The Labour Party has recently published its plan to save the high street. But what’s missing, and how can Labour drive a community powered revolution on our high streets?
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Labour has begun to set out a new vision for our high streets. Power to Change has the tested ideas to enable communities to take charge of high street regeneration.
Last week Labour announced their answer to the levelling up agenda. What role can community business play in powering up Britain?
Ailbhe McNabola writes about why the owners of private buildings and land may look to provide space for communities – and why those who wish to empower communities should care about this too.
The Chancellor’s budget announced some funding for communities but does not go far enough to support local growth.
This blog shares highlights from conversations between ‘Makers & Maintainers’ community tech programme grantees, and the programme evaluator, inFocus.
New polling for Power to Change shows the public want communities to have priority in purchasing local council assets being sold off.
We share a collective challenge. A challenge that can only be responded to with a bold ambition and a commitment that will reach deeply into neighbourhoods across the country.
What does the Hyperlocal data tell us about community businesses' impact on local people?
We have been testing models for community energy that will play an important role in a fair, clean energy transition. Our learning can inform the Labour Party’s plans to grow the sector, putting communities and people at the heart of net zero.
The CORE partnership has facilitated five community businesses to take ownership of eight solar farms with a collective capacity of 36MWp.
Our Deputy Chief Executive responds to the Community Ownership Commission report.
Our new project with the Bennett Institute looks at how privately-owned spaces can bring communities together.
What can we learn from the Leading the Way programme for future leadership programmes?
Portfolio Manager, Will, shares why Community Energy Businesses (CEBs) could be the ticket to a just transition to net zero
Tim Davies-Pugh, Chief Executive of Power to Change, responds to the Autumn Statement
Our Insight Manager discusses findings from our new Hyperlocal report, highlighting the importance of investing in community business for lasting change.
The delivery of the Community Wealth Fund should be through long-term, flexible funding that empowers communities and involves community businesses. Below we share our response to the Government's consultation.
From Westminster to the community frontline, Power to Change's Policy and Insight team reflect on the King's Speech and Locality Convention
Our Deputy Chief Executive responds to the King’s Speech
This year's Labour Party Conference reinforced the power of communities and community businesses, stressing on the significance of regional rebalancing as well as creating a more local political economy through devolution.
Power to Change has been on a journey with DEI, researching barriers to funding, recognising our role in contributing to exclusionary practices, and working out how we can start to tackle it. This is an open and detailed account of that journey and how we achieved the most diverse applicant and grantee pool for our most recent fund.
As we launch the Discovery Fund, meet some of the successful grantees and the challenges they are hoping to explore community tech-based solutions and ideas for.
Our new report, with IPPR North and Locality, explores how different community businesses models and actions are building resilient communities and the transition to a fairer, greener, future.
The Conservative party should deliver on levelling up and support community businesses which have the potential to drive change at a local level.
We are attending party conferences to advocate for policy changes that help create the conditions community businesses need to thrive.
With the right approach Community Improvement Districts (CIDs) can empower communities to lead regeneration in their town centres. Find out how to make it happen
A new report from Power to Change, in partnership with IPPR North and Locality, outlines the enormous and largely untapped potential of community businesses to create positive climate action
If you’ve been following our blog recently you’ll know already that Power to Change’s five year place-based ...
We asked, we listened, we acted: our chief executive discusses Power to Change's future direction and why we are staying around for the long term
As five community businesses launch a groundbreaking community energy collective, seeking to raise £2.5m to take ownership of seven solar farms, our climate action manager explores why Power to Change backed this initiative and what we hope our investment will achieve
The Empowering Places programme supported and seeded community businesses in underserved areas of England using a relational approach, leadership and reputation, unrestricted grants, and flexible yet targeted support over a five-year period. This blog reflects on the learnings from the programme.
As five community businesses launch a groundbreaking community energy collective, seeking to raise £2.5 million to take ownership of seven solar farms, our climate action manager explores why Power to Change backed this initiative and what we hope our investment will go onto achieve.
Whilst our role is to build the evidence base about the impact of community business on places and planet, it's crucial we measure our own impact and explore the impact we can have on community businesses
A new report shows that community businesses are more confident, diverse and optimistic than other third sector organisations.
Last week I travelled to the glorious seaside town of Bournemouth to attend the LGA's annual conference and share some of innovative approaches we are trialing with local government partners.
Our high streets and town centres have faced significant decline in recent years, but a new community-led ...
Between 2017 and 2022, Power to Change partnered with Crowdfunder UK to run Community Business Crowdmatch. We explore what we learned about crowdfunding and community businesses.
Rosie and Fergus lead our community tech programme team, and are currently recruiting for the new Discovery Fund. Here Rosie shares how they are adapting and iterating the application processes to remove barriers for underrepresented groups and mitigate unconscious bias
We know community business works to breathe new life into communities. With this insight, our mission is to help create the right conditions for them to thrive. And so it always inspiring when we spend time with the community businesses we seek to support. Get closer to their stories, their impacts and their incredible people who drive change from the ground up.
At Power to Change we recognise the importance of local and regional government backing to help grow local social economies. Our five lessons can support councils and combined authorities to intentionally and purposefully grow their social economy.
While there are many good practices we can adopt at programme level, there are sector gaps in the availability and accessibility of support for community businesses to develop their financial capabilities. We explore what it will take to address sector gaps and build a more supportive ecosystem.
Power to Change’s Financial Capabilities pilots – one delivered by The Women’s Organisation, and the other by Locality – aimed to strengthen community businesses’ financial management and decision making. Each project took a different approach, and we share below the initial learnings that have emerged from both pilots.
Community businesses are confident in the impact they are having in their local area, but they need further support in order to evidence it.
Since 2015, Power to Change has helped bring in an additional £210 million into the community business sector.
A new report from Power to Change looks at regions which have seen the biggest increase in rising and persistent vacancy rates.
A key element of our funding offer for community tech programmes is the 20% that grantees must spend on ‘working in the open'. So in the spirit of open working, here’s our learning from delivering the Makers and Maintainers round of funding
Power to Change visits some of the brilliant community businesses and social enterprises driving change in their communities in Liverpool and the Wirral.
Why incentivising community businesses to grow their trading income helps to create a more resilient and impactful sector
Ishita Ranjan-Churchill from Spark Insights shares the findings from their research into the experiences of community businesses led by and supporting people experiencing marginalisation.
At Power to Change we have been backing community businesses to become more resilient and financially sustainable to have greater impact on their communities in the long term.
Ishita Ranjan-Churchill from Spark Insights shares the findings from their research into the experiences of community businesses led by and supporting people experiencing marginalisation.
The Dulverton Trust joins Power to Change and School for Social Entrepreneurs, investing £100,000 into the Community Business Trade Up programme to fuel greater collaboration and support for community business leaders.
Local communities often have amazing ideas for town centre buildings, but struggle to get affordable, secure access. Here are some practical steps and free templates for reviving vacant buildings in partnership with asset owners.
Ishita Ranjan-Churchill from Spark Insights shares the findings from their research into the experiences of community businesses led by and supporting people experiencing marginalisation.
There's a growing movement to fix the town centre property system, and transform how communities access space. Introducing Platform Places...
When it comes to regenerating our town centres, Community Improvement Districts aim to amplify the voices of community led organisations and residents, bringing them into partnership with businesses, councils and property owners, says Chris Neath.
A new report on 'levelling up' from Power to Change reveals that some progress has been made for communities, but there is little impact being made, leading to public pessimism.
While Jeremy Hunt’s first Budget as Chancellor was less explosive than that of his predecessor, it was not without ...
Did you know more than half of community businesses are majority led by women?
Today’s announcement on the allocation of Dormant Assets funding could be a game changer for the 11,000 community businesses working to support vulnerable people and communities in England.
We are exploring a number of ways in which we can better reach and serve community businesses. From our research, it is clear that our sector is still failing to serve marginalised communities and that for too long, decision-making power has been withheld by funders and change is inevitably slow, inadequate or both.
High street regeneration is a complex picture, but Back on the Map in Sunderland are piloting a Community Improvement District - convening a broad and inclusive local partnership to ensure regeneration efforts succeed.
Our Next Generation innovation programme has been supporting trials of alternative business models for community energy. Several models are now identified as near viable, generating considerable learnings for community businesses and wider stakeholders.
This guide has been prepared to help combined authorities and local authorities to utilise their UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocations to support the local social economy. It draws on forthcoming Power to Change research, and we will update it with new information and as this research is published.
The social fabric of a community is important for weathering challenging times. How can government support the growth of important community spaces for people to gather and meet?
A £2.2 million investment into supporting community businesses has been announced, as a new report reveals that, to date, communities across the UK have themselves raised £210 million to save local assets and services.
A new report by the British Academy and Power to Change explores how social infrastructure contributes to communities’ wellbeing, helps develop their resilience and tackles deepening geographic inequalities.
The Community Tech: Makers and Maintainers fund focuses on building resilience of existing community tech already in use by community businesses across England. Meet the latest cohort and learn more about the programme.
Speeches last week from Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer offered some hope for communities in what will be a very difficult year ahead. We dive into what this means for community businesses.
Community businesses can now access a multitude of useful resources and webinars to deepen their knowledge of energy efficiency, sustainability and community action.
Community businesses continue to plug the gap in growing local support needs, whilst they grapple with high costs of doing business, heating and powering their buildings.
We are deeply concerned about the impact of the cost of living and energy crises on community businesses and the vital services they provide to their communities. As communities respond to these crises, we are here to support them.
