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. During the programme 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).
The Mossley Big Local partnership focused on reducing isolation and loneliness, particularly for residents in vulnerable situations; providing safe spaces and positive activities for local young people, enriching their lives and reducing antisocial behaviour; bringing residents together and enhancing community spirit through activities and events; and celebrating the community and improving negative feelings some residents held about the area.
The Mossley partnership supported a range of local activities, services, and projects across their priorities using grants – an approach that increased activity among local groups and organisations. The funding was eventually expanded to residents, encouraging entrepreneurship in the area by enabling them to get funding for a project that could benefit the community.
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, and extra capacity was brought in by commissioning organisations, as well as a dedicated paid worker, to support delivery of the plan. The Mossley Big Local partnership felt the grant-giving and funding approaches broadened horizons in Mossley, creating numerous opportunities and increasing aspirations in the community.
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.
In early consultations, Mossley residents expressed a need for a space where community support, services and activities could take place. They also noted a lack of youth services in the area following the closure of Mossley Youth Club in 2014.
The partnership decided to develop the old youth club building – one of the few assets in the area – into a local community-owned hub. They secured an asset transfer from Walsall Borough Council, bringing the building into community ownership – a process that began in 2016 and took five years to complete.
Mossley Big Local Limited (MBL Ltd) was established to own and manage the hub, with members of the Mossley Big Local partnership as directors. MBL Ltd was set up as a community benefit society so that any profits would be returned to the community. The partnership saw this as ‘the start of a new chapter for all Mossley residents.’
The partnership made use of the time it took to secure the asset transfer by investing in other local spaces 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 ongoing work, the partnership built up their skills, experience, and capacity, preparing themselves for their roles as directors on MBL Ltd and managers of the building when the time came.
Following the asset transfer in 2021, the Mossley Big Local partnership and MBL Ltd worked with the council to fundraise for necessary renovation work and to ensure the space could sustain itself long-term. The redeveloped space, called The Local Hub, opened in summer 2025.
To build community spirit and improve residents’ feelings about their area, the Mossley Big Local partnership focused on 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 programme.
A few years into the programme, the partnership also commissioned 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.
In 2019, the partnership celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Mossley Estate with an event attended by nearly 300 residents. It included the Great Mossley Exhibition, which captured residents’ stories and was later displayed at St Thomas’ Church. The celebration 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.
Mossley partnership members were supported in various ways to build up their capacity over the course of the programme. Some, for example, were trained for their new roles as directors of Mossley Big Local Limited whilst other members were supported to take on, and carry out, new roles within the partnership. The group also focused on developing the confidence necessary for making difficult decisions around priorities and resource allocation.
In their final years, the partnership developed plans to create a dedicated local support network by and for residents. It was intended to create a strong, resilient foundation for meeting the community’s needs after the Big Local programme was complete – from providing emotional support to helping individuals access food banks, tackling budgeting, making Universal Credit applications, and getting involved in local activities.
Funding was used for several projects that supported and enriched the lives of children and young people in the Mossley Big Local area, providing opportunities to grow confidence and skills through accessing safe spaces and activities.
This focus was largely delivered through community grants, which the partnership extended to a range of organisations and individuals to deliver youth-focused activity and support. These included arts and crafts, sports activities and programmes, and a sports camp. A dedicated youth organisation was also commissioned to work with young people, alongside coordinated outreach through working with local primary schools.
Notable among these initiatives was the Building Blox project, supported by Big Local funding and delivered by West Midlands Police. The project involved working with two 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.
Through their work delivering these projects and learning from some that were less successful, the partnership came to see the importance of location for 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 more easily accessed location for community activity.
As part of their focus on the health, wellbeing, and social needs of the whole community, Mossley Big Local partnership supported targeted projects for older people and families.
A monthly Dementia café, commissioned through Walsall Linkline was one of the more prominent and successful projects. The café helped reduce isolation for residents with dementia and improved local awareness of dementia. It proved so popular that it was eventually expanded, providing more sessions each month.
Home-Start Walsall delivered another notable project: 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. Alongside these initiatives, a small ‘pocket’ park was also developed in the area to provide access to green space for residents, with the partnership securing additional government funding for its development.
This overall focus on supporting older residents, families, and young people, through specific projects and improvements to the local environment, came to form a key part of Mossley partnership’s legacy.
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’. (Accessed 16 December 2024)
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) (2019a) ‘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)’. (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)’. (Accessed 16 December 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 16 December 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023) ‘UK Census 2021: Highest level of qualification: No qualifications’. (Accessed 16 December 2024)
Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) (2019) ‘Left behind neighbourhoods’. (Accessed 16 December 2024)
