bring people together and challenge negative perceptions about the estate.
Early consultation revealed that residents wanted the area to feel brighter and cleaner. The partnership ran planting projects, created a new pocket park and organised community litter-picks. One of the summer litter-picks saw children enthusiastically fill up bags of litter with their parents, receiving a certificate and sweets as a thank you.
The partnership also supported and organised community events and activities to encourage connections across the estate. Alongside community trips, there were seasonal events at Easter and Christmas and one-off events (such as celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee). The partnership felt these provided affordable opportunities for residents, particularly for families with young children. Some events attracted hundreds of people.
One of the most popular events that the partnership held was to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Mossley Estate. The 2019 event attracted nearly 300 residents, and included the Great Mossley Exhibition, which captured residents’ stories and was later displayed at St Thomas’ Church. During the event, residents shared their memories and stories of the estate and learned new things about its history. The celebration brought out a sense of local pride and led to a similar project the following year, match-funded by Heritage Lottery Fund: a two-part radio drama titled ‘My Home My Mossley’ based on the lives of residents on the estate.
In the final years of the Big Local programme, the partnership set up a new organisation so that volunteer-led events and activities could continue for the benefit of the community. Mossley Community Connections CIC carried out litter-picks, organised fun days, kids’ clubs and day trips.
Young people were a consistent priority for the partnership, particularly following the closure of the Mossley Youth Centre in the early years of Big Local and due to incidences of knife crime in Walsall. The partnership wanted to provide safe, supportive spaces and activities for young people, creating opportunities for them to build confidence and skills.
Along with events and activities for children and young people, the partnership focused on preventative projects. They allocated funds to outreach work with young people and The Inspire Group to deliver a summer programme encouraging engagement in sport and other activities. In addition, they worked with More Talk More Action, a dedicated youth organisation, to deliver a mentoring programme in primary schools focusing on grooming, the consequences of crime, and positive life choices.
Another key initiative was the Building Blox project, delivered by West Midlands police. The project involved working in schools to deliver a six-week programme of early intervention work around crime. It was intended to help keep young people safe and improve participants’ confidence, and was seen as a success in meeting its aims by the partnership.
Through conversations with young people and learning from projects (including those that were felt to be less successful), the partnership came to see the importance of location when working with young people. This learning – that engagement would drop off if activities were located too far away – emphasised the importance of the new community hub in providing a safe and easily accessed location for community activity.
From early on in Big Local, addressing isolation and loneliness was a priority of the Mossley Big Local partnership. As well as bringing residents together through community events and activities, they focused on specific projects targeting residents in vulnerable situations, including older people and families.
For example, the partnership commissioned Home-Start Walsall to deliver a programme providing mental health support to families in vulnerable situations. Volunteers were trained to provide mentorship, which helped establish local support networks among families during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Early on, a monthly dementia café was set up by Walsall Linkline using Big Local funding. The partnership felt the café was one of their most prominent and successful projects, improving local awareness and helping to reduce isolation for residents with dementia. It proved so popular that it was eventually expanded, providing more sessions each month. Further activities that proved popular with older residents included a senior tea dance and weekly bingo, which continued to be delivered from The Local Hub following the end of the Big Local programme.
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 Mossley Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024) ‘Children in low income families: local area statistics’. Available at: gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2014-to-2023/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-financial-year-ending-2023 (Accessed 16 December 2024)
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 16 December 2024)
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 16 December 2024)
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) (2019c) ‘English Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2019 – Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDACI)’. Available at: gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019 (Accessed 16 December 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationandhouseholdestimatesenglandandwalescensus2021 (Accessed 16 December 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023) ‘UK Census 2021: Highest level of qualification: No qualifications’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS067/editions/2021/versions/3 (Accessed 16 December 2024)
Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) (2019) ‘Left behind neighbourhoods’. Available at: ocsi.uk/left-behind-neighbourhoods/ (Accessed 16 December 2024)