North of Tyne Combined Authority and Power to Change are working together to invest in and grow the region’s social economy, responding directly to the sector’s evidenced needs for finance and support. But what could this support look like?
Tony Burton joins Power to Change’s board of trustees as Chair and will take up the new role from January 2023.
Community businesses need more certainty and support from government to make it through this period of crisis.
One way of doing this is through enabling community ownership, which will support the sector to continue playing its crucial role in strengthening communities and revitalising our high streets.
Stoke-on-Trent South MP and councillors met with Power to Change and high street community businesses supporting local people through the cost-of-living crisis.
Today, we are launching our 2022 Community Business Market Report. The research used a survey, interviews, and a ...
The 2022 Community Business Market report, the 8th annual largest sector report reveals how community businesses are plugging the gap in local support as communities across England face a recession, rising costs of living and continued pressure on public services.
New polling shows that the public favour empowering local people and communities over abolition of the House of Lords as a way of restoring trust in politics.
Power to Change has been supporting innovative post-subsidy business models for community energy businesses through the Next Generation programme.
Ailbhe McNabola, director of Policy and Communications at Power to Change, responds to the Autumn Statement.
Lily O’Flynn from Renaisi summarises the latest findings from their evaluation of our Empowering Places programme.
Once upon a TWINE: New report shares tips and advice for funders and communities developing digital tools
Untangling TWINE: Lessons from a funder developing digital tools
Ed Whitelaw, Head of Enterprise and Regeneration at Real Ideas, writes about a recent trip to Danish neighbourhood Christiania and community power.
British politics is currently full of surprises. What does all this change mean for communities, and how can politicians look to support the communities agenda?
This week’s Conservative Conference in Birmingham was full of drama. Amongst all that, conversations around the future of levelling up and tackling the decline of our high streets showed that supporting communities still remains top of many MPs' agendas. What remains to be seen is whether this view is held by those now at the top of the party.
This week’s Labour Party Conference in Liverpool featured a buoyant party confidently setting out its progressive agenda. Where do communities fit in this, and how will community power and investment feature in a Labour government?
Over the past 18 months we’ve been immersed in a fascinating space; learning, connecting and testing to see how communities are engaging with technology on their own terms.
With each passing week the problems with our housing system become more apparent.
No matter your age, there is often a ‘back to school’ vibe to the start of September, perhaps even more so this year as the new Prime Minister – Liz Truss – enters Number 10.
The Empowering Places programme aims to build more resilient and prosperous communities by building the capacity of locally rooted ‘catalyst’ organisations in six areas to seed the growth of new community businesses, says our places officer Natalie White.
A new report from the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University and Power to Change has shone a light on the need and opportunity for supporting communities to save ailing high streets and support the levelling up agenda.
Community businesses could succeed in revitalising Britain’s high streets – with the right support. New research by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University explores how.
New appointments bring diversity of expertise and experience to community business sector
Power to Change’s Ailbhe McNabola shares some community sector responses to Labour’s levelling up plans
Power to Change's Nick Plumb responds to Labour's plans to level up the country in a speech at a community business in Darlington.
Seven Community Improvement District pilots are now underway across England. Power to Change’s Jenny Sansom outlines what they hope to achieve.
The new Markets4People handbook outline how traditional retail markets can help with the Covid-19 recovery, revitalise high streets recovery, and support community wealth building, community business and other linked local economic development agendas.
Research shows that community businesses want support in measuring and articulating their impact. We outline how we're helping to address this gap in the sector.
19 leaders from the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber will benefit from a tailored learning programme which includes a £8,000 grant and which supports the development and impact of community enterprises.
Several years after Power to Change’s investment, what has been the financial impact of the Community Business Fund, Trade Up and Bright Ideas programme on their grantees?
You can learn from things going wrong as well as things going right.
The second tranche of Community Improvement District pilots have been announced as part of a pioneering new initiative.
Tim Davies-Pugh has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Power to Change. He takes over from Vidhya Alakeson OBE, who stepped down as Chief Executive in February 2022.
Power to Change’s Josh Westerling and Nick Plumb share their reflections on Restitch: the social fabric summit held in London and Halifax during May.
Power to Change has been rated on our diversity, transparency and accountability by the Friends Provident Foundation, in their first report publication of the Foundation Practice Rating (FPR).
Power to Change commissioned Kantar to conduct a ‘hyperlocal’ version of the Community Life Survey, focused on six places in England participating in the Empowering Places programme. This blog outlines some initial findings on the relative impact of our work in each area.
A new programme by Power to Change and the British Academy will help to better understand how social infrastructure approaches can contribute to the government’s levelling up agenda.
Power to Change's Trade Up programme has encouraged resilience in community businesses, but most still require further time and support to thrive in the long run – a role that funders can play going forward.
Common Vision's ‘Futures Playbook’ explores how building and resourcing infrastructure can support civil society to be impactful, resilient and adaptive in the future.
Power to Change’s Ailbhe McNabola responds to the Queen’s Speech 2022 and what the proposed Bills mean for communities.
Power to Change’s Nick Plumb is appointed to government task force tackling high street decline.
Bethan Hunt reflects on the 2021 Bradford Learning Camp of the Empowering Places Programme and the power of meeting in-person in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Renaisi’s evaluation outlines the impact that Community Business Fund had on existing community businesses and recommends ways in which funders can support them going forward.
Renaisi’s evaluation outlines the impact that Bright Ideas had on community groups and early-stage community businesses, and recommends ways in which funders can support them going forward.
Learnings from our first year on the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance.
Twine apps, developed by Power to Change to help support community businesses with their admin, workflows and data collection, are entering their next phase under new ownership.
Power to Change’s vision is that by 2025, more communities in England run businesses that give them power to change what matters to them. They create more resilient places that are better to live and work in for everyone.
Community businesses in the Liverpool City Region can apply for business mentoring and support thanks to a new programme being delivered by The Women’s Organisation.
Renaisi's Lily O'Flynn explores how, mid-programme, we re-visualised the change of the Empowering Places programme using a more dynamic model.
Power to Change’s Nick Plumb outlines why community ownership on the high street is essential to their survival.
New report reveals a decade of accelerating shop closures and calls for a new fund to help local people secure property on the high street.
CORE - a consortium of community solar farms - has secured £31m refinancing. This landmark investment pioneers institutional financing into the community renewable energy sector.
A new partnership between the North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) and Power to Change will provide a £4 million boost for community businesses in North East England.
Sarah Gorman, Melissa Mean and Jess Steele OBE have all joined the board of Power to Change, the charitable trust strengthening community business to tackle some of society’s biggest challenges.
Power to Change are committed to supporting community businesses to play their role in the fairer, greener economy.
Asset ownership can have an impact on community businesses and the people they work with. We look at good practices for funders looking to support community businesses with asset acquisition and management.
What is community organising? And what potential does it have to tackle local issues? Bonnie Hewson explores.
After seven years, Vidhya Alakeson is leaving her role as Chief Executive of Power to Change to take up a new position as Director of External Relations for Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party, in March.
A new approach has been developed to better understand the financial impact of our funding for community businesses. Renaisi's Mylene Pacot explains all.
Laying out our diversity, equity and inclusion plans for the future, and our achievements so far.
The Government published its Levelling Up White Paper this week. Power to Change’s Ailbhe McNabola gives her reaction on whether it will deliver for communities.
Power to Change responds to the publication of the Government's Levelling Up White Paper.
Power to Change’s Nick Plumb outlines the four things he’ll be looking out for in the Levelling Up White Paper when it publishes in the coming weeks
Supporting community businesses to make a real difference in the shift to a fairer, greener economy.
There are some benefits of online events. In December, together with SSE, we brought together 54 community business leaders from across England to celebrate completing our Community Business Trade Up programme.
Community energy businesses are taking risks, and building new skills, through Power to Change's Next Generation programme.
Is the concept of sector useful in understanding and supporting community businesses?
Nick Plumb reveals the two London high streets named England’s first community improvement districts in a bid to revive the UK’s struggling town centres.
Community Business Market in 2021 report shows thriving sector provides economic and social boost despite the pandemic.
Power to Change responds to the House of Commons Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee's high streets report.
We are continuing to build the evidence base about how community businesses impact on health and wellbeing, employability, social isolation, their local environment, and much more.
Rachel Laurence reflects on how one organisation, BD Giving, navigated the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic and what this tells us about the future of place-based funding.
Vidhya Alakeson lays out the challenges facing communities striving to make their places better and why they need more power.
A brand-new programme supporting community enterprise leaders in the North East of England and across Yorkshire & Humberside to build their skills and confidence to continue playing a vital role supporting communities.
A review of Bright Ideas, Trade Up, and Community Business Fund, Power to Change programmes focused on community businesses growth, early-stage support, advisory for growing income, and capital investment support.
Tom Archer talks about lessons from our Homes in Community Hands programme, ahead of launching two learning briefs on how to enable community-led housing.
Power to Change responds to the Fan Led Review of Football Governance
Climate hero Mark Pepper of Ambition Lawrence Weston shares his thoughts on attending and speaking at COP26.
Real Ideas are a pioneering social enterprise supporting people to build better futures. In this blog, Ed Whitelaw reflects on the role of community business in parks and the importance of community climate heroes.
How will COP26 encourage community climate action? Will Walker, our climate action manager, blogs from COP26.
