The Northwood Together Big Local area was in the Merseyside Borough of Knowsley, nine miles north-east of Liverpool city centre. It covered the Northwood housing estate, an area of low-density housing built in the 1950s when many families were relocated from Liverpool as part of the slum clearance campaign. In 2021 the estate was home to nearly 9,000 people, and over 40 per cent of residents lived in social housing (ONS, 2022; 2023a).
The area contained two community centres and one primary school, where pupils received free school meals, helping to counter the food poverty frequently noted by residents. In 2021, Liverpool Football Club built a training ground and restored public pitches on land between the houses and the adjacent industrial estate. Residents mainly identified as white British (ONS, 2023b), and the partnership described the culture across the area as being one where locals kept their troubles to themselves, and typically took a long time to trust outsiders.
The Northwood Together partnership evolved over time into an all-female, highly visible group of self-described “doers”, described locally as the ‘girls in blue’ (due to the blue fleeces they wore). The partnership built open and trusting relationships with each other as a foundation for good governance, and expressed pride over not using traditional voting methods – instead making all decisions through discussion. The group employed a Community Development Manager, whom they worked with to deliver services, and trusted to create strategic partnerships to extend their work. One member of the group was with the Big Local partnership from the beginning (over 13 years); while others joined for shorter terms and were encouraged to use the experience to gain employment.
In the early years of the programme Northwood Together was motivated by core objectives and principles, but uncertain how to invest the Big Local funding. They decided not to pursue a local council-owned community centre, instead developing a role to support residents significantly impacted by austerity, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the cost of living crisis. As the Big Local programme progressed, the partnership responded not only to formal referrals, but also to local needs they identified in their community. As their work and partnerships grew, they learned to take annual away-days to reflect on progress, make plans, and develop leadership skills and team building through workshops.
Northwood Together wanted to leave a legacy of a more confident, open, joined up community, and saw the personal development of everyone involved as part of this. However, the partnership came to understand the significant, long-term work and investment required to ensure residents’ needs were met, and felt this was ultimately beyond their capacity as volunteers.
Aware that support from larger organisations might dwindle without the resident representation they provided, Northwood Together sought out partners to continue key initiatives. For example, their Shapeshifters weight loss programme was passed to the local Livv Housing Association, who went on to replicate the model across the wider borough of Knowsley.
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.
Northwood Together Big Local created inclusive volunteering opportunities for residents, welcoming people experiencing isolation and those who believed they wouldn’t have the opportunity elsewhere. Through keeping volunteering friendly and informal, they were able to build relationships and help people identify hidden skills. The partnership also supported residents to access training through small grants, aiming to help some residents gain employment. One-to-one peer support was offered alongside such grants – for example, accompanying a young mother to a training course to support confidence-building.
Residents approached Northwood Together partnership members for support around domestic abuse, pregnancy, and bereavement. To ensure they could respond to these needs appropriately, partnership members undertook mentoring and coaching training. By developing these skills, they were able to support residents in their own development, and connect them with housing associations and specialised advice services, such as Home-Start Knowsley, a family support organisation.
Northwood Together delivered Learning for Pleasure, a programme for residents to come together and develop skills in the familiar environment of the Northwood Community Centre. Delivered with Knowsley Family and Community Education, the programme offered crafts (like floristry), as well as maths and English courses. It was designed to build residents’ confidence to engage in learning and reduce barriers to employment. Alongside delivering the programme, Northwood Together worked with the local nursery to identify parents who wished to attend sessions but required childcare cover to do so.
The Shapeshifters programme was developed by Northwood Together Big Local partnership members to improve general wellbeing through helping individuals lose weight together. Twenty-four residents received a gym pass and came to regular weigh-ins and workshops on healthy eating and food preparation. Over six months, participants lost 400lbs collectively, and reported significant improvements in their mental health and self-esteem, as well as gaining new friendships. Some volunteered to lead the next Shapeshifters cohort, and one became more involved in the Northwood Together partnership.
The partnership felt that Northwood residents were apprehensive about seeking support – a culture they felt had become embedded over generations. Partnership members therefore worked to model openness and vulnerability for the community by sharing their own stories of isolation and need. They developed services sensitively to encourage participation, creating opportunities for residents to give as well as receive help. Examples of this included delivering Cinema Night food packages during lockdown, and repositioning personal weight loss as a shared holistic endeavour through the Shapeshifters programme. Through their efforts, they felt they had begun to build a culture of mutual support and lessen the stigma around needing or asking for help.
Poverty was a primary concern in Northwood from the outset and escalated with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis. Food support was a central theme, and Northwood Together offered four food drop-ins per week for residents. During the pandemic this extended to the delivery of breakfast packs and meals, some of which were provided with the support of Liverpool FC. A partnership with Amazon meant 125 Christmas hampers were delivered to local families most impacted by the pandemic, and donations from a local retailer supplied mattresses to local families who needed them.
To support access to larger essential items (such as washing machines), the partnership established a bursary scheme that enabled GPs and social workers to access Big Local funding. Pregnancy tests and basic hygiene items were also discretely made available for free, at a pop-up Clothes Swap Boutique. Partnership members reported that residents would “come in for one thing and leave with a lot more”.
Northwood Together collaborated with organisations who shared their goals for and commitment to the area, both during the programme and to carry the work forward in the long term. Examples included working with Penny Lane Builders to raise funds to alleviate Period Poverty, and embedding long-term services in the area by supporting the development of a bespoke welfare advice service – Tailored Advice Services in the Community. This work helped a community building to remain open as the base for the advice services. Together with Livv Housing youth engagement team, the partnership also created an apprenticeship scheme intended to lead young people into surveying and business roles. This scheme was taken forward by Livv when Big Local funding ended.
Over the course of the Big Local programme, the Northwood Together partnership gained trust from a range of voluntary sector, commercial, and statutory partners. They invited members of local housing associations and Knowsley Council to attend partnership meetings, to receive advice and to share reflections about local need with these external bodies.
The partnership also approached local businesses with corporate social responsibility commitments. Through this, they secured further financial and practical support for Northwood. They also represented their community as part of Knowsley Council’s successful bid to secure £22m of national Levelling Up funding (though these funds were ultimately allocated to a different area of Liverpool).
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 Northwood Together Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 17 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023a) ‘UK Census 2021: Social rented housing’. (Accessed 17 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023b) ‘UK Census 2021: Ethnic group: White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British’. (Accessed 17 October 2024)
