Resident leadership

A key principle of Big Local was to increase residents’ capacity to lead on making decisions, enabling them to transform their communities for the better. The long-term nature of the programme (between 10–15 years) provided time for capacity building to happen, whilst support offers were embedded in the Big Local model. Informed by learning from previous community regeneration and development programmes, it was recognised that residents would need support to build capacity and strengthen their leadership and decision-making skills. To address these needs, residents were offered: 

• on-the-ground community development support from consultants and organisations
• access to a range of networking and peer-learning opportunities
• support around technical projects and priorities.

The support needed was identified through a combination of Local Trust’s experience of managing the programme, and information captured directly from residents. Supporting resident-led work at scale required substantial organisational commitment and resourcing. 

Local Trust’s approach to delivering support evolved and adapted in response to the different starting points of Big Local partnerships and their changing needs, whilst also being informed by ongoing internal research and evaluation. The support focused on:

• enabling residents to feel they could make decisions through advice, support and guidance alongside the long-term funding
• increasing their confidence and enhancing their skills and knowledge
• improving group-working and relationship management
• directly adding capacity to communities.

Many partnership members went on to other leadership and volunteer roles or paid employment within the community. While some of the projects delivered in Big Local areas aimed to build specific skills for those who attended, those in leadership roles on the partnership and heavily involved in delivering Big Local projects were more likely to have developed skills and confidence. It is the capacity building for those in key roles that is the focus of this theme. 

Building resident capacity for community governance and decision making requires significant commitment, flexibility and investment from the funder, those directly supporting residents and the residents themselves. Residents leading Big Local activities benefited from the long-term community investment offered by this programme, giving them the time and support to build individual and collective capacity. This in turn meant they could lead on making decisions, deliver their plans and enable neighbourhood renewal.