In a joint letter to Tracey Crouch MP ahead of the publication of the Fan Led Review of Football Governance, supporters trusts are calling for action to support fan and community ownership of our football clubs.
Carbon Co-op are a community energy organisation based in Greater Manchester. In this blog, Jonathon Atkinson discusses the importance of community climate action and reflects on what it all means at COP26.
Sandra Salazar D'eca, founder of Go Grow With Love & head grower at Black Rootz, has been named as an Everyday Climate Hero in a new campaign shot by renowned photographer, Rankin.
Ibe Hayter, founder of Cycle of Life, has been named as an Everyday Climate Hero in a new campaign shot by renowned photographer, Rankin.
We are putting the climate crisis at the forefront of every single decision that Power to Change makes.
Reaction to the Chancellor’s Autumn 2021 Budget and Spending Review announcement.
Community pubs and shops demonstrate soaring confidence and sector growth despite the pandemic.
As consensus builds around the importance of social infrastructure to deliver the government’s levelling up ambition, Jenny Sansom shares the story of east London’s Bromley-by-Bow Centre.
Be part of a unique opportunity to co-design a new support role in a community development and pilot programme. This new role, a community coach, will support groups with community-led housing and asset development.
Locality, in partnership with Power to Change, has joined the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance (HW Alliance), an initiative of the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England and NHS Improvement.
With levelling up the talk of the fringe, Nick Plumb reflects on day two at Conservative Party conference and growing interest in community power.
The public, and older voters especially, are extremely sceptical about the likely impact of the government’s levelling up agenda in their community.
Hot on the heels of Labour, this week it’s the turn of the Conservative Party to gather for its annual conference. Jenny Sansom reports from Manchester on what the party’s focus on levelling up means in practice.
It's been an eventful few days at the Labour Party conference. In the second of his conference diaries, Nick Plumb reflects on Labour's bold spending pledges for greening the economy and its solution to our struggling high streets.
As Labour Party members gather in Brighton this week for its first in-person annual conference since the start of the pandemic, Nick Plumb reports back on how the party is planning to empower local communities.
Power to Change recently commissioned a study on the value that volunteers contributed to community businesses. In this blog, Sarah Thelwall describes some of the findings that might be useful for community businesses.
With the launch of two reports calling on government to put communities in the lead and invest in social infrastructure in order to achieve levelling up, Ailbhe McNabola reflects on the findings and what needs to happen next.
Following on from the progress update of Empowering Places in January of this year, Bonnie Hewson shares a roundup of our learning to date.
We are seeking proposals from organisations with great ideas that will help to transform the sector, making it more resilient and sustainable for the long term.
This blog post is the third of three outlining the research that Promising Trouble has undertaken for Power to Change, answering the question, “How can Power to Change inspire greater uptake of community tech?”
This blog post is the second of three outlining the research that Promising Trouble has undertaken for Power to Change, answering the question, “How can Power to Change inspire greater uptake of community tech?”
This blog post is the first of three outlining the research that Promising Trouble has undertaken for Power to Change, answering the question: “How can Power to Change inspire greater uptake of community tech?”
Six years of cutting-edge research into the community business sector, from Power to Change, will now be hosted by our partners, the Institute for Community Studies.
At Power to Change, our mission is to strengthen community businesses to tackle some of society’s biggest challenges at a local level, including climate change.
Community business Covid-19 diaries give us a window in to how these diverse organisations and their communities coped and responded to the crisis.
Moving towards equity, how will we at Power to Change address the diversity, equity and inclusion recommendations from our latest report?
If government is serious about levelling up, it must put communities in the lead .
This new report explores why the government must abandon its centralised Westminster-led approach to ‘Levelling Up’ or risk failure from outset.
New research report launches five key commitments to support minoritised ethnic communities.
The first Peer Networks Community of Practice online session focused on the different roles people take up to make sure their networks work thrive.
We take a look at some of the community businesses who have already received investment.
Rebecca Trevalyan is on a mission to make it easier for communities to access the land and property in their town centres.
Veronica is joined by three community business champions to discuss nurturing wellbeing in our neighbourhoods and protecting the mental health of those who are making a difference.
22 high street leaders including property developers, investors and national government bodies, join forces to launch a new town centre property innovation programme.
We are right in the middle of Community Energy Fortnight, with over 400 organisations across the country hosting events, launching Twitter takeovers and writing blogs to celebrate all things community energy.
Community businesses rely on local people getting involved whether as volunteers, staff, or service users. But how do you encourage people from the community to take part?
Community businesses strengthen local economies and enrich the fabric of society. They bring people together to improve their local areas, often operating in low-income areas while supporting our most vulnerable groups.
As Kindred invests its first money, a new report from the University of Liverpool’s Heseltine Institute reveals the strength of the community business market in Liverpool City Region, pre-Covid.
Our mission is to strengthen community businesses to tackle some of society’s biggest challenges at a local level.
Covid has been a prominent reminder that if we are to have healthy and happy citizens, a cityscape is not complete without high-quality natural spaces.
The Community Shares Booster programme has been pivotal to the community shares revolution.
Veronica meets the people behind Notts County Foundation, the charitable arm of the oldest football club in the world, Notts County FC.
The government should give communities more say over their local high streets’ future and enable councils to support them to do this.
Six community solar farms across England and Wales - generating clean, renewable energy whilst reinvesting profits into the local community – have generated £60,000 of surplus profit which will be given to partners to support their local communities.
Today, we’re taking the plunge and exploring how to run a community business that’s focused on outdoor activity and sport.
From next week pubs will literally open their doors once more as we’ll finally be allowed back inside in groups of six or fewer. Many of us are now used to booking weeks in advance to huddle under a heater, but the next stage of the roadmap will allow even more of our much-missed pubs to reopen.
How do we make it easier for communities to access town centre property and space?
One Voice Blackburn's chairman, Abrar Hussain, offers up some tips on how to adapt your business model to the ever changing needs of your local community.
In this episode, Veronica Gordon hears from two organisations who are harnessing the freedom and joy of cycling to help people in their communities.
Football, the clubs and their grounds, are about far more than business. They sit at the very heart of many communities. They are vital assets that bring communities together, build identity and pride and make a significant contribution to the local economy. They are the ultimate community business.
Our new report calls for government to put a Community Club Ownership Trust at the heart of football reforms as part of its new review following the failed European Super League.
Georgina Edwards, Plunkett Foundation’s Information Hub Manager, introduces their new Better Business survey.
Passionate surfer Nick Jones runs South Shields Surf School on Sandhaven beach in the North East of the UK.
In our latest mini-episode, Nudge's Hannah Sloggett is back to give us some insider tips on how to buy community assets and give them a new lease of life.
Last year, Power to Change launched the Community Business Renewal Initiative to support the community business sector through Covid-19. As the Powering Up programme re-opens for applications, we take a look at how it works and what's in it for community businesses.
Black South West Network, supported by key partners - VOSCUR and Locality – is launching the final report of a 9-month city-wide research project exploring the response of Bristol’s Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector to the pandemic and the potential of the sector in the city moving forward.
New report reveals impact of Power to Change on community businesses across England in just six years
In this episode, we hear from an organisation that is changing the aspirations and mental health of their local young people...One Voice at a time. One Voice Blackburn was set up in 2011 by a group of locals who wanted to inspire their young people to believe in themselves and value their local community through activities, events, support and charitable campaigns.
High Street Tracker to test impact of social infrastructure on economic resilience.
New research shows community businesses have been vital rallying points for villages, towns and cities, promoting public health, reducing social isolation and improving community cohesion during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A dizzying array of funds with similar names were announced at the budget this week, many which fell under the banner of their ‘levelling up’ agenda.
Meeting the grantees using their grants to support their communities through the Covid-19 crisis.
In this bonus episode, we hear from Caroline Afolabi-Deleu, the Founding Director of Success4All, a Newcastle-based charity that is fighting for education equality. Caroline will be offering up her top tips on how to set up a community business that puts children first.
The Better Way Network is a network of leaders who want to improve services and build strong communities. Here, Laura Seebohm, the Better Way convenor in the North, explores the work they do.
What do we mean by 'better places'? Can community businesses really transform their local areas?
As four organisations working closely with diverse community organisations across the UK, we are jointly and publicly committing to advocate for and actively effect a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community business sector.
This week, we head to Veronica's hometown of Southampton, to learn about October Books, a bookshop that has been serving it's local community for 44 years. We'll find out how the shop has had to adapt through the ages, from fending off bailiffs to making international news.
Today, community business champions Power to Change and Co-operatives UK, supported by the Mayor of London, launched a new funding pilot designed to boost the capital’s high streets and civic centres.
This week, we are joined by Farhad Negipooran from Derby’s Food and Education Enterprise. He offers up his top 5 tips on what to look out for when setting up a community food business.
In 2020, businesses have had to rely on their staff to motivate and manage themselves. From CEOs to the most junior members of the team, everyone has had to adapt to keep the wheels turning throughout this pandemic.
Community energy groups across England will benefit from a new peer support programme to help develop new innovative business models.
Could you support the next generation of community energy organisations by sharing your knowledge and experience? We are looking for passionate and enthusiastic community energy organisations to participate in a peer mentoring scheme.
In this episode, we meet Hannah Sloggett and Wendy Hart, from Nudge Community Builders and learn how they're reviving Plymouth's neglected Union Street by nudging along one building at a time.
Programme manager Bonnie Hewson reflects on the progress of the programme
We need to give communities the power and capital to shape their neighbourhoods
“Levelling Up” after the lockdown must focus on community revival as well as economic growth, MPs and charities demand.
