We're Right Here

As politicians chat in the Labour Party Conference rooms far from the communities they serve, we brought the two worlds closer together through the Community Power Bus. 🚌 Community spaces are essential infrastructure, not optional extras. The next stop for devolution has got to be community power.

Rochdale council has wrestled the derelict Warwick Mill from its absentee owner. Now local people will decide how to regenerate it through its Mayoral Development Corporation. Community-power in action! www.theguardian.com/money/2026/o... @middcooperating.bsky.social @joshhalliday.bsky.social

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Help us reach 400 signatures! Right now, a new approach to neighbourhood governance is being shaped in Whitehall. Join our call for communities to be in the driving seat. We're sending an open letter to the Minister this Wednesday. Add your name ✍️ actionnetwork.org/petitions/si...

Help us reach 400 signatures! Right now, a new approach to neighbourhood governance is being shaped in Whitehall. Join our call for communities to be in the driving seat. We're sending an open letter to the Minister this Wednesday. Add your name ✍️ actionnetwork.org/petitions/si...

Today we travelled to Plymouth to visit Nudge Community Builders & plan for an exciting new phase of our campaign. Hannah from @nudgecommunity.bsky.social took us to Union Street, where local people are slowly and determinedly bringing derelict buildings back to life - and into community ownership.

In the new @uclpolicylab.bsky.social essay collection, our campaign leader Charlotte Hollins explains how community-owned Fordhall Farm brings many social and environmental benefits to local people, many of which wouldn't be possible under conventional structures. 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/engage/sites...

The new Journal for Community Studies brings academic research into direct conversation with the experience & expertise held by communities. The @theyoungfdn.bsky.social publication challenges assumptions over who creates knowledge and what evidence matters. www.youngfoundation.org/journal-for-...

Join the Rally for Community Power we're hosting at the Labour Party Conference tomorrow. Speakers include: * @kirstymcneill.bsky.social * Caitlin Prowle, @coopparty.party.coop * @roswynnejones.bsky.social, @mirror.co.uk Let’s make community power the next stop for devolution.

🚀 Introducing the Journal for Community Studies A new publication that brings academic research into direct conversation with the knowledge, experience and expertise held within communities across the UK. Read now 👇 tinyurl.com/2xbjp87z

Come aboard the Community Power Bus, parked outside the Labour Party Conference. A space to explore how to put real power into communities' hands. 📍 Salthouse Gates Lay-by, Salthouse Quay, Albert Dock, Liverpool 🗓️ 28–29 Sept, 10:30am-4pm Let’s make community power the next stop for devolution.

Stirchley Co-operative Development in Birmingham is at risk of collapse after a dispute over spiralling costs with the developer. Community-led housing needs to be backed, not blocked. Learn more: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026... See their bond offer: www.stirchley.coop/invest/

One year of touring the Museum of Broken Dreams around the UK! The exhibition tells the story of community-led projects that could have transformed Britain – but failed because the power to decide whether their vision materialised lay elsewhere. 💔 See it here: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/3659...

3 in 5 people say it’s important to be able to influence decisions affecting their local area. But most of us have no say over what happens in our places. @nickplumb.bsky.social from @powertochange.org.uk argues that devolution must push power to communities: www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

Communities are fighting to save a much-loved community space, The Warehouse in Digbeth, Birmingham, from the bulldozers. Local people need more power to protect community spaces and decide what’s demolished and built in their places. Save The Warehouse: birminghamfoe.org.uk/help-us-save...

Devolution shouldn't stop at mayors and regions. Three in five people say it's important to influence local decisions, but 84% feel they have little or no control. @nickplumb.bsky.social for @politicshome.bsky.social on why power must go deeper into communities ⬇️ bit.ly/4qwhZPq

Too often, decisions about what's built or torn down in our places aren't made by local people. Abram ward, Makerfield, shaped its own long-term vision through a neighbourhood forum. It's one practical community-powered approach to neighbourhood governance. More: www.right-here.org/neighbourhoo...

A community-led plan for 350 affordable homes in Brick Lane, London, was approved by the local council, then overturned by central government. This case speaks loudly to why our country urgently needs community-powered neighbourhood governance. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Citizens’ assemblies can be used to give local people a hand in shaping health and social care, so it works for their community. Greater Manchester is putting this into practice through its GM Live Well Assembly: www.right-here.org/neighbourhoo... @greatermcr.bsky.social @theyoungfdn.bsky.social

What kind of relationship do communities want and deserve to have with the state? Rashid Iqbal, CEO of Camden-based charity the Winch, explores building a form of community power beyond the state in a blog based on a speech he gave at one of our workshops. 👉 www.right-here.org/building-a-n...

