At Power to Change, we invest in high quality research, evaluation and insight. We are committed to demonstrating the impact of community businesses and sharing evidence and data on what supports them to thrive.
Our civic high street briefing offers recommendations for how government can deliver a transformative High Street Strategy, using policy and investment to drive civic high street regeneration and create good places for communities to live, work and connect.
The 'new high street playbook' shares lessons from our Community-Led High Street Innovators programme, and why they matter now. Connecting real world practice to the current policy window, this report reflects a growing focus on the conditions needed for longer-term stewardship, particularly the role of community influence, governance and ownership in shaping the future of our high streets.
Our new organisational strategy is a moment of opportunity. A decade of experience has shown what community business can achieve, turning empty buildings into thriving hubs, creating local wealth and delivering services built on what people need.
For the past decade, Power to Change has seen community business grow steadily into a movement that spans the country. This essay collection advances a vision of Britain’s future where power and resources are in local hands and community business at the heart of facing down the nation’s challenges.
Our 2024 annual report reviews the tenth year of Power to Change’s operations. It covers our activities as a think-do organisation and the grants we made, alongside a financial review of 2024 and our statutory accounts.
At a time when the government faces enormous pressure to mount a response to the sense of discontent and decline that the public is feeling, giving communities more local control is emerging as a solution that is both effective and popular. This research demonstrates the need to put communities at the heart of the political debate to unlock a path to national renewal.
‘Lessons in local growth’ highlights how strategic authorities can harness the power of the social economy to drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth. The report takes learnings from partnerships with the West Midlands Combined Authority, North East Combined Authority, and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to set out ten practical lessons to growing regional social economies.
Support for Reform UK is rising where high streets are in decline. This may result in an electoral battle for the ‘Shuttered Front’, 39 constituencies predominantly in the Midlands and Northern England.
This research shows that our democracy is in poor health but people who are involved in associational organisations – from book clubs to community businesses to working men’s clubs – are more likely to have trust in democratic institutions than those who are not. This report sets out concrete recommendations to government and political parties to renew our democracy through grassroots civil society, closing the void between citizens and democratic institutions.
There have long been gaps in quantitative evidence around the unique economic contribution that community business makes. This new research provides an estimate of the total economic contribution made by community businesses to the national economy. It highlights the different ways, to whom, and where community businesses drive economic benefits locally.
The Powering Up Programme offered deliver capacity building support for the organisationThese interim and final reports outline the diversity, equity and inclusion approach taken during the Powering Up programme.
A guide for community businesses developing the right tech with the right type of support, drawing on lessons from our Powering Up programme. This guide is designed to help community businesses explore a model of digital development that balances the strengths of no-code solutions with the benefits of expert collaboration.
This evaluation report presents the findings of Renaisi-TSIP’s evaluation of the Powering Up programme, a collaborative and innovative programme working to support the growth of community businesses, funded by Power to Change.
Our first bi-annual report on the community business market shows the positive impact they continue to have on local communities, other businesses, and their high streets.
Once a destination for generations of shoppers, department stores are on the decline. But community businesses are repurposing vacant department stores and town centre shopping spaces, driving new footfall to their town centres through vibrant offers that meet the needs of their community.
This paper explores community cohesion, empowerment and growth in response to the riots across the UK this summer. The recommendations put communities in the lead, reflecting the importance of places to meet and the need for support from all levels of government.
Our 2023 annual report reviews the ninth year of Power to Change’s operations.
It covers the grants we made and our future plans, alongside a financial review of 2023 and our statutory accounts.
This report offers detailed guidance for the Government on how to implement a Community Right to Buy. It is based on almost 10 years of knowledge working with communities and in-depth interviews with community leaders, politicians, civil servants and others.
The Resilient Communities Fund provided emergency support as quickly as possible to community businesses, to support them to implement energy resilience projects to become more resilient to both climate change and the cost-of-living crisis.