Meeting the grantees using their grants to support their communities through the pandemic
In this blog series, we’re looking back at this difficult, unforgettable year and the many ways Power to Change had to adapt to support the community business sector during the pandemic.
In this blog series, we’re looking back at this difficult, unforgettable year and the many ways Power to Change had to adapt to support the community business sector during the pandemic.
In this blog series, we’re looking back at this difficult, unforgettable year and the many ways Power to Change had to adapt to support the community business sector during the pandemic.
In this blog series, we’re looking back at this difficult, unforgettable year and the many ways Power to Change had to adapt to support the community business sector during the pandemic.
In this blog series, we’re looking back at this difficult, unforgettable year and the many ways Power to Change had to adapt to support the community business sector during the pandemic.
Today, we head to North East Dartmoor to hear from a community who took care work into their own hands after being let down by external care providers.
Lauren Pennycook, Senior Policy and Development Officer at Carnegie UK Trust, looks at the learnings from the Trust's latest report into communities' Covid-19 response
The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed many UK businesses deep into financial crisis, but not all have suffered equally. In fact, the pandemic has produced some unlikely winners in the retail sector.
The National Association of Local Councils has launched The Good Councillor's Guide to Community Business to promote the opportunities that community businesses can create locally.
As we say goodbye to Mark Gordon, he reflects on his time working with community business
Charlotte Cassedanne and Rose Seagrief look back at the development of the CCLORS fund
We need to change the way we talk about the challenges of community business, says Bonnie Hewson.
Our aims to put community at the heart of town centres, by Policy Manager, Nick Plumb.
Responding to the Government’s Spending Review 2020, CEO of independent trust Power to Change Vidhya Alakeson, said:
Vidhya Alakeson looks ahead to the Government's 2020 spending review
205 community organisations led by, or that support, Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities have received a share of £9.5million of National Lottery funding to help recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Crowdfunder & Power to Change team-up to launch Community Business Crowdmatch.
As we’re in the depths of another lockdown, you might be wondering how your organisation can connect with and serve your community in new and safe ways.
Today, we are joined again by Abigail Holsborough from Brixton Windmill to give us her top 5 tips on how to get the best out of your volunteers.
Independent trust Power to Change has launched Powering Up, a tailored package of support to enable community business leaders to increase their knowledge, capacity and business skills to help them navigate the coronavirus pandemic.
In our last episode, we learnt about a Windmill that had taken on charity status to better serve the local community. In this bonus episode, Sheffield Live's Steve Buckley gives us a gentle introduction to legal structures.
By unlocking the power of community, local authorities can create more responsive services, says Locality Chief Executive, Tony Armstrong.
In our latest episode, we heard from Rebecca McIntyre from the Anglers Rest pub in Derbyshire.
Power to Change has launched two new matched funding programmes as part of the Community Business Renewal Fund. So how are they different?
In this episode, we’re heading to South London. We're learning how a group of locals united to restore an unusual local landmark and more recently, supply hundreds of bags of flour for a community in lockdown.
Jubilee Pool in Penzance is a striking art deco salt-water lido, built in the 1930s. It has always been a very special part of the Cornish community until disaster struck in 2014.
Power to Change has launched Community Business ReBoost fund - a new match-funding programme designed to help local communities recover, adapt and rebuild resilience through the Covid-19 pandemic.
New report reveals innovation driving community business trading success
When the word ‘change’ was baked into our name when we opened our doors in January 2015, we meant that as a pointer towards the transformative effect that community businesses can have in the places where they are based.
The Anglers Rest in Bamford is a treasured pub where people from around the Peak District go not only to eat and drink, but to socialise, share stories and listen to live music.
The New Civic High Street was the culmination of a series of webinars run by Power to Change, looking at how our rapidly transforming town centres provide opportunities for radical thinking.
A new report shows that local people can save the spaces they care about for as little as £10.
Last year, Nesta's 100 Day Challenge launched in Liverpool. Here we, Nesta and Liverpool City Council reflect on the project.
The second of the Power to Change High Streets webinar series on 14th October investigated the issue of landownership as one of the principal levers of control for our town centres.
Power to Change launches first phase of its Covid-19 renewal support package
Communications and Partnerships Director Mark Gordon says goodbye to two founding members of the Community Business Panel
Choose Communities: Buy Social will be taking place from 15-17 October and is a chance to raise the profile of the social enterprise movement and the different way of doing business
Power to Change brought together a panel to discuss governance models to enable the formal participation of the community sector in high streets and town centres
Kindred is a key part of Liverpool City Region’s (LCR) commitment to growing the impact of good business.
Local community access and ownership of key buildings on the UK’s thousands of high streets could be pivotal to their future survival according to a new report commissioned by independent trust Power to Change.
From today, community business leaders in England can apply for an entrepreneurial learning programme and a grant of up to £10,000 to help pandemic-proof their businesses.
A brief update regarding the latest legal requirements for the hospitality sector, to tackle the rise of Coronavirus.
Our unique learning approach, innovation in grant funding and Power to Change’s community business expertise and networks blended perfectly to create this successful partnership and programme: Community Business Trade Up.
Communities Week 2020: an annual celebration of all of the work by people, businesses and organisations to improve their neighbourhoods
Power to Change, the independent trust that supports community businesses in England, is launching a new £5 million package of support to enable community businesses affected by the Covid-19 crisis to adapt, renew and rebuild their businesses so they can remain financially viable and best serve their local communities during the pandemic’s ‘new normal’.
Liz Zeidler, Chief Executive of Centre for Thriving Places, explores the role of wellbeing in growing an economy.
New report from Power to Change shows 55% of community businesses expect to open up new line of trading activity.
Outlining the importance of civil society in post-Covid planning, how that influences and impacts resilient local places, how to build inclusive economies and the future of social care.
On 13-14 August, Power to Change hosted the first ever online Community Business Festival, showcasing community businesses from across the country. You can watch most sessions back here!
The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) Council has launched a new drive to uncover suppliers with a positive social impact.
A new guide designed to help local councils across England better understand the benefits that community businesses can bring to their areas is set to be launched later this year.
Communities across England are being urged to consider owning, leasing and running pubs which are under the threat of closure after the Covid-19 lockdown - and a support programme is being relaunched to help.
With our partners, we have launched a support package for community businesses including a range of activities, from webinars to short intensive programmes for community business leaders to hone their skills and develop peer networks, helping them to continue to play a vital role in their communities
We’re offering 20 free places to help community businesses with their finances
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has announced £5.5m for Liverpool City Region’s socially trading organisations, following approval from the Combined Authority meeting on Friday 31 July, 2020.
Simon Kaye introduces NLGN's new project, Shifting the Balance of Community Power
How can community cafes and pubs safely attract customers back through their doors?
Community businesses are more financially independent, generate more income and are more invested in shaping social and public policy to improve their local area than other types of third sector organisations, according to new research published today.
As our beleaguered high streets stand at a critical crossroads, Power to Change’s CEO, Vidhya Alakeson, joins the High Streets Task Force Board to help shape a new future for our urban centres.
Today, a new £9.5million funding scheme that will support community-led organisations in England affected by the Covid-19 crisis, has been unveiled.
As lockdown eases, Steve Sharma considers how communication has changed forever
As the UK emerges from the Covid-19 lockdown, a new coalition is inviting us all to come together to build a kinder, closer and more connected society.
Charlotte Cassedanne, Head of Communications at Power to Change, shares some tips
As the hospitality sector gets set to reopen, thousands of not-for-profit businesses across the UK can now access a free app offering an easy way to track and trace.
Our Policy Manager, Tom Hamilton Shaw, reacts to the Grimsey review
Today, The Grimsey Review published "Build Back Better: Covid-19 Supplement for town centres". Power to Change, an independent trust supporting community business in England, responds.
Community owned pubs are bucking the national picture of closure during the lockdown by diversifying their services and helping those in need, new figures have revealed.
Community Energy England launch Community Energy Fortnight online
This Community Energy Fortnight, Will Walker reflects on the success so far, and what comes next
Vidhya Alakeson writes about the future of high streets post-lockdown for the Financial Times
Kate Stewart takes stock of how we have responded to the COVID-19 crisis within our communities
Rianna Raymond-Williams highlights the work Ubele are doing to support BAME communities
Volunteers contributed up to an estimated 18 million hours of time and £250 million of services to England’s community businesses last year, according to a new report by independent trust Power to Change.
Cross-party think tank Demos has launched a People’s Commission on Life After Covid-19, Renew Normal, to lead the largest ever public conversation on the future of the UK.
Leading community sector infrastructure organisations in the UK have come together to create an online network to inspire and enable local people to act for themselves on the issues they care about in their community.
Erika Rushton shares her thoughts on how Liverpool businesses have responded to the crisis
Paul Gutherson reflects on the potential for post Covid-19 recovery in communities.
Hannah Ormston of the Carnegie UK Trust reflects on community asset transfers and how they can strengthen communities
Find out how community businesses can play a key role in harnessing all the goodwill that has been unleashed
Stir to Action has launched 20 webinars in partnership with Power to Change to provide free training and peer support for those playing a vital role in their local economy during and after the crisis.
Power to Change, the independent trust that supports community businesses in England, is launching up to £12 million of emergency support to provide both immediate and medium-term help for community businesses facing a loss of trading income during the coronavirus crisis.
