The Northfleet North Big Local area covered part of the district council ward of Northfleet North in Gravesham, Kent. Its population in 2021 was around 2,500 (ONS, 2022a). Compared to regional averages, there were relatively high numbers of young people and children, and large Black British, African, and Caribbean populations (ONS, 2022b: 2023a). Locally, 48 per cent of people lived in socially rented housing, compared to 17 per cent across the whole of Gravesham (ONS, 2023b).
The area had three established estates – The Hive, Wallis Park, and Seven Avenues – which were surrounded by new housing developments, with the river Thames forming the northern boundary. The Ebbsfleet Development Corporation had led the development of 15,000 new homes (Ebbsfleet Development Corporation, 2024), although residents expressed doubt about the potential for investment in community facilities.
The area has a rich local history, but a decline of cement manufacture was considered by the partnership to have led to a loss of jobs and local identity. There were a range of community assets which served as key venues and partners throughout Big Local, including The Rainbow Centre (renamed Northfleet Community Hub), St Botolph’s Church and the Veterans Club.
At the start of the programme, the Northfleet North Big Local partnership engaged around 300 local people of all ages across 12 different events, using a Planning for Real approach. This approach is a community-led planning method that involves residents in designing and implementing neighbourhood improvements. The partnership’s intention was to identify key local issues, and what residents felt was needed to make the neighbourhood a better place. This highlighted a lack of provision for children and young people; issues around community safety; and lack of job opportunities.
One way the partnership decided to respond to these priorities was by establishing a small grants scheme for local individuals or groups to develop their own ideas that benefit the community. The scheme offered up to £1,000 of Big Local funding and was paired with support to access additional funding to further sustain their activities.
Though membership changed over the years, the partnership included a core group of residents. Some volunteers from projects that had received funding went on to become partnership members, with one becoming the chair. Partnership meetings were open to all residents. Over the years, the partnership worked with a range of new and existing groups and services, including Ebbsfleet United Football Club, St Botolph’s Church, the Veterans Club, Gravesham Arts and Gravesham Film Festival, Gravesham Borough Council, and their Locally Trusted Organisation (LTO), Council for Voluntary Service North West Kent.
Northfleet North Big Local workers had plans to establish their own organisation (with the backing of the partnership) to continue their Big Local work and grow their focus on creative community development. However, a lack of accessible local funding opportunities prevented them from moving forward with this plan. Instead, partnership members and workers sustained Big Local activity by amplifying resident voices in local housing regeneration plans. The partnership saw their legacy in the projects, groups, and facilities they created and facilitated, and in the confidence and skills that they worked to develop among residents.
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.
Through community consultation, the Northfleet North Big Local partnership identified an appetite for new groups to be established, which they felt was held back by a lack of resources. In response, they designed a Free Space initiative to help residents get past the initial hurdle of access to space in which to get up and running. The partnership worked with community venues, like St Botolph’s Church and the Veterans Club, funding the spaces to make them available to groups for free.
The scheme attracted new services into Northfleet North, supported new groups to start, and provided opportunities for people to test ideas (especially social enterprises) without worrying about large initial overheads. Among the projects attracted by the Free Space initiative were the Hive Hope food bank (which remained a key service throughout Big Local); a summer boxing project; and a social group for single parents.
Arts played a central role in the Northfleet North Big Local partnership’s work, particularly in their later years. This was largely due to the passion and skills of one resident (an artist and long-time volunteer in the community). This work linked arts and cultural events to Northfleet’s heritage, with the aim of improving community pride, improving health and wellbeing, and generating further community capacity.
With the support of Big Local, Northfleet Community Hub hosted a range of arts exhibitions and performances. These were believed to help foster a new culture of creativity in the area and create a strong local network of community artists. Residents co-created an installation of clay tiles recording their feelings about the area over time at the historic Sturge School Fountain.
The partnership provided seed funding to the Active Threads scheme, which encouraged residents to come together and find shared creative interests, running as a non-prescriptive open drop-in space. What started as an idea by a Big Local volunteer, soon developed into a self-sustaining group that went on to organise poetry readings, textile and jewellery making workshops, painting groups, and supported local events. As well as fostering creativity, the scheme encouraged connection and collaboration between residents through sharing skills and knowledge. Small grant funding also enabled local men (a demographic that had historically been difficult to engage) to establish a group called the Secret Society of Northfleet Gardeners, and a local history group.
