Newington Big Local area was based in a suburb in Ramsgate, a seaside town in east Kent. In 2021, Newington was home to 5,709 residents, a 12 per cent increase since 2011 (ONS, 2012; 2022). The area was in the top 10 per cent most deprived in England, with children particularly affected (MHCLG, 2019a; 2019b). Compared to the wider South East, Newington had lower proportions of employment, including young people (DWP, 2024a; 2024b; ONS, 2022b); and residents were at greater risk of experiencing poor physical and mental health (MHCLG, 2019c).
Alongside the Newington housing estate, local assets included green spaces, play areas, churches, Newington Community Centre, shops, and schools. During Big Local, new housing developments emerged and some local businesses closed. While the partnership felt that the developments contributed to an increase in residents but not services, they still felt the area had good quality housing, strong community spirit, and a wealth of local knowledge among long-term residents.
The Newington partnership focused on four priorities: creating opportunities for residents to come together; supporting young people to thrive through meaningful and empowering activities; working together to develop green spaces; and using food to bring residents together, develop their cooking skills and respond to food needs. To strengthen a shared narrative and community pride, in 2017 they commissioned a new brand and communications strategy to raise the Big Local profile and engage people. This included creating a new logo and website (‘Re-Newington’), positioning the area as an ‘Estate of Enablers’ and highlighting its resilience, pride, and vibrancy. Big Local funding was also invested in creativity to engage, inspire, and challenge people’s negative perceptions of themselves and the area.
The partnership wanted residents to have more ownership over what happened in the area. They awarded small grants through a community chest for residents to kick-start initiatives, and limited stakeholder involvement in the partnership to prioritise residents. The partnership felt that community control of the Newington Community Centre would ensure their legacy beyond Big Local.
As residents had limited capacity, the partnership allocated funds for paid individuals to carry out supporting roles, including a community development manager and coordinator, community gardener, chef and apprentice. The partnership also collaborated with partners to deliver their Big Local plan. Their Locally Trusted Organisation (LTO) – Starlings Support CIC – employed the workers, delivered projects, strengthened relationships, supported residents, and helped source additional funding. Whilst the partnership experienced challenges in collaborating (for example choosing the right partners or balancing leadership), they built strong relationships with local authorities, schools, creative organisations, and housing associations.
Partnership members were supported to develop skills and confidence in chairing meetings, budgets, and governance; and towards the end of Big Local, some took on new responsibilities as trustees of their legacy organisation – Newington Community Association.
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.
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.
Due to limited community spaces in Newington, the partnership allocated Big Local funding to create a temporary shelter for their community worker and small projects at St Christopher’s Church. They rented Newington Community Centre for larger events, and eventually managed the centre which was leased to Newington Community Association (NCA) by Thanet District Council.
The partnership felt that, with some work, the centre could be a sustainable community hub. Newington Big Local revitalised the space by funding repairs, new furniture and improvements to the exterior, with artists and residents creating murals, mosaics, and benches.
The community development manager ran the centre and increased community engagement while the Locally Trusted Organisation (LTO) supported NCA trustees to strengthen the centre’s governance. The centre soon became a busy hub, acting as Newington Big Local’s base and hosting projects, like the Chill Club.
Wanting to secure the centre’s future as a community-owned asset, the partnership, LTO, and workers supported the NCA to take it on. They brought in organisations to work on a long lease and supported partnership members to become NCA trustees. In 2021, as part of Levelling Up Funding awarded to Ramsgate Town Council, the centre received £500,000 for further improvements, including a new training kitchen as a space to build employability skills and food enterprises within the community. As Big Local came to a close, steps were taken to transfer the centre to the NCA on a long lease.
Prioritising the creation and reclamation of green spaces, the partnership worked with volunteers and local councils to restore The Copse – an inaccessible 1.2‑acre woodland owned by a local school.
The partnership secured a ‘tenancy at will’ agreement and registry of the woodland as an ‘asset of community value’. They supported volunteers to clear the site, created pathways, and worked with a local building firm to create a pond. While The Copse was deliberately kept natural, the community gardener worked alongside volunteers and the local school to ensure it remained safe and easily accessed. It went on to be used for parties, community events, food growing, and as an outdoor classroom and Forest School.
The partnership worked with partners to support residents experiencing financial difficulties by building financial skills, providing alternative financial services, and creating services delivered by and for the community.
Early in the programme, Newington Big Local worked with Kent Savers Credit Union to establish a local branch offering loans and savings accounts, and with Citizens Advice Thanet to create a local service. Big Local funding was invested in training residents through Kent Savers Credit Union and Citizens Advice Thanet to process deposits, withdrawals and applications, become volunteers, run the credit union and offer advice. Over 40 people opened accounts, and within a couple of years approximately £50,000 was distributed in loans.