Six community-run solar farms in England and Wales have advanced a total of £195,000 in community benefit funds in order to support their local communities through the Covid-19 crisis.
Vidhya Alakeson, our CEO, outlines our response
A Plymouth-based fashion and textiles sampling studio is making workwear for health workers battling Covid-19 by turning surgery curtains into new protective garments.
CONTAGION AND CONTAINMENT: LANDMARK COVID-19 CITIZEN-SCIENCE PROJECT LAUNCHED
Power to Change has joined London Funders, a coalition of trusts and funders, in pledging support for our grantees during these unprecedented times.
Power to Change has partnered with Practical Governance to back a new network developed to support and connect community business leaders during the coronavirus pandemic.
A community pub on Brighton’s Moulsecoomb estate is providing a ‘meals on wheels’ style service to vulnerable local people who can’t get out to buy food during the COVID-19 crisis.
Community business leader Bill Graham reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on community business
The developing organisation Kindred has partnered with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to provide vital business support to the City Region’s socially trading organisations (STOs) during the COVID-19 situation.
What we're doing to support vital, locally based, frontline organisations
We will be updating this blog as new packages of support are announced by Government
Power to Change, the charitable trust which supports community businesses across England, is postponing Community Business Weekend 2020 until later in the year.
Protecting the most vulnerable in our neighbourhoods
Our CEO Vidhya Alakeson breaks down the budget and what it means for our communities
When you give local people real power, extraordinary things can happen
The final IWD post features a woman who works to improve young people's lives in Keighley
The third IWD post features one of the founding members of Kitty's Launderette in Liverpool
In the second IWD post, we spoke to MP Kim Johnson about being a woman in business and politics
On Wednesday 4th March, Onward launched its latest research programme: Repairing our Social Fabric. Read a summary of the launch report.
To mark International Women’s Day (IWD) 2020, we spoke to the founder of Hackney Herbal CIC
Vidhya Alakeson, Power to Change’s Chief Executive, has been named in the 2020 Power 50 awards: a roll call of 50 powerful executives in the UK - who all happen to work part-time or flexibly.
From books to energy, Jonathan Atkinson is well-versed in the world of community business
Communities working together to save much-loved buildings and spaces will today be able to apply for a share of a new £600,000 pot from the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF).
National ambassadors, a new podcast series, a dedicated PR campaign and consumer research will all play a part in the run-up to Power to Change’s annual celebration of community businesses, Community Business Weekend 2020.
Packed with information, case studies, checklists, templates and practical tools, The Community Hub Handbook – published today– is a new, free resource that sets out how to run a thriving community hub and ensure its future is secure.
A new housing fund is launching that aims to empower community groups, enabling them to plan and build a thousand affordable homes in local communities across the country.
The Health and Social Care Community of Practice reflect on the role of volunteer coordinators
The community-led regeneration champion reflects on her experiences
Community Owned Renewable Energy Partners (CORE) and Yealm Community Energy (YCE) are celebrating the successful connection of the UK’s first subsidy-free community ground-mount solar.
The charitable trust will offer top-ups to ensure all grants cover the Real Living Wage, and help community businesses to become Living Wage Employers.
Community Business Weekend is an annual, national celebration
A group of volunteers who opened the first community pub on a suburban housing estate in the UK are set to help others to do the same.
Currently, there are 11.3 million adults in the UK lacking one or more basic digital skills
The community business founder and social entrepreneur looks back on her experience
The Bright Ideas Fund will be opening for new applications on Wednesday 26 February.
New research shows Match Trading® grants support 64% increase in income from trading
Comic Relief, Power to Change, and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity are the latest organisations to commit to addressing the causes of the climate emergency by signing up to the Funder Commitment on Climate Change.
As we celebrate our fifth birthday, we're outlining the two commitments we’re making this year
Keighley Community Health Grants will help community businesses and community organisations to offer activities which boost health and wellbeing.
Power to Change is pleased to announce a significant new partnership with Social Investment Business.
CEO Vidhya Alakeson reflects on how the UK’s departure from the EU will affect the sector
Grants of up to £50,000 per project are on offer as part of the Power to Change Research Institute’s open call for research.
More Than A Pub, the £2.2m continuation of the 2016-2019 programme launched earlier this year to support community controlled pubs, has received a £650,000 bonus thanks to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
For Community Business Weekend 2020, we will be working with ambassadors covering every region
For Rosie Wild, learning about the community businesses working for young people was one of her standout moments of the year
As the dust settles from the outcome of the General Election, Vidhya Alakeson reflects on the result
Now in the second round of applications, the Next Generation Fund, which aims to encourage innovation from established and experienced community energy businesses, has shortlisted six groups to progress into the R&D stage.
Power to Change has pledged to consider how all our investments, operations and funding programmes are operated so that they contribute to a fair and lasting transition to a post-carbon society.
Community business leaders from around the country look at the potential for health and social care
The development trust specialist reflects on his time working in communities
Next Generation consortium member and partner at Everoze, Felicity Jones, shares her learnings
Power to Change, the independent trust which supports community business across England, has released its 2019 market report, which gives a snapshot of the growing sector.
Uplifting new film commissioned by Power to Change showcases the people behind city’s thriving community business network
The community building expert and chief executive of B-Inspired shares her experience
The 100 Day Challenge has launched in Liverpool, where three teams will come together to test ideas that support children, young people and families in their neighbourhoods to thrive.
The Rural Community Business Awards celebrates the achievements of rural community businesses
The second-hand furniture business has used a £10,000 grant from charitable trust Power to Change to expand its services in the community.
Bread + Roses and Queensbury Celtic Football Club among those taking home funding from Power to Change, and business skills support from M&S and PWC
Charitable trust, Power to Change, has won Agenda Consulting’s Employee Engagement Award 2019 after 93% of staff agreed they would recommend it as good place to work.”
Community energy pioneer shares his wisdom
Community Business Crowdmatch, a partnership between Crowdfunder and Power to Change which offers extra funding for community businesses has increased the amount of capital raised for community businesses using it by 115%
Deadline to apply closes Saturday, November 30
A blog by Power to Change CEO Vidhya Alakeson
21 community-owned businesses from across the UK are finalists for national awards to recognise some of the most inspiring enterprises of their kind.
'Bristol 2019: A New Kind of Community' exhibition will be on display at Trinity Community Arts, Trinity Road in Lawrence Hill from Wednesday 27th November to Thursday 5th December 2019
In the run up to Power to Change's In Our Hands event with Wirral Council, we went on a tour of community businesses in Liverpool City Region!
Independent charitable trust Power to Change won the accolade in recognition of its work to transfer solar farms to communities and encourage community energy innovation.
Five inspiring community businesses in Bradford are now in line for a package of support including business skills training and a cash grant.
Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, will announce plans to establish a fund to support socially trading organisations to multiply and grow across the city region, including potential funding from the Combined Authority of up to £5 million.
From Monday 21st October – Friday 1st November, Power to Change will be hosting a community pub crawl #CheersTo on our social media, celebrating the diverse range of activities that take place in community pubs.
The new Institute for Community Studies, supported by Power to Change, has set out its agenda to bring elite institutions together with people and communities to address the big social challenges of our era.
APE Project CIC, Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust and Windmill Hill City Farm among those taking home funding and support from M&S and Power to Change.
Community businesses who choose to use Crowdfunder to secure capital for their projects could have their efforts matched to the tune of £6,000 – if they raise the funds this year.
National charity the Plunkett Foundation releases two reports showing rural community businesses thriving and growing in number as people take control in the face of multiple challenges
It has been a busy party conference season at Power To Change. Our CEO, Vidhya Alakeson, Ailbhe McNabola, Head of Research and Policy, and Richard Harries, Director of the Research Institute sum up their takeaways.
A new guide and webinar, designed to help community businesses understand and work with local government, and see what benefits they can offer to their local authorities
City Funds launches investment fund that is first of its kind in the UK
Funding approach joins investment, ...
Fleet Street journalist Alan Qualtrough has set up a dedicated newspaper for the Stonehouse area of Plymouth.
A new report, Power Partnerships, released today (Thursday 26th September 2019) by charity Locality, in association with Local Trust and Power to Change, reveals how to strengthen localism to harness community power and deliver the democratic renewal we urgently need as a country.
The UK needs to reboot localism and empower communities to influence decisions in their local neighbourhoods. That's according to a new report by the think tank Centre for London.
Communities themselves are perfectly placed to respond to the crisis on the high street and should be empowered and supported to own more high street properties, according to a new report from Power to Change.
New research reveals community businesses often sign up to deliver public service contracts knowing that they will make a financial loss.
The Protecting Community Assets Inquiry today publishes its interim report, warning that a fifth of existing community assets could be at risk of falling out of community hands unless steps are taken by funders, government and community organisations to protect the community interest in them.
In Communities Week it’s nice to celebrate success stories, and there’s much to give us cheer in a new evaluation report on Power To Change’s More Than A Pub funding programme.
Community groups with bright ideas for energy innovation have been awarded almost £500,000 from Power to Change’s Next Generation Fund.
Power to Change are proud to publish ‘Community business at the heart of local change: Our strategy 2019-2022’.
Community business is at the heart of local change and this Communities Week, Power to Change are shining a light on the people who are making their neighbourhoods better places for all.
Community businesses improving the local area can access free support and funding from the School for Social Entrepreneurs and Power to Change
Community-run farms, a café and the operator of an adventure playground are among the businesses in line for skills support and a cash grant of up to £10,000 after reaching the final of the Bristol leg of the M&S Community Business Challenge.
