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Our approach to research

At Power to Change, we are curious and rigorous; we do, test and learn. This means investing in high quality research, evaluation, and insight, and making our data freely available for others to use. Our evidence base shows that community business works to create thriving places when local people take ownership of spaces that matter and deliver services that communities need. We are committed to demonstrating the impact of community businesses, and sharing learning and insight about what support they need in order to thrive.

Previous research conducted by our Research Institute between 2015-2021, including all reports and datasets, is available on the Institute for Community Studies Repository.

Read more objective and rigorous insights about community businesses and their impact below.

 

Community Improvement Districts pilot programme: Final report

Community Improvement Districts pilot programme: Final report

Community Improvement Districts (CIDs) provide a new approach for community stakeholders to have more say on strategic direction of the high streets alongside local authorities, businesses and other local stakeholders. Power to Change has piloted this model in six places across England, with a learning process led by The Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, and Shared Assets.
Social economy in the North of Tyne

Social economy in the North of Tyne

A strategic partnership between North of Tyne Combined Authority and Power to Change has been reviewing the challenges and opportunities facing the social economy in the North of Tyne to understand how best to design support for the sector in the region.
Annual report 2021

Annual report 2021

Our 2021 annual report reviews the seventh year of Power to Change’s operations. It covers the grants we made and our future plans, alongside a financial review of 2021 and our statutory accounts.
Annual Report 2020

Annual Report 2020

Our 2020 annual report reviews the sixth year of Power to Change’s operations. It covers the grants we made and our future plans, alongside a financial review of 2020 and our statutory accounts.
Homes in Community Hands – Evaluation Report

Homes in Community Hands – Evaluation Report

Power to Change’s Homes in Community Hands (HCH) programme provides grants to help build and refurbish affordable housing. Specifically, the programme is supporting the development of community-led housing (CLH) in England and has been allocated £7.6 million to do this. Between 2016 to 2018 £1.8 million in grants was disbursed in a vanguard phase of the programme. Between 2019 and 2021 up to £5.8 million additional funding will be made available. These funds will be predominantly targeted at five areas in England, but funding will also be available to support innovative projects anywhere in the country. The programme is being evaluated by a team of leading academics in this field. Over the course of the next three years the evaluation team will assess the impact of the HCH programme on various stakeholders and beneficiaries, whilst also capturing important learning to inform the practice of CLH enablers, CLH groups and other organisations including funders like Power to Change. This report presents findings from Year One of the evaluation, setting a baseline picture for the programme, and sharing early lessons on the formation and activity of enabling hubs.
The Community Hub Handbook

The Community Hub Handbook

Packed with information, case studies, checklists, templates and practical tools, The Community Hub Handbook is a new, free resource that sets out how to run a thriving community hub and ensure its future is secure.
Community Business in 2030

Community Business in 2030

Drawing on the views and experiences of more than 40 community businesses and 20 experts, Community Business in 2030 illustrates the transformative effect the sector could have on both local people’s lives and society as a whole.
Community business in place

Community business in place

This working paper was produced as part of an evaluation and learning review of Power to Change’s Community Business Fund, led by Renaisi. This paper takes some of the learning from the evaluation of the Community Business Fund, and other work, and applies it to wider questions about community businesses, the places that they exist in and how those two things interact.
An assessment of community-based social enterprises in three European countries

An assessment of community-based social enterprises in three European countries

Power to Change commissioned a team from the University of Westminster, Delft University of Technology and Stockholm University to carry out a comparative study of community-based social enterprise (CBSE) in England, the Netherlands and Sweden. National policy was reviewed and three case studies were selected from each country, in order to provide an evidence base for making comparisons and drawing out more general conclusions about the development of the sector.
The Community Business Market in 2017

The Community Business Market in 2017

Each year, the Power to Change Research Institute commissions research to estimate the size and shape of the community business sector in England. This year’s report considers the structure, size and shape of the community business market in England in 2017 and considers the outlook for the year ahead. The report follows on from those of 2014, 2015 and 2016, and presents the most accurate portrait to date of the size and shape of the community business market, as a result of innovations in methodology and an increased use of secondary data for triangulation.
The Economics of Community Asset Transfers

The Economics of Community Asset Transfers

A common feature across community businesses in different sectors is for their business model to be heavily reliant on and/or driven by Community Asset Transfers (CATs). A CAT is the transfer of the ownership and/or management of an asset from its public-sector owner (usually a local authority) to a community organisation for less than market value. These transfers are made in order to achieve social, economic or environmental outcomes in the community in which the asset is located.
Neighbourhood Economic Models

Neighbourhood Economic Models

At the end of 2016, the Bank of England’s Chief Economist warned that regional inequality was ‘among the most important issues that we face today as a country’. Then as now, local economies in different parts of the UK were growing at an uneven rate, and some were simply not growing at all. Can hyper-local, socially-responsible businesses help the economic performance of the place where they are based? As part of this work, this paper specifically asks which factors are associated with growth in the sort of start-up, entrepreneurial businesses which can power a local economy.

Power to Change Grants 2015-2020

Power to Change is an independent trust, with a mission to increase the number and social impact of community businesses across England. In 2016 we pledged to make available our grants data. We believe that anyone who wishes should be able to see the grants and investments made by Power to Change, where in the country we have spent our money, and the sort of enterprises in which we have invested.