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Plunkett UK: 2024 Impact Report

Repository entry 1 December 2024

2023 witnessed the largest growth in the number of community-owned businesses since the pandemic. Plunkett UK’s 2024 Impact Report highlights the state of the sector and the added value of their support, with statistics and case studies from each of their five impact areas.

Community ownership: A better form of business 2024

Repository entry 1 December 2024

‘A Better Form of Business’ is a series of research reports on community-owned businesses that have been completed annually by the Plunkett Foundation since 2011. The reports offer evidence on the needs and health of the community business sector, trends in growth and services, and the important social, economic and environmental impact tha…

Community Ownership: A Way Forward for Wales

Repository entry 1 February 2024

This report evidences community needs and evaluates existing policies and legislation in Scotland and England, identifying strengths and weaknesses to provide lessons for future “community rights” in Wales. This research was commissioned and funded by Building Communities Trust (BCT) and undertaken by Plunkett Foundation.

Community Ownership: A better form of business 2023

Repository entry 1 December 2023

‘A Better Form of Business’ is a series of research reports on community-owned businesses that have been completed annually by the Plunkett Foundation since 2011. The reports offer evidence on the needs and health of the community business sector, trends in growth and services, and the important social, economic and environmental impact tha…

Young People in Community Business: A legacy report from the #iwill programme

Repository entry 1 July 2023

This report is the legacy of the #iwill project, funded by the Dulverton Trust in partnership with the #iwill Fund (a joint investment between The National Lottery Community Fund and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), and delivered by the Plunkett Foundation from 2022 to 2023 – to help community businesses engage, involve and …

Space for community: strengthening our social infrastructure

Repository entry 1 January 2023

The British Academy and Power to Change commissioned the Bennett Institute for Public Policy and the Institute for Community Studies to undertake two related research projects. The first of these explored examples of international policy interventions that aim to strengthen social infrastructure to draw out learning for UK policymakers. The sec…

Policy spotlight 1: How social infrastructure improves outcomes

Repository entry 1 January 2023

A report on the importance of neighbourhood-level social infrastructure in building strong, cohesive and prosperous communities.

You can find more reports written or commissioned by Local Trust here.

Community Assets

Repository entry 1 October 2022

The Welsh Parliament (Senedd Cymru) Local Government and Housing Committee undertook an inquiry into community assets, with a specific focus on barriers and opportunities for communities to acquire built assets for community use. The Committee explored how the statutory and policy framework encourages and supports the development of c…

Community Pubs – A better form of business 2022

Repository entry 1 October 2022

This research used mixed methods to look at the size, characteristics and performance of the community pub sector in the UK. This is the eighth of such reports, building on what’s known about the sector as it becomes increasingly established. It can be used as an information resource and benchmarking tool for pubs, funders and support organis…

Community Shops – A better form of business 2022

Repository entry 1 October 2022

This comprehensive publication looks at the community shop sector in the UK. It was first published in 2011 and has grown with additional information year on year. The report can now be used as a startup guide for new groups, a benchmarking tool for existing community shops, and is used by funders and support organisations to futureproof servic…

Reaching Further: Lessons for Funder Practice

Repository entry 1 October 2022

This report sets out eight lessons in funder practice from the work of Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales from 2018 to 2022. During the five years of their strategy Reaching Further, the collision of unprecedented social, health and economic crises brought both the strength and fragility of civil society into sharp focus – funders and…

The role of paid workers in supporting a community-led programme

Repository entry 1 August 2022

The Big Local programme aims to put more power, resource and decision-making in the hands of local communities. Most Big Local partnerships have chosen to hire paid staff, who support the delivery of Big Local in a huge variety of different ways.

This briefing is part of Local Trust’s research paper series, originally shared internally with st…