Woodlands Speaks - Adwick-le-Street, Woodlands Estate
Key points
- The partnership secured the Woodlands Library lease for the local community, providing a space for activities and employment support.
- A skate park in the centre of the village was constructed following extensive consultation with local young people.
- A large community grants programme provided opportunities for families and helped local sports teams and community groups engage with residents.
About the Big Local area
Woodlands Speaks Big Local was a large area covering Woodlands, a village on the north-west outskirts of Doncaster that was home to 7,646 residents in 2021 (ONS, 2022a). A former mining community, the boundary included four housing estates, the majority of which were originally either council or colliery owned. A busy dual-carriageway through the middle of the village created a physical division between communities, who lived on one side or the other, with separate amenities.
The cost of travel between Woodlands and Doncaster had led to residents feeling detached from the city as the main employment centre, as well as from newer distribution and warehousing centres located at the nearby A1 junction. Youth unemployment was at 11 per cent (compared to Yorkshire and the Humber overall at just over six per cent) (DWP, 2024a; 2024b), and residents economically inactive due to sickness or ill health was higher than the regional average at seven per cent (ONS, 2022b).
Woodlands had several community assets: church halls, community centres, a secondary school and three primary schools. It also benefitted from a shopping precinct, parks, playing fields and a library (which became a focus for Woodlands Speaks Big Local). However, antisocial behaviour was seen as a problem in the area by residents which led to damage to some of these assets.
How the Big Local area approached delivery
Woodlands Speaks Big Local partnership formed in 2012, bringing together members of several local voluntary groups, including local tenants and a church group. The partnership’s vision for the area was developed through community consultation on how Woodlands could become a better place to live. Training led by expert community participation consultants enabled partnership members to attend local events as researchers. They heard a range of resident priorities and desires, including: for Woodlands to become cleaner and more attractive; for local people to develop skills and confidence to achieve their goals; for an active community motivated by pride in the village and its heritage; and for young people to be supported to realise their potential.
A core group of committed residents sustained the partnership. Overall, it proved difficult to maintain a resident-led group of eight – partly because members moved on, but mostly due to challenges around engaging the wider community. A large community grants programme went some way to building long-term engagement with the community, and provided support to new and existing groups and organisations. It also helped socially isolated residents connect with like-minded people.
Woodlands Speaks Big Local partnership’s approach hinged on processes to enable reflection on what was working and what wasn’t, demonstrating the ongoing benefits of their work to residents, and having realistic plans about how activity could continue beyond Big Local funding.
Throughout the programme, the partnership promoted opportunities for the community to have their say using their website, the community hub at the library, and via a questionnaire. Initially, local residents often assumed Big Local-funded projects were run by Doncaster Council, so the partnership worked hard to strengthen their visibility and embed their identity as the voice of the local community — largely through publicity and signage of funded projects, and through working with other agencies, such as schools and the police.
Early on, the partnership set up Woodlands Speaks CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) to manage the Big Local funds as their Locally Trusted Organisation (LTO), with members of the partnership as trustees. The CIO was intended to become the partnership’s legacy, to source and award funds in the area, and sustain activities and facilities developed during the Big Local programme. The partnership reflected that Big Local funding, alongside worker and volunteer support, created lasting positive changes in the community – especially through the creation of community spaces and outdoor space in schools.
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.
What the Big Local area did
Community assets and spaces
Taking on the lease of the local library through a Community Asset Transfer
Following an open request to community groups from Doncaster Council concerning the future of Woodlands Library, the partnership took over management of the space and established a hub for local people. Through a Community Asset Transfer, ownership shifted from the council, enabling the community to have more of a say in its use, and saving the space from potential closure. Fifty new volunteers were trained and supported, and the library was refurbished with new furniture, a new kitchen, new external gates, and new signage, as well as landscaping and maintaining surrounding garden areas.
The revamped library provided a wide range of opportunities for volunteers and residents – including offering first aid courses, buying tablets for older people (with training on how to use them), and creating two apprenticeships for people who went on to full employment. The partnership also engaged with statutory and local services, who provided drop-in sessions at the library for residents to discuss any issues. One volunteer took courses in IT and safeguarding before becoming the hub’s administration manager, as well a partnership member.
The Woodlands Speaks Big Local partnership managed the library hub as a community space between 2014 and 2022. Despite this success, its use was heavily impacted by lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, and in 2023, the council took back the lease at the request of the partnership due to falling numbers and high costs. However, a shared commitment to the principles of community voice and space remained at the end of the Big Local programme.
Creating a multi-use outdoor hub in a local park
The Woodlands Speaks partnership connected with a range of sports clubs in the area during the Big Local programme, particularly in support of activities for children and young people. They saw the potential in supporting Adwick Park Community and Sports Academies CIO, a local charity set up to bring people together and build a sports pavilion in Adwick Park. Once built, sports clubs and other community-led groups (such as youth clubs and social events) could run from the space.
The charity was granted planning permission for the hub and secured £236,000 funding to pay for the building materials and labour, drawing on Big Local funding and the Levelling Up Fund. There were challenges with local stakeholders regarding its long-term maintenance. However, the partnership reflected that they had developed resilience and the ability to ‘bounce back’ when challenges arose. Towards the end of the programme, the project was progressing well, with construction underway in early 2025.
Local economy
Supporting residents to overcome barriers and gain employment
When the Woodlands Speaks partnership took on the management of the local library they also established an employment and counselling service with qualified staff, hosted in the community space. The service ran at the hub for five years and was seen to be successful due to its connections with the local Job Centre and other agencies.
More than 300 residents were supported into employment by overcoming hurdles that had previously prevented them from accessing work opportunities. Big Local funding was also used to directly support people into employment through qualifications, interview clothes, steel-capped boots for construction work, forklift truck licences, and transport to interviews.
A wellbeing project ran for two years, which involved one-to-one therapy sessions, helping 90 residents.
Community engagement
Delivering a successful community grants programme
Woodlands Speaks Big Local’s community grants scheme funded over 60 community projects, providing significant support for local groups. This was achieved through outreach work (“banging on doors”, as one partnership member put it) and a successful relationship with a local housing developer who match-funded grants, making Big Local funding go further and allowing more projects to be supported.
Where possible, the Woodlands Speaks Big Local logo was used to help promote the partnership, raise their profile, and acknowledge their work (for example, a local darts team added the logo to their shirts after receiving Big Local funding).
Investing in young people
Consulting with residents to fund a new skate park
Responding to concern in the community, Woodlands Speaks Big Local aimed to address antisocial behaviour, both on the housing estates and in the shopping area of the village.
Consulting with residents and young people, the study explored the idea of creating a local skate park as one possible solution. There was strong local support for the project; students from the local academy took part in developing the initial idea, and the partnership hosted well-attended events (including at the refurbished library), as well as receiving significant engagement surrounding the proposal on social media.
The chosen site was close to the community centre in the middle of one of the housing estates, and near the local secondary school. Though there were some initial issues with anti-social behaviour and vandalism following the opening of the skate park, the partnership directed additional funding to protect the space, and at the end of the programme, the park was being well used by the community.
How the Big Local area spent their funding
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 Woodlands Speaks Big Local told Local Trust they used their Big Local funding.
References
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024a) ‘Universal Credit: Employment status by age’. (Accessed 24 January 2025)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2024b) ‘Jobseeker’s allowance by age’. (Accessed 24 January 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022a) ‘UK Census: All persons’. (Accessed 24 January 2025)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2022b) ‘UK Census 2021: Economic activity status, England and Wales’. (Accessed 24 January 2025)