Paper 1: Building systems of community connection and control looks at what building community power might look like, particularly regarding plans for creating / sustaining a community-led infrastructure of connections and control over resources beyond the Big Local programme. Film* Building Community Power: the role of the Big Local programme

Paper 2: Building Big Local legacies explores the potential legacies of the programme – “what remains after the £1 million” – in terms of people, community organisations, places and spaces. Film* Towards Legacy for People and Places

The underlying premise of the Big Local programme is that long term funding and support to build capacity enables residents to take decisions and to act to create positive and lasting change in their communities. To achieve this, the programme provides £1.15m to 150 areas in England to spend across 10-15 years plus additional support. The evaluation of the programme, Our Bigger Story, has been charting the progress of 15 of those areas since 2015 as they seek to improve their neighbourhoods.

These two new reports examine the extent to which, by the end of 2021, residents had used their Big Local resources and support as a catalyst to foster and create a sustained impact.