On Hilgrove Estate in Camden, residents decided how to spend part of the estate’s budget. It resulted in changes that people cared about. As the government designs new neighbourhood governance arrangements, Hilgrove shows a community-powered approach in practice. www.right-here.org/neighbourhoo...

Doesn’t it just make sense for local people to be equal partners in shaping the support services they use? The people of Market Drayton felt the same when they piloted a power-sharing community covenant in their town. The result was a new co-designed family hub. www.right-here.org/neighbourhoo...

This week, with Burnham taking office, Renewal will be publishing a short series of reflections on what Burnhamism could or should involve in practice. First up: @ewallis.bsky.social of @locality.org.uk and Rich Bell of @powertochange.org.uk argue for Manchesterism as 'progressive communitarianism'

In an essay for @renewaljournal.bsky.social, our Director Rich Bell and @ewallis.bsky.social explore, in a personal capacity, Andy Burnham’s devolution vision and the community-powered philosophy behind Manchesterism. renewal.org.uk/blog/manches...

As the Mayor of Manchester, @andyburnham.bsky.social built a track record of sharing power with communities. Now he’s PM, we want to see him bring that same ambition to the whole country. Watch our campaign leader, Josiah Sulc, on what he thinks the change in leadership will mean for communities.

Do you want a say in what gets built in your neighbourhood? 🏡 Neighbourhood forums bring local people together to decide the homes, green spaces, and development their places need. More here: www.right-here.org/neighbourhoo... Animations by @theyoungfdn.bsky.social, resources by @locality.org.uk

Tomorrow, we’re helping to host an election hustings for the new Greater Manchester mayor with a community-powered twist. The hustings will ask local people what role they would like to play in shaping important decisions about their city. * 8 July * Learn more: actionnetwork.org/events/gm-ma...

Who else thinks communities should shape their own healthcare decisions? New animation shows how citizens' assemblies could improve health & happiness in every neighbourhood. Watch our series on community-powered neighbourhood governance. www.right-here.org/neighbourhoo... @theyoungfdn.bsky.social

Want a say in how public money is spent in your neighbourhood? Participatory budgeting brings neighbours together to decide what to invest in as a community. Watch our series on community-powered neighbourhood governance. www.right-here.org/neighbourhoo... Created by @theyoungfdn.bsky.social

Our new series shows what community-powered neighbourhood governance could look like in practice. The animations launch at a pivotal moment, as the government designs new neighbourhood governance arrangements. Watch more: www.right-here.org/neighbourhoo... Animations by @theyoungfdn.bsky.social

As Andy Burnham's march to Downing Street gathers pace, Westminster is having a serious argument about how power is distributed in the UK. In a new piece for Labour List, our Director Rich Bell explores electoral reform and unlocking the capacity of our communities.

Over the past 15 years, local people in 150 Big Local areas have shown the power of long-term community-led change. Check out @localtrust.org.uk's new resource sharing the insights, stories, and lessons learnt from one of the UK’s most ambitious community-led programmes. 👇

Today, the government announced a £61 million new fund to help communities buy the places they love. As our Director explains in the video, the Fund will help local people use the new Community Right to Buy.👏 But it’s doubtful that this funding will be enough to meet community demand.

Last chance to sign up to our webinar on putting communities at the heart of neighbourhood governance. 🗓️ Tomorrow: Wednesday 3 June ⏰ 11am BST Register your place: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/building-n...

New report explores how communities across the country are rebuilding connection, trust and hope from the ground up. The report, published by @demos-uk.bsky.social & @uclpolicylab.bsky.social, argues that communities are not a barrier to change, but the foundation of it. demos.co.uk/research/a-n...

If communities were in the driving seat, what would new neighbourhood governance look and feel like? Join us and Community Organisers to explore what community-powered neighbourhood governance could look like in practice. * 3 June * 11 am BST * Register: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/building-n...

Last week, we explored what real place based change looks & feels like at Common Ground: A National Convening for Place Based Giving. Our key message: local people must be at the heart of change in their areas. Thanks @londonfunders.bsky.social for inviting us to speak. Photo credit: Musa Bwanali

Why are life-changing community projects stuck in cycles of short-term funding and constantly having to prove their worth? Creative Voices helps older LGBTQ+ adults in Leeds overcome isolation and find friendship. Yet its future remains uncertain. An interview: