The Big Local area was in Thurcroft, a village and civil parish south-east of Rotherham in South Yorkshire. Despite being surrounded by greenbelt and farmland, the village had easy access to motorways.
The closure of the coal mining pit and brick yard in 1992 impacted the village and its residents. Like many Big Local areas, Thurcroft had lost some important local facilities. However, the area still had a significant number of local shops and a Post Office.
While many residents reported having lived in the village all their lives, the area saw a 17 per cent increase in population between 2011–2021, partially as a result of new housing (ONS, 2012; 2022). In 2021, the area was home to approximately 6,000 residents (ONS, 2022).
The Big Local partnership focused on restoring community pride and improving Thurcroft as a place to live, as well as increasing support for people experiencing financial challenges, people not in employment, and families, children and young people. Big Local funding was used to bring in administrative support through the partnership’s Locally Trusted Organisation (LTO), RotherFed. Partnership members volunteered across many aspects of Big Local activity and encouraged the community to follow their lead. They saw this as a way to get the most value out of the Big Local funding, and to get the community involved in all manner of activity – from organising events to project-managing the construction of Thurcroft Hub.
The partnership also embraced the expertise of local organisations and councils. Time and care went into creating and maintaining relationships between the community and these groups and councils, and the partnership felt that their collaborative work led to positive outcomes for Thurcroft. For example, Rotherham Borough Council supported litter-picking schemes by providing additional support and resources. Over time, a closer working relationship also developed with Thurcroft Parish Council, which the partnership felt would enable activities and events to be sustained into the future. Some partnership members were elected into parish council roles towards the end of the Big Local programme.
As part of their goal of creating lasting change, the partnership initially focused on involving young people in developing services and activities. In later years, the Thurcroft Big Local partnership focused on supporting groups to become legally constituted organisations and bid for external funding, which would ensure their work could continue.
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.
Big Local funding was invested in the construction of Thurcroft Hub, a new space for a wide range of activities and services. The partnership managed the hub to provide a gathering place, and space where community activity, sports, and recreation could be delivered long into the future. The hub was built on the site of the old cricket pavilion, which was more cost-effective than repurposing the existing building. The new space was more inclusive with a wide range of uses.
The hub included a fully licensed bar, making it suitable for the community to hire for private parties (such as birthdays and funerals), and more generally for meeting and socialising. ‘Family night’ saw the bar open for hot and cold drinks, with a tuck shop for young people. Sports facilities meant it could host local and regional clubs, as well as tournaments. The venue also was fit for large-scale community events, such as the Gala and Christmas Fayre.
The partnership developed a range of ways to support activity in the hub, including purchasing a projector and screen, making the hub a viable venue to hire for week-long training courses. This generated revenue to subsidise access for other groups and organisations, such as youth groups or for social services to meet local families. Partnership members saw meeting these needs in the community as a key achievement for Thurcroft Big Local.
The Big Local partnership focused on supporting young people in Thurcroft in different ways. They involved them in decision-making related to their own interests and needs. For example, when Thurcroft Hub was under construction, young residents were supported to think about what they would like from the space. Young people supported local events and got involved in the local volunteer effort (litter-picking, supporting with deliveries during the Covid-19 pandemic). Big Local funding was invested in a youth outreach worker to expand on existing underfunded youth provision.
The partnership reflected that their approach helped to grow a sense of responsibility, confidence, and ownership among young people. They felt it had improved community relations, by showing that young people could be trusted and listened to, and showcasing the role of young people in caring for the hub, volunteering, and representing Thurcroft at local events.
The Thurcroft Big Local partnership focused on the sustainability of groups and activities. They felt that the work that was funded through Big Local had encouraged ‘community togetherness’. The Covid-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis amplified the importance of ensuring that groups and activities would be able to continue beyond Big Local.
This meant supporting these groups to incorporate and become their own legal entities, with the partnership supporting three groups to do this. A weekly lunch club for older residents was initially funded by Big Local, but went on to be funded through attendee subscriptions and donations from supermarkets and small funders. The Events Committee, which began as a subgroup of Thurcroft Big Local, went on to fundraise itself to continue running Thurcroft’s community calendar, with a range of events. Finally, the youth group incorporated so that the youth leader and young people involved could fundraise for activities and resources to continue operating into the future.
Alongside support provided by the Locally Trusted Organisation, partnership members who had developed skills around fundraising shared their knowledge and expertise to help sustain new groups. Some moved into other decision-making roles in the community, with similar objectives. Support also took the form of volunteering with event set-ups, helping with advertising and promotion, and funding resources for community events, like gazebos. Thurcroft Hub guaranteed a venue for events and activities in the community.
Groups and organisations worked with the Big Local partnership to coordinate a public calendar of events and activities in Thurcroft. The calendar, which was run by the events committee, was created to manage the different groups delivering events and activities and improve logistics. It created a collaborative and joined-up approach, in terms of supporting logistics and ensuring that activities did not fall on the same day. The coordination also helped ensure that sufficient volunteer support was available when required, and that plenty of activities were available for the community. These improvements in logistics helped support groups to access additional funding outside of Big Local by helping them share knowledge on fundraising opportunities.
The partnership felt the calendar helped build community spirit, which they felt was needed in the area following the closure of the mines. This was observed through activities that the calendar helped get up and running – from a yearly gala, to weekly lunch clubs, to seasonal events like Bonfire Night fireworks displays and summer trips to the seaside.
The Thurcroft Big Local partnership felt that engaging residents as volunteers helped them get the most out of the Big Local funding, and that their voluntary involvement helped to maintain momentum and get projects over the line.
The partnership found it increasingly easy to get people involved as volunteers, as they became known for getting stuck in themselves. Their approach to attracting volunteers focused largely on leafletting, social media and informal conversations.
Members reflected on the skills and confidence they learned from taking on a variety of roles through Big Local – particularly in leadership, communication, and in some cases, fundraising. They also reflected that their ability to bring volunteers together to deliver events for the community was evidence of community pride and a sense of togetherness that the Big Local programme sought to bring back to Thurcroft.
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 Thurcroft Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2012) ‘UK Census 2011: All persons’. (Accessed 10 October 2024)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022) ‘UK Census 2021: All persons’. (Accessed 10 October 2024)