The partnership reflected how community capacity and resources limited the scope for these initiatives to really take off. They felt that residents lacked experience or the time for training to become volunteers, and that they had underestimated the level of financial need and how difficult it would be for residents to save.
Concerned about the impact of poverty on children and resident wellbeing, the partnership focused on food to support a healthy, connected community by meeting food need, building skills in cooking healthy, affordable meals, and bringing residents together.
Newington Big Local funded a range of initiatives, such as bringing in an award-winning community chef, who became integral to the partnership’s work. The chef taught residents how to prepare food using seasonal ingredients, and cooked and embedded food across Newington Big Local projects. Aware of local unemployment (particularly amongst young people) and skills gaps in the region’s growing catering and hospitality industries, the partnership also funded the chef to train young people in catering, linking them with colleges and employers.
The partnership worked with local partners, including Kent County Council, to reach families and provide support. During Covid-19, the partnership worked with FareShare to set up a Community Food Club, collecting and delivering bags of surplus food to households. Eventually residents paid £5 for a bag of recipes and food worth up to £50, (including recipes using the ingredients) and the chef delivered live cooking classes on Facebook.
When Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, food was used to bring residents together. The chef delivered weekly curry nights for men and boys, family cooking sessions, and a lunch club for older residents. The partnership felt the clubs had a positive impact on connections, confidence, and skills.
Responding to community feedback, the partnership prioritised ‘Good Things Together’ – bringing Newington residents together at events. Partnership members and workers organised seasonal events every year, like a Halloween event in The Copse and Newington Community Centre, and a Christmas lunch.
These events attracted hundreds of people and helped residents build skills by delivering them. Having received positive feedback about the difference they had made, the partnership felt the events contributed to a growing sense of community, though there was a need to ensure their financial sustainability beyond Big Local.
The partnership wanted to challenge negative perceptions of the area and strengthen community pride, and one way they did this was through supporting community art and creativity.
Big Local funding was used to support a charity to deliver the ‘Best of Us’ project – using art and creativity to celebrate the best of the community. An ‘Artist In Residence’ was appointed and organised Best Fest – an arts and heritage festival offering free activities – early in the programme. Paid workers and volunteers went on to deliver the festival annually, attracting thousands of people, raising the profile of Newington Big Local, and connecting residents with local organisations. The partnership saw the Best Fest as one of their key achievements and hoped it would continue beyond Big Local.
In 2018, Newington became one of 15 communities to join Local Trust’s Creative Civic Change programme. This saw £200,000 allocated to the area, to work with artists and creative organisations toward positive change. The community delivered and benefited from new creative activities – workshops, a sensory garden at an independent living centre, an annual Roundhouse Pop-up Theatre, a cabaret club for women, and public art works including murals and mosaic benches.
Following the end of the creative programme, some projects and relationships continued. The partnership and their LTO worked with community organisations to attract further funding, so more creative projects could continue and develop, like the Newington Lights Festival.
Alongside Big Local, between 2018–2022 Local Trust also ran the Creative Civic Change programme, an experimental funding programme that supported 15 communities across England to shape, lead and commission arts and creative interventions to make positive social change where they lived. Some Big Local areas were involved, alongside other areas.
A priority for the partnership was for Newington’s young residents to thrive by participating in empowering activities, increasing their aspirations and confidence. Newington Big Local allocated funding to various activities, programmes, and support.
Their flagship initiative was the Chill Club – a safe, creative space for young people. The partnership worked with their ‘Artist In Residence’ and Aim4 Partnership Community Interest Company to establish a free, weekly club for young people aged 10–18. The club was hosted in Newington Community Centre and supported by staff and volunteers. Young people decided what they wanted to do – like film making, games, dance, music, indoor sports, cooking, and outings.
The club connected to other projects to further increase opportunities, like working with the community chef on Young Chefs – club members were taught to cook meals which they served to each other.
Chill Club increased in popularity, with up to 35 young people attending regularly, noting that they found the club to be a welcoming and safe space. The partnership felt the club was one of their main successes, and hoped to see it continue beyond Big Local.
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 Newington Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024a) ‘Universal credit: Employment status by age’. (Accessed 12 December 2024)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024b) ‘Jobseekers allowance by age’. (Accessed 12 December 2024)
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) (2019a) ‘English indices of deprivation 2019’. (Accessed 12 December 2024)
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) (2019b) ‘English Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2019 – Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI)’. (Accessed 12 December 2024)
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) (2019c) ‘English indices of deprivation 2019: Health deprivation and disability domain’. (Accessed 12 December 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2012) ‘UK Census 2011: All persons’. (Accessed 12 December 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022a) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 12 December 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022b) ‘UK Census 2021: Economic activity status, England and Wales’. (Accessed 12 December 2024)