Charitable Trust’s panel advises Power to Change on strategy and best use of funding
What it takes for communities to be in the lead of their own health
Cash grants worth between £50,000 and £300,000 will be made to community businesses across England through the eighth round of Power to Change’s Community Business Fund.
As high streets continue to struggle, we need to look at alternative ways to ensure they return to being the thriving hubs of local life. Power To Change's Director of Communications and Partnerships, Mark Gordon, shares thoughts on his recent visit to Levenshulme and how community-led markets could provide a solution.
In this episode, we explore how communities can run their own renewable energy projects, such as YEALM and Brighton Energy, and reinvest the profits into their community.
M&S and Power to Change, the independent charitable trust dedicated to supporting thriving local communities, have launched a new business support programme for Bradford that offers local businesses the chance to apply for free skills training and up to £10,000 of grant funding.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has released a new framework that sets how government will strengthen communities. Power to Change Chief Executive, Vidhya Alakeson, shares her thoughts:
First full study of community-owned land and buildings in over a decade reveals important contribution to the economy
The Bright Ideas Fund will open for new applications on Tuesday, August 6. The fund offers tailored support and grants of up to £15,000 to community groups, associations and organisations across England who have a good idea for a community business but need help developing it.
Yvonne Field, Founder and Director of the Ubele Initiative, recently shared her learnings at the Jamaican Diaspora Conference on ways to develop the young BME leaders of future community businesses, supported by Power to Change.
A IPPR North/Power to Change long blog by Vidhya Alakeson and Jack Hunter
Today, Charity Bank announces a £5 million deposit injection from the independent charitable trust, Power to Change. With seven in ten people agreeing that charities should invest their savings and investments ethically, Charity Bank is calling on other organisations to align their money and mission.1
In this episode, we visit the Proud Trust’s Sidney Street community café in Manchester to find out how this LGBTQ+ venue creates opportunities for everyone.
M&S and Power to Change are taking the Community Business Challenge to Bristol. The programme offers local businesses the chance to apply for free skills training and up to £10,000 of grant funding, and has already supported 12 community businesses in Liverpool and Plymouth.
The organisers of the Community Shares Booster programme, which offers a combination of development support and match funding to community businesses, are urging community groups not to miss out on their share of the £1.6m funding that is still available.
More Than a Pub, a £2.2m fund to help community groups across England looking to take ownership of their local pub, has launched its second phase.
Discover BUD's steps in the cycle to become an empowering leader
The fourth edition of Community Business Weekend took place this month from 16-19 May.
Power to Change appoints Capacity: The Public Services Lab to identify needs in and around the city
Nudge Community Builders, Billy Ruffians, Makers HQ, St Saviours and The Furniture Reuse project all take home funding and support from M&S and Power to Change.
Giles Piercy, who is part of Power to Change’s Community of Practice looking at health and social care, shares his thoughts on how integrated care delivery could work with community businesses
New research published by independent trust Power to Change in the run up to Community Business Weekend (16-19 May) reveals the sector is growing, optimistic and showing increased levels of confidence.
We’re living in divisive times - but Brits say their sense of community spirit is alive and well and helping rebuild fractured neighbourhoods.
Suzanne Perry, Power to Change Research Officer and Hanan Farah, CharityWorks Taster Associate
As Community Business Weekend approaches (16-19 May), Alice Wharton from Co-operatives UK reflects on the importance of community shares as an increasingly popular tool for raising finance.
Five inspiring community businesses are now in line for a package of support including business development and a cash grant
Power to Change is calling for community businesses to sign up so they can generate new customers, volunteers and spread the word about this vibrant, growing, sector.
In 2010 there were around 10 libraries in the hands of communities in England. By 2017, the number had risen to 500. Up and down the country, communities are rescuing libraries from closure as cash strapped local authorities have run out of funds to keep them going.
Inspired by last week's event which launched the recent report published by Power to Change by the Heseltine Institute at the University of Liverpool, our CEO Vidhya Alakeson discusses the potential for a more inclusive economy through community business in the Liverpool City Region.
Guest blogger Nina Edge, an artist and campaigner from Liverpool 8 reflects on the Power to Change grantee support event in Liverpool on 5th March 2019 where the theme was Health and Wellbeing.
With councils struggling to keep libraries open, communities across the country are stepping in to save and manage ...
The Community Business Fund from independent trust, Power to Change, will reopen on Wednesday, April 24, offering grants of between £50,000 and £300,000 to businesses in England trading for the benefit of and accountable to their local communities.
LCR is home to at least 84 community businesses, with an annual turnover of £22m, net assets of £38m and more than 600 paid staff. Asset ownership is key to financial sustainability. Researchers call for community business leadership programme pilot
M&S and Power to Change join forces to launch Community Business initiative: local community businesses invited to apply for a package of support including business development and funding
Community businesses can apply for a package of business skills support from M&S and up to £10,000 of funding per project from Power to Change.
31 community energy groups applied
Join us in the next episode when we visit Bentley Urban farm and hear how this community business is improving the lives of people living in Doncaster.
Homebaked Community Land Trust will open up 189 Oakfield Road so people can come and have their say on plans to bring the boarded-up terrace back to life.
Study focusing on Liverpool, Bristol and Ipswich finds potential for local wealth building by adopting joined-up approach to delivering public services
Solar farms in Shropshire, Kent and Isle of Wight will distribute surplus profits locally for the next 20 years.
A new evaluation report for Mali Enterprising Leaders (MEL) by The Ubele Initiative
New partnership to support community land trusts
Innovative project to create ‘power partnerships’ between local government and communities
Partnership will help communities in Suffolk to set up their own businesses
We will launch our findings in Autumn 2019, to support more councils to create the environment for localism to flourish.
The Power to Change Research Institute is commissioning and supporting over 25 different research projects this year. We want to better understand what makes community businesses thrive and what impact the sector is having on the wider community.
Over £1m given to 17 community organisations in match-funded equity investments
We talk to Homebaked – a community-run bakery in Anfield, as well as Vidhya Alakeson and Sir John Timpson about their work on the government’s panel on the future of the great British high street.
The Homes in Community Hands programme, administered by Community Led Homes, will award grants averaging £50,000 to community led housing groups in England. These include community land trusts, cohousing groups, and housing co-operatives.
Some of the best romantic gifts and Valentine’s Day activities community businesses have to offer
Power to Change is announcing a new £3.2m Community Business Bright Ideas Fund to offer tailored support and grants of up to £15,000 to 150 groups to develop their projects.
From condemned streets to the Turner Prize – find out how the residents of Granby Four Streets transformed their condemned terraced homes, creating a thriving market, affordable housing and winning the biggest prize in British art.
Community businesses met up to discuss a challenge they face every day
Community business leader Bill Graham explores various views on social prescribing
Community pubs going from strength to strength
New Loans for Enlightened Agriculture Programme
Bradford and Power to Change are celebrating their first TEDx together this week on 16th of January. Social innovation is the topic of a day long symposium taking place at the Nation and Science and Media museum there to share ideas from Bradford’s most innovative organisations and individuals.
Co-operatives' Booster Programme Manager, Alice Wharton, explains the methodology behind looking through applications of the programme and details what they are looking for in a community business.
Photographer Tricia Porter has returned to Liverpool to create a set of bold new portraits celebrating Liverpudlian life as part of the Community is Our Business campaign.
How do community business leaders balance the pressures of their work with their personal life and wellbeing? We talk to Shotley Pier and our very own Fergus Arkley to find out.
What role can community business play in reimagining the high street? Vidhya Alakeson explores
The uplifting footage, commissioned by independent trust Power to Change, highlights some of the people, places and ideas behind the city’s dynamic alternative economy.
This emotive film celebrates the people at the heart of Liverpool's community business scene. A huge thanks to the narration by Sue Johnston.
The top five learnings from our recent state of the community business market report!
Community businesses across England can now apply for a learning programme and a grant matched to their earnings of up to £10,000, to support their growth and increase the difference they make to their local area.
The community business movement in Liverpool is taking root, supporting positive change all over the city and showing that the model works and can be replicated.
Read some top tips on setting up a successful community cafe from a successful community cafe in Bristol - Buzz Lockleaze
Power to Change and Plunkett have announced a new £2.2m funding programme for community pubs
Want to know more about the M&S Community Business Challenge? Watch this film to get insights from the finalists, as well as from Power to Change and M&S
Café INDIEpendent is not only a great place to grab a coffee in Scunthorpe, it is helping to tackle social ...
Taking responsibility for how we can do things differently in health and social care
Some conclusions on the recent People's Powerhouse Conference in Bradford
Pete Swallow, Head of Merseyside, Isle of Man and North Wales Region of M&S discusses how the importance of developing relationships across businesses is integral to long-term sustainability and in turn, Liverpool’s economic development.
New report commissioned by Power to Change sets out roadmap to realise sector’s potential by 2030.
B Inspired in Leicester is a community business working to change Braunstone in Leicester for the better. Health, social care and wellbeing are among the many areas of work B Inspired is involved in. Its work in this area is the topic of this latest blog by its CEO, Angie Wright.
Anya Hobbs from Marsh Farm Futures
Seven winners of the Power to Change/ M&S Community Business Challenge have been announced at a showcase event at The Florrie, Liverpool.
Hannah Sloggett's top tips to breathe new life into the high street
Some thoughts from Anya Hobbs on the potential of Marsh Farm Futures in improving the quality of life for its' residents through sustainable opportunities.
