The North East Hastings Big Local area covered parts of three electoral wards in East Sussex: Baird, Ore and Tressell. The hills and valleys of north-east Hastings acted as natural barriers that made moving between the constituent neighbourhoods difficult without access to a car. This meant that residents tended to identify with separate individual communities, including the Broomgrove, Downs Farm, Halton and Red Lake estates. Though the area was only a couple of miles from Hastings town centre, many residents felt isolated or separated from it.
The predominantly White British population of 8,800 lived mostly in terraced housing or purpose-built flats (ONS, 2022; 2023a). There was a higher percentage of lone-parent families with dependent children than the average for the South East (ONS, 2024), with 30 per cent of children under the age of 19 living in low-income families (DWP, 2024a). Compared with the wider South East, home and car ownership were lower (ONS 2023b, 2023c), while unemployment and social isolation were higher (DWP 2024b; 2024c; OCSI, 2019). Some areas, like Broomgrove, were among the 10 per cent most deprived areas in England (MHCLG, 2019).
The North East Hastings Big Local partnership was established in 2014. Early consultations with the community identified improving community facilities and providing opportunities for families as key priorities.
Initially, the partnership developed subgroups. This structure was later simplified to one main group to reflect participation levels. Ten to twelve people made up the Big Local partnership, with many early members remaining for the entire lifetime of the programme. Many of the partnership members were also involved in other voluntary activities and organisations.
At an early stage, partnership members realised the need for a paid member of staff to support delivery. Taking an asset-based approach, the partnership also made the decision to work with existing partners closer to the community, or those who could bring new opportunities to the area. When required, the partnership called on local experts, such as a council officer (who advised the partnership when they commissioned play services) and a representative of a housing association.
The partnership made strategic investments in projects that supported community spaces and resources but also prioritised supporting residents in a tailored way that met their specific needs. For example, they provided food for residents experiencing food poverty, with packages tailored to individual circumstances. By getting to know people, shopping support could be aligned with their specific needs. For instance, residents who did not have kitchens were provided with food that could be microwaved.
An important part of North East Hastings Big Local’s legacy came from supporting partner organisations to apply for funding that maintained and built on the partnership’s community projects. This included £200,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which funded support and improvements for the Broomgrove area, including the Broomgrove Community Centre, the Adventure Playground and Speckled Wood.
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.
The flexibility of Big Local funding enabled investment in one-off infrastructure costs to improve community resources in the North East Hastings Big Local area. For example, a pizza oven was funded for the In2Play community building so children attending after-school activities could have a meal, while new lighting in the Ore Community Library allowed a transition to energy-efficient bulbs.
A similar, targeted approach to funding was employed at Speckled Wood, a 5.1 hectare woodland and park in Ore Village that was under threat of development. Wanting to secure this open space for the community, Big Local funding was used to purchase several separate, small plots of land surrounding the site, which would make development difficult. The success of this initiative came from working in partnership with Ore Community Land Trust; a local, resident-led organisation committed to preserving urban woodland for community use and protecting animal habitats.
Volunteers went on to play a key role in the conservation of Speckled Wood. Being able to volunteer in local projects like this helped give volunteers a sense of purpose, build their confidence, and feel less isolated. One partnership member reflected on the benefits for volunteers of being outside with others, which they felt was beneficial for their mental health.
When the council-run library in Ore came under threat of closure, partnership members became involved in the community’s efforts to save it. Through this campaign, the council granted management of the library to a new volunteer-led charity on a 20-year-guaranteed low-cost rent. The North East Hastings Big Local partnership agreed to provide match funding that enabled the charity to access grants from the local housing association, and the Ore Community Library opened in 2021.
A charity fully run by volunteers, the library became an important resource for the community. It soon gained 1,000 members, over half of whom were young people.
The North East Hastings Big Local area already had a Men’s Shed, where neighbours got to know and support each other while making or mending things in a communal shed. Big Local funding was used to broaden access to the project through providing grants on the condition of introducing diversity policies and training. As a result, women, younger people, disabled people, and people with dementia became involved.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, North East Hastings Big Local had a small grants scheme which offered grants of around £1,000. The partnership were successfully able to adapt this to support residents during lockdown.
For example, a group of older people received a tablet, dongle, and training in how to use them, so they could access the internet. This was particularly useful to counter social isolation. Families were also supported with digital inclusion during the pandemic, with a grant used to provide tablets so children could continue their schoolwork online. Grants were also provided for supplementary food items for residents on the Broomgrove Estate, supplying multi-sensory resources for use with children at home and delivering wellbeing packs to Downs Farm residents.
Over the whole Big Local programme, at least £150,000 was awarded to over 170 projects in the North East Hastings Big Local area. For many groups who received a small grant, this was their first experience of working with a funder. The partnership built relationships with applicants and advised them on how to improve their applications. Through this, the groups developed the confidence and experience to go on and successfully apply for grants from other funders.
Over the years of the Big Local programme, the North East Hastings Big Local partnership provided funding for a range of activities for young people in the community. This included small grants that gave the community access to activities that had not previously been available, such as Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club’s ‘Premier League Kicks’ football training sessions. Another example was Hastings Storytelling Festival, which had not run activities in the Big Local area before and delivered performances in local schools thanks to Big Local grant funding.
The partnership also commissioned after-school activities for children living in isolated communities on the Broomgrove and Downs Farm estates. This initiative, delivered by In2Play, created new opportunities for children, young people and families to socialise and travel out of the area. To remove financial barriers, these activities were offered at no charge to residents. Every event also provided children with a healthy snack and a drink.
To build trust with children and families, the partnership took a long-term approach, with funding provided for four years. This enabled a strong working relationship to develop with In2Play and led to the programme becoming well-established in both estates. In2Play went on to win £270,000 of National Lottery Community funding so the initiative could continue beyond 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 North East Hastings Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024a) ‘Children in low income families: local area statistics’. (Accessed 28 November 2024)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024b) ‘People on universal credit: not in employment’. (Accessed 24 January 2025)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024c) ‘Jobseekers allowance’. (Accessed 24 January 2025)
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) (2019) ‘English indices of deprivation 2019’. (Accessed 28 November 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 28 November 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023a) ‘UK Census 2021: Ethnic group: White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British’. (Accessed 28 November 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023c) ‘UK Census 2021: Social rented housing’. (Accessed 28 November 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2024) ‘UK Census 2021: Families and households: Lone parent households with dependent children’. (Accessed 28 November 2024)
Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) (2019) ‘Left behind neighbourhoods’. (Accessed 24 January 2025)