Several new and developing initiatives designed to improve quality of life were supported by Northfleet North Big Local, which helped develop a network of services run by and for residents. Examples included the No Walls Garden and the Hive Hope food bank. These services worked together to support residents, and involved former service users who became volunteers, helping build skills and confidence.
The No Walls Garden provided space for projects supporting ex-offenders, people experiencing long-term unemployment or substance abuse issues, disabled people, and others needing support to develop skills and connect to their community. The partnership funded a community gardener, who worked across the growing collection of green spaces – including two gardens which were created on previously unmaintained land. These were helpful during Covid-19 lockdowns, for people without their own outdoor space. A shed was also established at the No Walls Garden (as part of a wider Kent Sheds project), offering woodwork, arts and crafts, and IT provision to residents.
The Hive Hope food bank began with funding from Northfleet North Big Local. Fresh fruit and vegetables (provided by the No Walls Garden) boosted its offer to residents. The food bank and the Job Club referred residents to one another, as well as to other services like Citizens Advice, housing support and debt advice. The Hive Hope food bank also developed a mobile unit to serve multiple locations and provide access for those unable to travel.
The Northfleet North partnership identified a lack of provision for children and young people in the area. They felt this was important to address, given the high number of children and young people in the area, and related public health problems, such as childhood obesity. While youth clubs and other schemes did exist in the wider Gravesham area, Northfleet North residents expressed reluctance to travel beyond their own estates.
A range of provision for children and young people came from start-up and other grants, which were offered to residents with ideas and new or growing organisations. For example, the Beat Club received start-up and grant-funding, and provided local young people the opportunity to learn, play, record, and produce music. Some participants went on to study music-related courses up to degree level. Big Local funding was also invested in The Academy of Dance, which continued to provide dance teaching and opportunities for children and young people after initial support from Northfleet North Big Local and Unltd (an organisation providing support to social enterprises).
One early success with a lasting outcome was helping create a new playpark for local children. Existing playgrounds on the four local estates were described in negative terms by parents. In response, a group of residents (some of whom were partnership members) began lobbying local landowner and building materials manufacturer, LaFarge. This led to the company offering a 10-year rolling rent-free lease for a playground, and preparing the land at its own cost. The Big Local partnership purchased and installed the play equipment, and Seven Avenues Play Park opened in the summer of 2015. As an asset the community could use well into the future, the partnership felt the playpark was their first legacy contribution, and as the Big Local programme came to an end, they helped secure its future by transferring ownership to the local council.
To support residents seeking support around employment, Northfleet North Big Local funded The Northfleet North Job Club. Run by Kent-based community interest company CAS Community Solutions and supported by a bank of volunteers, the club was delivered from the library on the Hive estate twice a week. The Job Club became a key service, helping people find work or start their own businesses. Additionally, the club signposted residents to key local services, with the Hive Hope food bank reporting increased referrals as a result. By 2016, the club had 69 members and had supported 8 people into full-time work, 4 into part-time, and 2 into volunteering.
With additional support from the Big Local partnership, CAS Training Solutions went on to offer wider welfare support, free IT training, literacy and numeracy support, and benefits advice (including appeals, and winning cases for residents). The organisation was eventually approached by other Big Local areas for advice, support, and training on setting up and running local Job Clubs.
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 Northfleet North Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (2024) ‘Welcome to Ebbsfleet: a 21st century garden city’. Available at: ebbsfleetgardencity.org.uk/ebbsfleet-garden-city/ (Accessed 17 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022a) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationandhouseholdestimatesenglandandwalescensus2021 (Accessed 10 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022b) ‘UK Census 2021: Age structure of the population: Population aged under 16’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationandhouseholdestimatesenglandandwalescensus2021 (Accessed 15 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023a) ‘UK Census 2021: Ethnic group: Black’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/3 (Accessed 10 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023b) ‘UK Census 2021: Social rented housing’. Available at: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/bulletins/housingenglandandwales/census2021 (Accessed 10 October 2024)