Here's why you should head to Bristol next week!
20 fully-funded workshop places up for grabs on Stir to Action's New Economy Programme!
Vidhya Alakeson on what the Budget announcements mean for saving our high streets
Today the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE), in partnership with Power to Change, have released positive new data from the first cohort of community businesses in England to be supported by Match Trading™ grants, a new type of grant funding.
A £1m+ fund and expert support programme has been created by Power to Change to pioneer innovative community-led projects and business models. The Next Generation programme will offer up to ten c.£100,000 grants to community businesses to develop decentralised, decarbonised, and democratised energy business models.
Anne Short from B Inspired Leicester discusses the second Power to Change grantee event – Power Up Leicester. Here, she summarises the day and draws some conclusions about how to build cultural change that can see the community business movement begin to flourish.
Charlotte Hollins from Fordhall Community Land Initiative shares her three top tips for launching a community share offer.
Our CEO, Vidhya Alakeson asks the question this party conference season
Grade II Listed building was brought back to life with the help of £255,000 raised through community shares
The team who rescued Stretford Public Hall near Manchester explain how they raised vital funds by selling community shares. Want to set up your own share offer? Our top tips make essential listening.
Angie Wright shares with us her experience of taking the Braunstone Grove into community hands.
Ahead of her talk at the FT's Investment for Good conference, Vidhya Alakeson sets out the case for investment in community-led housing.
Our CEO, Vidhya Alakeson highlights how we can work closer with communities this Communities Week
Why we've launched a podcast
Calling all community businesses in Liverpool!
What role can community business play in delivering sustainable social care?
A review of the Power Up! grantee event for community businesses.
Round 6 of the flagship Community Business Fund opens on Tuesday 11 September
What the Civil Society Strategy will mean for community businesses.
Submit your evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on the rural economy!
A new toolkit to meet the challenges of BME-led community organisations.
The story of a quiet revolution in housing taking place in the unexpected town of Keswick.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has announced it intends to abolish subsidies for new household and community scale renewable electricity technologies. In this blog, Community Business Panel member Afsheen Kabir Rashid, MBE, Co-founder, Director of Repowering London and Chair, Brixton Energy, sets out the case for community renewable energy.
Our Research Officer, Suzanne, attended the launch of Local Trust's latest research
Why community businesses have a role to play in keeping high streets alive
A new research report published today highlights how community businesses delivering health and well-being services in England should be supported to ease the strain on the NHS.
Our Director of Programmes explains why Power to Change is backing community-run pubs.
Happy Pride from everyone at Power to Change!
Jodie Giles from community energy business Regen explains her four lessons from peer networking
Today we are publishing our 2017 annual report.
With 225 events held, a massive 55% increase from last year, more people are finding out how they can support their local community.
Raise a glass and say #CheersToBeer this Beer Day at your local community pub!
Useful dos and don’ts for community businesses who are starting out.
A consortium of organisations has been working with community businesses to define a positive, inspiring vision for the sector in 2030.
Power to Change welcomes four new members to the Community Business Panel
it’s a smarter alternative to status quo, argue Power to Change and Social Finance
Up to £700,000 available in support of new and emerging community businesses.
A new network is being created to help put more pubs in community hands and it needs community pub leaders to help lead it
There is money to be made from all that heritage, reflects our Director of Communications and Partnerships, Mark Gordon
How can we make people-powered health the mainstream? Vidhya Alakeson explores...
People today are looking to take action to make their own neighbourhoods better and forming a new generation of CIMBYs
We're on the lookout for community businesses in the health and social care sector!
A podcast exploring some of the ways local people have taken local power by running community businesses
The benefits of communities taking responsibility for their health and wellbeing
Apply for the opportunity to partner with university researchers and bid for research funding.
How can we change power dynamics in the health sector? Halima Khan explores...
Show your pride with us at the Pride in London parade on Saturday 7 July
Do community businesses need a stronger relationship with councils?
Over £16 million has already been awarded to help community businesses become more sustainable.
Join 500 community businesses in England to celebrate community business
Delicious meals with a social justice purpose
The launch of a new guide for councillors to help them successfully transfer vital assets to communities
Human interaction and emotion will be key to moving beyond a corporate capitalism.
May the best pie win
Why people get involved with community businesses
A comparative study of community businesses
Power to Change has announced the dates for Community Business Weekend 2018 (#CBwkd18); running from 4-7 May and taking place across England
Community Pubs Minister Jake Berry announces extension
Community-led housing in the spotlight
Valentine’s gifts with heart
Vidhya Alakeson looks at the role of communities in creating social infrastructure for a stronger #socialcarefuture
On the occasion of their third birthday, Vidhya Alakeson reflects on the three things she has been most proud of in Power to Change's early years.
Community-led housing can bring so many benefits
Power to Change and Big Society Capital come together to facilitate community ownership of solar farms in England.
New initiative matches academics and community businesses to pair up for social benefit.
Tips learnt from the Wavelength Conference which all community business leaders should aim to remember.
Our community business market report 2017 shows.
Power to Change welcomes the Government’s announcement that 56 council-led partnerships will receive £8.7 million to improve public services, stimulate economic growth and free up land for thousands of new homes.
Power to Change and Pro Bono Economics publish pioneering framework to help local authorities, community businesses and the social sector unlock local assets worth an estimated £7 billion in England alone
The history of community business, of course.
The Community Shares Booster programme offers support and match funding.
Community energy groups cleaned up at the Green Energy Awards 2017.
Highlights from the first ever community-led housing conference
Every year for the next 3 years.
More and more people are opting for tiny homes with lower-running costs, lower ecological footprint and simpler lifestyles.
Local people building their own homes and reinvesting profits into local training and employment.
Why we need Localism to get the economy moving
We recently launched three new funding programmes to support a total of 15 English wards, cities and regions
What questions should we be asking about community accountability?
Today a new project launches to define The Future of Community Business in the UK.
Author Steve Wyler reflects on the role history plays for community businesses today
Ged Devlin reflects on the SITR stats
Power to Change welcomes new trustees
Power to Change's 'Neighbourhood Economic Models' report finds.
How can civic trusts help to reform data governance, 800 years after the Charter of the Forest.
Bill Graham shares why he values local, city-wide and national community business networks.
We will focus on 7 places in England.
For the third year in a row, Power to Change are sponsoring the Locality Convention
We benchmark all the time. It is just that we tend not to call it that.
Last weekend saw 200+ community business opened their doors for #CBwkd17
Party conference season is a good time to take the temperature of what different parties are thinking
Power to Change supports community housing, as well as other businesses in community hands.
Part-time workers have different needs. It's important for organisations to support them.
What do communities need if they are to build their own homes?
What do the Labour party, Bernie Sanders and The Bristol Cable, a community-owned newspaper, have in common?
In the last five years, over 120,000 people have invested over £100,000,000 in community shares to support around 400 community businesses throughout the UK, including the Anglers Rest community pub in Bamford
Why doodling on your windows is a trick not to miss for community businesses
Bill Graham reflects on his own successful and unsuccessful moments as the leader of a community business.
9 tips, gleaned from community businesses themselves, to get yourself on the map.
Why Power to Change is opening up its grants data
Victoria shares her experience coming out and the support on offer at her local community business
We need better data on social investment – and we need to make better use of what we have.
It’s Community Centres Week from 19 to 25 July
The Craufurd Arms in Maidenhead is set to become the 50th co-operative pub in the UK
Drinks all round as three more pubs move into community ownership
A new social care system is a prize worth fighting for
New research shows how communities can build the homes, businesses and transport links that local people need
Community businesses rely on lots of stakeholders to run successfully. But surely the most important must be the volunteers who help in so many ways.
Is Theresa May prepared to give away power?
People want good homes in the areas they love. Communities can lead the way.
The Trade Up programme will help early-stage community businesses.
Local groups received £10.24m from Power to Change’s keynote Community Business Fund in 2016/17
We want to be able to set out the principles for meaningful involvement of members.
The Power of Place was an attempt by five different organisations – Collaborate, Lankelly Chase, Locality, Local Trust, Power to Change
You can read the full Sunday Mirror news supplement from April 2017
Liverpudlians are more aware of local council cuts than residents of three other major English cities, and are more likely to say cuts have had a negative impact on them.
Politicians are in election mode. We must tell them what we care about
Place-based working addresses the unique needs of people in a specific location.
"Discussions must be in-depth, inclusive and sometimes difficult to make things improve."
Tips and tools from social movement makers at Marmalade '17
Public trust in media and government has gone down dramatically around the world, and business isn’t doing too well either
Research will focus on community business and village halls, social care and health and wellbeing
A new independent Commission on the Future of Localism, backed by Power to Change, is launched today
Parliament is right to encourage civil society to become more business-savvy
A big cash injection will give groups early support to develop ideas their communities want and need
Public assets are on the frontline when we decide what we want our communities to look like
How to join people all over the country who are stepping up to help their communities
Power to Change explores community shares and the long history of social lending
A 122-year old pier, two community energy schemes and a Grade II-listed building are among groups moved into community ownership
It is time for the government to change its role in local communities
Local authorities should consider the help they can offer community businesses, using the new discretionary fund
Highfields Centre is located in the heart of a vibrant and diverse community and serves over 2000 individuals a week from different cultures and faiths
We’ve been capturing stories from women involved in community business, to celebrate their achievements, and inspire other women to #BeBoldForChange
We engaged Britain Thinks, who polled over 2,000 adults across the country and ran focus groups in London, Liverpool, Sheffield and East Anglia to find out who would want to become involved in a community business
You are welcome to join a debate discussing the housing crisis and potential solutions for communities, chaired by Patrick Smith from BuzzFeed
Cross-party report highlights the need to radically rethink the role of communities
The latest in our £3 million programme to rejuvenate local pubs
Targeted investment as the government concedes housing market is 'broken'
Housing success after Power to Change matched the first £100,000 of investment
More and more it is up to community businesses and voluntary organisations to deliver social change.
