The Labour Party has recently published its plan to save the high street. But what’s missing, and how can Labour drive a community powered revolution on our high streets?
All Policy Maker
Last week Labour announced their answer to the levelling up agenda. What role can community business play in powering up Britain?
The Chancellor’s budget announced some funding for communities but does not go far enough to support local growth.
When it comes to regenerating our town centres, Community Improvement Districts aim to amplify the voices of community led organisations and residents, bringing them into partnership with businesses, councils and property owners, says Chris Neath.
A new report on 'levelling up' from Power to Change reveals that some progress has been made for communities, but there is little impact being made, leading to public pessimism.
While Jeremy Hunt’s first Budget as Chancellor was less explosive than that of his predecessor, it was not without ...
Today’s announcement on the allocation of Dormant Assets funding could be a game changer for the 11,000 community businesses working to support vulnerable people and communities in England.
High street regeneration is a complex picture, but Back on the Map in Sunderland are piloting a Community Improvement District - convening a broad and inclusive local partnership to ensure regeneration efforts succeed.
This guide has been prepared to help combined authorities and local authorities to utilise their UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocations to support the local social economy. It draws on forthcoming Power to Change research, and we will update it with new information and as this research is published.
The social fabric of a community is important for weathering challenging times. How can government support the growth of important community spaces for people to gather and meet?
A new report by the British Academy and Power to Change explores how social infrastructure contributes to communities’ wellbeing, helps develop their resilience and tackles deepening geographic inequalities.
The Community Tech: Makers and Maintainers fund focuses on building resilience of existing community tech already in use by community businesses across England. Meet the latest cohort and learn more about the programme.
Speeches last week from Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer offered some hope for communities in what will be a very difficult year ahead. We dive into what this means for community businesses.
Community businesses continue to plug the gap in growing local support needs, whilst they grapple with high costs of doing business, heating and powering their buildings.
We are deeply concerned about the impact of the cost of living and energy crises on community businesses and the vital services they provide to their communities. As communities respond to these crises, we are here to support them.
North of Tyne Combined Authority and Power to Change are working together to invest in and grow the region’s social economy, responding directly to the sector’s evidenced needs for finance and support. But what could this support look like?
Community businesses need more certainty and support from government to make it through this period of crisis.
One way of doing this is through enabling community ownership, which will support the sector to continue playing its crucial role in strengthening communities and revitalising our high streets.
Stoke-on-Trent South MP and councillors met with Power to Change and high street community businesses supporting local people through the cost-of-living crisis.
Today, we are launching our 2022 Community Business Market Report. The research used a survey, interviews, and a ...
The 2022 Community Business Market report, the 8th annual largest sector report reveals how community businesses are plugging the gap in local support as communities across England face a recession, rising costs of living and continued pressure on public services.
New polling shows that the public favour empowering local people and communities over abolition of the House of Lords as a way of restoring trust in politics.
British politics is currently full of surprises. What does all this change mean for communities, and how can politicians look to support the communities agenda?
This week’s Conservative Conference in Birmingham was full of drama. Amongst all that, conversations around the future of levelling up and tackling the decline of our high streets showed that supporting communities still remains top of many MPs' agendas. What remains to be seen is whether this view is held by those now at the top of the party.
This week’s Labour Party Conference in Liverpool featured a buoyant party confidently setting out its progressive agenda. Where do communities fit in this, and how will community power and investment feature in a Labour government?
Over the past 18 months we’ve been immersed in a fascinating space; learning, connecting and testing to see how communities are engaging with technology on their own terms.
No matter your age, there is often a ‘back to school’ vibe to the start of September, perhaps even more so this year as the new Prime Minister – Liz Truss – enters Number 10.
Power to Change’s Ailbhe McNabola shares some community sector responses to Labour’s levelling up plans
The second tranche of Community Improvement District pilots have been announced as part of a pioneering new initiative.
Tim Davies-Pugh has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Power to Change. He takes over from Vidhya Alakeson OBE, who stepped down as Chief Executive in February 2022.
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.
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.
Power to Change’s Ailbhe McNabola responds to the Queen’s Speech 2022 and what the proposed Bills mean for communities.
Power to Change’s Nick Plumb is appointed to government task force tackling high street decline.
Power to Change’s Nick Plumb outlines why community ownership on the high street is essential to their survival.
New report reveals a decade of accelerating shop closures and calls for a new fund to help local people secure property on the high street.
Asset ownership can have an impact on community businesses and the people they work with. We look at good practices for funders looking to support community businesses with asset acquisition and management.
What is community organising? And what potential does it have to tackle local issues? Bonnie Hewson explores.
Laying out our diversity, equity and inclusion plans for the future, and our achievements so far.
Power to Change responds to the publication of the Government's Levelling Up White Paper.
Power to Change’s Nick Plumb outlines the four things he’ll be looking out for in the Levelling Up White Paper when it publishes in the coming weeks
Power to Change responds to the House of Commons Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee's high streets report.
We are continuing to build the evidence base about how community businesses impact on health and wellbeing, employability, social isolation, their local environment, and much more.
Power to Change responds to the Fan Led Review of Football Governance
Real Ideas are a pioneering social enterprise supporting people to build better futures. In this blog, Ed Whitelaw reflects on the role of community business in parks and the importance of community climate heroes.
How will COP26 encourage community climate action? Will Walker, our climate action manager, blogs from COP26.
In a joint letter to Tracey Crouch MP ahead of the publication of the Fan Led Review of Football Governance, supporters trusts are calling for action to support fan and community ownership of our football clubs.
