COMMUNITY BUSINESS
Run by and for a local community
to make places better
Community businesses reduce social isolation, revive empty buildings and lead on new developments. With grit, agility and empathy, local people share their professional and lived experience to find innovative solutions to complex issues.
Community business: the facts
37,800
jobs for people in the most deprived areas
£220m
contribution to the uk economy through community-owned spaces
85%
community businesses tackle social isolation
11,300
total number of community businesses in 2020, up from 5,500 in 2015
1,724
unique community businesses supported by power to change
Community business case studies
Stories of community change
What is community business?
Grit, AGILITY AND EMPATHY
All over England, people are coming together to make the places they live better.
There’s a growing movement of communities taking back control of their local areas through business. Hundreds of thousands of people working to improve the places where they live – buying the last pub in the village, running their local football club, saving their public halls and local libraries.
The latest stories
Understanding community life at a hyperlocal level
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.
New research programme on levelling up and social infrastructure
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.
Helping community businesses be more resilient with Trade Up
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.