Stories
These are the stories of amazing community businesses across the country working to make their communities better places to live. Get inspired.
Region
Type
Department
Ryde on the Isle of Wight has a rich cultural and artistic history - with one of the UK’s oldest carnivals taking place in the town. Shademakers UK are helping to tell the story of Ryde’s creative past by restoring a 300-year-old former department store. They are very hopeful that the project will create pride in the area and bring more people to the town centre.
Sparks
When a flagship department store closed in Bristol, two local organisations took on a mission to revive the building and help regenerate the city centre. Sparks, the reimagined department store, opened in 2023. With more than 750,000 visitors to date, they’ve made a significant impact on their community by creating a vibrant space for everyone and attracting new people and businesses to the area.
Haven Community Hub
Westcliff-on-Sea is a suburb of the popular seaside city of Southend-on-Sea. Westcliff is undergoing an exciting transformation, emerging as a thriving hub for businesses and a vibrant destination for the Southend community. Central to this is the community-led revival of a historic department store.
Dewsbury Arcade
In 2016, a Victorian Arcade in Dewsbury closed after the number of shoppers fell drastically. Dewsbury Arcade remained empty for seven years. Now, a community is determined to refurbish the Grade II listed site and inspire further investment in Dewsbury. They want to create the UK’s first community-run shopping arcade and pave the way for the transformation of the town centre.
Café Laziz
This Kindred investee is using food to support refugees and asylum seekers, build connections, and break down barriers with the local community.
Heeley Trust
Sheffield-based charity, The Heeley Trust, owns and manages multiple community-owned spaces across Heeley and Meersbrook as well as community bike shop, A Different Gear.
Witton Lodge Community Association
Community anchor organisation in Birmingham, providing over 200 affordable homes for local residents. They transformed derelict land into useable green space and turned the old park keepers cottage into an eco community facility, reducing energy costs by 55%
Fordhall Farm
England's first community-owned, chemical-free farm in Shropshire. Educates on sustainable farming and supports local communities.
Derwent Valley Car Club
Electric car club in County Durham tackling rural isolation and environmental issues
Heart of BS13
Anchor community organisation tackling climate change and socio-economic issues in a deprived area of Bristol
Ambition Community Energy
England's largest community-owned wind turbine powering over 3,000 homes in Lawrence Weston.
The Winch
Once a derelict pub, repurposed by residents into a thriving youth centre, community hub and library
Bristol City Funds
In 2018, Power to Change joined forces with Bristol and Bath Regional Capital, Big Society Capital, and Bristol City Council to create and co-fund a first-of-its-kind blended fund for Bristol.
Empowering Places
Empowering Places was a unique five-year programme designed by Power to Change to explore ways in which ‘locally rooted’ anchor organisations, operating in areas of high deprivation, could be supported to ‘catalyse’ new community businesses. The programme hypothesised that this, in turn, would contribute to an overarching vision of more prosperous places, with more jobs and opportunities for local people.
Kindred in Liverpool City Region
In 2019, we teamed up with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and local social economy leaders to form Kindred, an independent CIC providing repayable, interest-free money to STOs.
Black and Brown-led Social Trader’s (BlaST) Network
In November 2020, Kindred developed the Black and Brown-led Social Traders (BlaST) Network. Its mission is to increase social impact and help accelerate change to address inequalities in the Liverpool City Region.
The Anstice
Former working men’s club turned proud community hub.
Southern Maltings: Ware Arts Centre
Bustling arts centre in building that stretches back to 1839.
Kingsclere Community Association
Despite being located in a rural community with just 4800 people, The Fieldgate Centre, provides a diverse and fundamental service to the local community.
Walthamstow Toy Library
Providing toys and play to the children of north-east London for nearly 50 years.