Grassroots developments

These case studies show a range of bottom-up initiatives which bring people together through mutual interest or to meet community needs. In some cases, local authorities and their partners have made conscious decisions to encourage and support this grassroots activity. In other cases the activity has emerged independently of the state.

Local authorities and their partners are trying to strike a balance between building and sustaining supportive networks in their communities and avoiding the trap of too much intervention or over-specification which can be counterproductive. There has been a great deal of discussion about the appropriate role of the state (national and local) in shaping, stimulating or responding to community capacity and initiative. On the one hand there are worries that the state's goals and methods may not reflect the priorities of local groups or that state methods may be inefficient or ineffective. On the other hand are concerns that without state investment or intervention, some groups will lose out or positive possibilities not develop.

• Gloucestershire Stroke Club Development Service run by The Stroke Association
  The Stroke Association's Stroke Club Development Service was set up in June 2010 to provide an opportunity for stroke survivors and their carers to set up new support groups in their locality. The project...
• Oxford City Council and Oxford Civic Society: Building community cohesion through street parties
  This initiative brought several different agendas together: the council's commitment to fostering safer, stronger communities and various projects aimed at changing attitudes to traffic, transport and...
• Developing a community website
  W14 - w14london.ning.com - is an award-winning community website, run entirely by a volunteer, that serves the residents of the W14 and SW6 areas of London. From modest beginnings as a forum for local...
• Reading Older People's Partnership Board: Increasing preventative services for older people
  ReadingBorough Councilhas commissioned a range of services aimed at reducing demand for social care, reducing emergency hospital admissions, and improving older people's health and well-being. These...
• Health Empowerment Leverage Project (HELP): exploring the business case for community development to improve health
  The Health Empowerment Leverage Project (HELP),funded by the Department of Health, is an initiative of the Health Empowerment Group, a consortium of professionals working to widen the use of community...
• Shropshire: Working Together Group - Growing a network of support through a community café and social enterprise
  Working Together is a registered charity which was started by a group of parents and carers of children with learning disabilities in Ludow, Shropshire. They started the organisation in 2002 in order...
• Shropshire - Age Concern Help at Home scheme
  This project aims to enable older people (average age 86) to remain living independently in their own homes by providing practical and emotional support. Without this support, many people are isolated...
• Croydon - Peer Led UserGroup for Adult Substance Misuse
  In 2004, Croydon Drug and Alcohol Action Team (Croydon DAAT) established a framework for service user involvement/participation across its adult substance misuse treatment and support system. The aim...
• Croydon - Inclusive Forum, Community Co-prouction
  In early spring 2008, at the point of establishing its programme for personalisation in adult social care, Croydon Council's department for adult services and housing (DASH) convened a steering group...
• RSA - Connected Communities
  The RSA's Connected Communities action research programme was established in 2009 and set out to explore how social networks and social capital can be better understood, visualised and mobilised to address...
• The University of the Third Age in Aughton-Ormskirk - Active retirement for healthier ageing and social inclusion
  Local U3A Groups provide an excellent vehicle for older people to organise their own lives in ways which foster informal learning around interests, encourage active retirement and strengthen community...
• City of York - 'Danceability': Using community resources to develop inclusive activities for people with disabilities
  Following a request from a person with learning disabilities for a dance-based activity, and nothing being sourced within the locality, contact was made with a disability sports coach to explore ways...