Carbon Co-op are a community energy organisation based in Greater Manchester. In this blog, Jonathon Atkinson discusses the importance of community climate action and reflects on what it all means at COP26.
Sandra Salazar D'eca, founder of Go Grow With Love & head grower at Black Rootz, has been named as an Everyday Climate Hero in a new campaign shot by renowned photographer, Rankin.
Ibe Hayter, founder of Cycle of Life, has been named as an Everyday Climate Hero in a new campaign shot by renowned photographer, Rankin.
Reaction to the Chancellor’s Autumn 2021 Budget and Spending Review announcement.
Community pubs and shops demonstrate soaring confidence and sector growth despite the pandemic.
As consensus builds around the importance of social infrastructure to deliver the government’s levelling up ambition, Jenny Sansom shares the story of east London’s Bromley-by-Bow Centre.
Be part of a unique opportunity to co-design a new support role in a community development and pilot programme. This new role, a community coach, will support groups with community-led housing and asset development.
Locality, in partnership with Power to Change, has joined the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance (HW Alliance), an initiative of the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England and NHS Improvement.
With levelling up the talk of the fringe, Nick Plumb reflects on day two at Conservative Party conference and growing interest in community power.
The public, and older voters especially, are extremely sceptical about the likely impact of the government’s levelling up agenda in their community.
Hot on the heels of Labour, this week it’s the turn of the Conservative Party to gather for its annual conference. Jenny Sansom reports from Manchester on what the party’s focus on levelling up means in practice.
It's been an eventful few days at the Labour Party conference. In the second of his conference diaries, Nick Plumb reflects on Labour's bold spending pledges for greening the economy and its solution to our struggling high streets.
As Labour Party members gather in Brighton this week for its first in-person annual conference since the start of the pandemic, Nick Plumb reports back on how the party is planning to empower local communities.
With the launch of two reports calling on government to put communities in the lead and invest in social infrastructure in order to achieve levelling up, Ailbhe McNabola reflects on the findings and what needs to happen next.
Following on from the progress update of Empowering Places in January of this year, Bonnie Hewson shares a roundup of our learning to date.
This blog post is the third of three outlining the research that Promising Trouble has undertaken for Power to Change, answering the question, “How can Power to Change inspire greater uptake of community tech?”
This blog post is the second of three outlining the research that Promising Trouble has undertaken for Power to Change, answering the question, “How can Power to Change inspire greater uptake of community tech?”
This blog post is the first of three outlining the research that Promising Trouble has undertaken for Power to Change, answering the question: “How can Power to Change inspire greater uptake of community tech?”
Six years of cutting-edge research into the community business sector, from Power to Change, will now be hosted by our partners, the Institute for Community Studies.
If government is serious about levelling up, it must put communities in the lead .
This new report explores why the government must abandon its centralised Westminster-led approach to ‘Levelling Up’ or risk failure from outset.
Rebecca Trevalyan is on a mission to make it easier for communities to access the land and property in their town centres.
Our mission is to strengthen community businesses to tackle some of society’s biggest challenges at a local level.
The government should give communities more say over their local high streets’ future and enable councils to support them to do this.
From next week pubs will literally open their doors once more as we’ll finally be allowed back inside in groups of six or fewer. Many of us are now used to booking weeks in advance to huddle under a heater, but the next stage of the roadmap will allow even more of our much-missed pubs to reopen.
How do we make it easier for communities to access town centre property and space?
Football, the clubs and their grounds, are about far more than business. They sit at the very heart of many communities. They are vital assets that bring communities together, build identity and pride and make a significant contribution to the local economy. They are the ultimate community business.
Our new report calls for government to put a Community Club Ownership Trust at the heart of football reforms as part of its new review following the failed European Super League.
New report reveals impact of Power to Change on community businesses across England in just six years
High Street Tracker to test impact of social infrastructure on economic resilience.
New research shows community businesses have been vital rallying points for villages, towns and cities, promoting public health, reducing social isolation and improving community cohesion during the Covid-19 pandemic.
What do we mean by 'better places'? Can community businesses really transform their local areas?
Programme manager Bonnie Hewson reflects on the progress of the programme
We need to give communities the power and capital to shape their neighbourhoods
“Levelling Up” after the lockdown must focus on community revival as well as economic growth, MPs and charities demand.
The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed many UK businesses deep into financial crisis, but not all have suffered equally. In fact, the pandemic has produced some unlikely winners in the retail sector.
Our aims to put community at the heart of town centres, by Policy Manager, Nick Plumb.
Responding to the Government’s Spending Review 2020, CEO of independent trust Power to Change Vidhya Alakeson, said:
New report reveals innovation driving community business trading success
When the word ‘change’ was baked into our name when we opened our doors in January 2015, we meant that as a pointer towards the transformative effect that community businesses can have in the places where they are based.
A new report shows that local people can save the spaces they care about for as little as £10.
Local community access and ownership of key buildings on the UK’s thousands of high streets could be pivotal to their future survival according to a new report commissioned by independent trust Power to Change.
New report from Power to Change shows 55% of community businesses expect to open up new line of trading activity.
Community businesses are more financially independent, generate more income and are more invested in shaping social and public policy to improve their local area than other types of third sector organisations, according to new research published today.
As our beleaguered high streets stand at a critical crossroads, Power to Change’s CEO, Vidhya Alakeson, joins the High Streets Task Force Board to help shape a new future for our urban centres.
Vidhya Alakeson writes about the future of high streets post-lockdown for the Financial Times
Communities themselves are perfectly placed to respond to the crisis on the high street and should be empowered and supported to own more high street properties, according to a new report from Power to Change.