'Another plan imposed from the centre at Whitehall won’t cut it'
Locals take over a much-loved pub, supported by Power to Change
Community businesses give back control to local people
Power to Change are helping to find the next generation of community leaders
How community business supports mental wellbeing
People are transforming the places where they live
In our first two years, we funded community businesses right across England, covering every region.
It’s a few weeks now since the Power to Change Research Institute was involved in the first Feedback Labs London event.
Join the army of local investors!
We have all unwrapped yet another pair of socks at Christmas. Many of us will have had a goat donated to a needy village in our name.
Read the headlines that accompanied the publication of Louise Casey’s integration review yesterday, and you might believe that we are a country coming apart at the seams.
The total an SITR-qualifying enterprise can raise has now been increased to £1.5m.
Chatter about community-led housing has reached the mainstream in the last week.
'Community business can help beleaguered local authorities improve what they offer their citizens'
As the stock of social housing has dwindled, so community-led housing is creating an alternative route to genuine affordability.
Power to Change had invited Stephen, along with Dr Emma Stone of Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Cathy Irving of the Health Foundation and Dan Corry of New Philanthropy Capital, to share their experience and advice with community groups and community businesses.
New research: 300 libraries among the assets now run by local communities
New research: Communities control more of their own local assets—even their public toilets
Government and foundations launch joint £1.85m fund to make great community ideas a reality
Power to Change will match-fund £100,000 in community shares for local projects
New community pubs open, after support from Power to Change and others
As we open the third window of the Community Shares Booster programme, Ged Devlin, Programmes Manager at Power to Change, shares his four top tips to prepare a community share offer.
Crediton bookshop in Devon will expand its premises and events, thanks to Power to Change
Naomi Griffith is taking part in our Community Business Leadership Programme; a partnership between Power to Change, RIO and Sheffield University Management School. This support programme for community business leaders combines leadership training and expertise with fast-track connections to experts and industries.
Bad measures make bad data. And bad data is a poor premise for making decisions about expenditure and delivery in social programmes.
There is just one week left to enter Power to Change’s Community Business Bright Sparks competition. The scheme offers budding community businesses in Merseyside and Greater Manchester the chance to win £6,000 of business development support.
Jenny Howard Coles is taking part in our Community Business Leaders Programme; a partnership between Power to Change, RIO and Sheffield University Management School this support programme for community business leaders combines leadership training and expertise with fast-track connections to experts and industries.
Power to Change, the organisation set up to support and grow community businesses in England, has made further steps in its commitment to being a fair and equal opportunities employer by signing up to the London Living Wage and is Disability Confident Committed.
Ailbhe McNabola is the Head of Research and Policy at Power to Change. She has 15 years’ experience in research and analysis in policy-relevant fields, having started her career in management consultancy at Accenture. Ailbhe went on to join the team evaluating policy implementation at the UK National Audit Office, and has held a number of consultancy roles in central government departments.
Alice Wharton, is the programme manager for the Community Shares Unit based in Manchester. In this blog post she reflects upon the launch of the first Community Shares Booster Programme, a cooperation with Power to Change.
Today Power to Change launches its Community Business Bright Sparks competition which offers budding community businesses in Merseyside and Greater Manchester the chance to win a £6,000 award.
Community groups in Yorkshire and the North East trying to save their local pub from closure are being encouraged to attend a free, two-day tour of two North Yorkshire pubs that were saved as community pubs.
The Brexit vote is a cry of pain. Millions of otherwise powerless people were given a piece of paper and a once-in-a-generation chance to express their anger and frustration.
Over the next two years, the RSA, in partnership with Power to Change, RIO and Sheffield University Management School, is delivering a leadership programme for community business leaders and will be exploring the unique leadership challenges faced by those leaders.
Taking place on 2 and 3 July and the first of its kind, Community Business Weekend will see community businesses all over England throw open their doors and host inspiring events to promote the positive impact they have in their local area.
Power to Change and the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) today launch a new leadership programme for community business leaders in the South West to develop their skills and connect with their peers across England.
Over the next two years, the RSA, in partnership with Power to Change, RIO and Sheffield University Management School, is delivering a leadership programme for community business leaders and will be exploring the unique leadership challenges faced by those leaders.
Charlotte Hollins, Manager of community-owned Fordhall Farm, explains why their taking part in Community Business Weekend, and why you should too.
This Saturday is an important day in the history of Hastings. It is the day that their iconic Pier re-opens after years of neglect, disrepair, closure and finally, a disastrous fire six years ago.
The Community Shares Booster Programme is a new innovative initiative to support and foster community business across England.
On Tuesday 26 April at an event attended by leaders in social finance took place to launch Spacious Place, a unique new community business and employment hub at the heart of Burnley’s historic Weavers’ Triangle.
As we celebrate the success of community businesses this week and mark the opening of our new £10 million fund to support them, we are sharing blogs from a number of our grantees.
As we celebrate the success of community businesses this week and mark the opening of our new £10 million fund to ...
At Power to Change we kick off today an England-wide campaign today calling on community businesses to celebrate their success and the positive impact they have had on their local areas.
It looks likely now that Port Talbot in Wales will be the latest economic victim of the British declining advanced manufacturing industry, due to Tata Steel’s exit.
Pubs can be so much more than just somewhere to get a drink and socialise; many community pubs also provide vital local services such as a café or post office or shop.
We’re really pleased about the launch earlier this month of our £1 million initiative to support and stimulate community share offers. It is being delivered on our behalf by Co-operatives UK and Locality, via the Community Shares Unit (CSU).
Richard Harries, director of the Power to Change Research Institute, offers his take on George Osborne's budget yesterday.
A major new support and finance programme to help people take control of their local pub for the benefit of the community has been announced today (Wednesday 9 March 2016) by Community Pubs Minister Marcus Jones MP.
Community assets transfers are gathering pace as councils seek to offload maintenance costs. But communities need support and some funding to make them a success says Power to Change Chief Executive Vidhya Alakeson.
A new report from the Power to Change Research Institute shows that the number of community businesses in England grew by 9% in the last year. This significant increase takes the number of community businesses from 5,035 in 2014 to 5,650 in 2015.
A new round of grant funding designed to help community businesses thrive is to be managed by County Durham’s experienced business service provider, BE Group.
Power to Change is one year old today and with a strategy for 2016-2018 under our belt, we have clarified not just our ambitions and activities but also the kind of funding organisation we want to be: one that unleashes community business potential.
Power to Change, the independent charitable trust endowed with £150 million from the Big Lottery Fund to grow community business across England, has named Stephen Howard as its new chair. He will take over from Acting Chair, Carla Stent, who will continue to serve the trust as Vice Chair.
A new report from Social Finance has revealed new findings about the current state and scope of the community business sector.
It’s been a busy year for Power to Change and a busy year for community business. The sector is growing and the year ended with community business in the national spotlight as Assemble won the Turner Prize for its work with Granby 4 Streets, a community-led housing and regeneration initiative in the Toxteth area of Liverpool.
Regeneration, local pride and preserving a sense of place are just some of the aims community business and heritage buildings have in common that attendees of the Industrial Heritage 2015 conference are discussing today and tomorrow.
And so, as the dust settles in the debating chamber of the House of Commons, the hard work begins, analysing the detail of today’s Spending Review and Autumn Statement.
Power to Change’s Initial Grants Programme closed last week, with a promising pipeline of more than 700 applications to assess. It opened in May this year, specifically designed to help existing community businesses in a position to significantly progress towards long term sustainability within six months.
There’s never enough time in the day when you’re running a community business. But it’s important to make time to engage with your local community to deliver goods or services local people actually need and want.
Last week we were in Camberwell in South London for our first workshop for community businesses to support them in their growth.
A community centre in a Rotherham church, an arts centre in an East Anglian Grade II listed hall and a village shop in rural Cumbria – these are the three community businesses that received funding in September through Power to Change’s Initial Grants Programme (IGP).
Since launching the Initial Grants Programme in May, we are proud to have committed over £3.75 million in funding to community businesses across England and to be on course to meet our target of £9 million by the end of the year.
Bamford Community Society was set up in 2011, when 300 members of the rural Bamford community clubbed together to buy their local pub to prevent its closure.
We are delighted to have completed the recruitment of our community business panel.
Vidhya Alakeson, CEO at the Power to Change, reflects on the recent budget and what it means for our communities.
Bob Thust, our Director of Community Business Programmes, highlights a Telegraph article about people in the Yorkshire town of Otley, who have successfully listed all 19 of the town’s pubs as assets of community value (ACVs), giving them protection at a time when 29 are closing each week across the country.
The Power to Change was established in response to the decline of high streets and the retreat of the public sector.
The Power to Change is a brand new charitable trust, set up to support community businesses across England.
The Big Lottery Fund has today awarded a £150m endowment to Power to Change, a new independent grant-making foundation that will champion community businesses across England.