Community Hope and Action
Stories from the Community Action Fund
Led by Zain, our Community Funding Manager, the Civic Power Fund team have spent the past month hearing about some of the amazing work carried out by our Community Action Fund partners this year.
Following the racist and Islamophobic violence spilling out across our streets and threatening our minority communities, we wanted to take a moment to share some of this incredible work.
It is a reminder to us that across the UK, amazing people are doing amazing work to build the strength and power of their communities. They are the ones who deserve our time and attention.
One appropriate response to this moment would be to meaningfully and sustainably resource this deep local organising — centring the communities facing and resisting hate.
Throughout these stories you’ll see examples of communities investing in their leaders; building powerful alliances; resisting the politics of division; and working together to achieve justice.
All the Small Things create a welcoming space for local individuals facing disadvantage. They are based in St Luke’s Church in Stoke on Trent. This year, they used deep conversations and community events to built a thriving network of hundreds. Through community organising training, they worked with this network to engage and influence the local council. Network members reported reduced loneliness — and all volunteered to take part in future social action. Members of the community got to know each other better. And public sector organisations listened to what those most in need were looking for.
Brighton and Hove Community Land Trust (BHCLT) is organising communities in housing need. Over the past year, they engaged over 250 people in plans to redevelop the city. This included hosting a series of workshops attended by over 100 people. An astonishing 95 per cent of attendees reported wanting to stay involved. Crucially, people from different backgrounds and from all over the city came together to take part. BHCLT also joined their local Citizens UK chapter, building deeper city-wide alliances to advance their goals.
Collaborative Women unites women experiencing gender-based harm in Stretford, Manchester. They work with women made homeless, women in the criminal justice system, and refugee women seeking protection. Last year, they launched the “Collaborative Voices Women’s Campaign.” Forty women came together to build a campaign around their shared challenges. They surveyed over a hundred women across Manchester — taking the campaign online and to street stalls across the city. The work has led to an audience with the Mayor and invitations to join both the local Women in Housing Group and Strategic Health Partnership. And 100 per cent of the women who took part shared that they found a new sense of pride and purpose because of this campaign.
Coffee Afrik is a collective in East London supporting women, young people, and marginalised groups to realise their rights and potential. Over the past year, they ran a series of campaigning and organising workshops for the women and young people that access their services. Together, they organised nine protests and secured progress on two vital local public health policies. But more than this, they boosted participants’ mental wellbeing and placed a deep emphasis on healing and restorative justice. This has helped to foster resilient, socially active neighbourhoods who know their power.
The Common Good Foundation is building collective, democratic power in Grimsby Immingham, and Cleethorpes. Over the past year, they have built a flourishing community organising network. They held over 1,000 conversations, a dozen house meetings, and two larger public meetings to engage the community and discuss local issues. They also developed and trained a core leadership team of 25 members. This network is now taking forward campaigns on housing conditions, local training and jobs from new offshore wind farms, and improvements to pavements, roads, and drainage.
East 16 Community Land Trust aims to ensure regeneration in Newham works for the community. They have made huge strides in community engagement since the appointment of their Housing Organiser in November 2023. They organised weekly coffee shop drop-ins, went door knocking in key neighbourhoods, held market stalls in Canning Town, and ran social media campaigns and Facebook groups for communication. They also built new collaborations and volunteer teams. These teams have made vital progress on repurposing two sites for community housing.
Growing Rights Instead of Poverty Partnership (GRIPP) is a coalition led by communities facing poverty across the UK. They have spent the year working with their members to build a sustainable and participatory partnership that prioritises the dignity of those facing poverty. Their membership has expanded and they have run two away days, contributing to a new inclusive structure and their new campaign “Poverty is a Human Rights Issue.” Members of the collective have told them that their participatory approach is changing lives and influencing large, campaigning organisations to ensure they put lived-experience first.
Housing Action Teesside is a member-led union organising renters across the Tees Valley. They are working in a neighbourhood in Stockton-on-Tees with a high density of social housing. They have been supporting tenants to organise on housing disrepair, including facilitating an open letter and running community meetings. This work is now ramping up as they hire a part-time organiser and work towards collective action in 2025.
Parents for Future Scotland is a parent-led network working towards inclusive, community driven action on climate change. Over the past year, they delivered parent-to-parent climate action talks in over 40 schools across the city. This saw an incredible conversion rate of 33% of parents that attended a talk joining the network. Their outreach efforts culminated in an assembly at Glasgow City Chambers in April 2024. Children, parents, and representatives of local climate groups came together to petition officials and councillors on the key, shared changes they wanted to see. This network continues to thrive and the Council has begun a conversation with the group about implementing these changes.
Saathi House aims to elevate the status and position of migrant women and young people in Aston and Birmingham. They co-created a community power programme with local women who are often excluded from decision-making. They worked with the women to support their priorities — such as better access to local services and wellbeing support. They then worked with this network to connect them into local decision-making — helping them meet with local councillors and officials. This has led to an active ambassador team that are continuing to build a warm and welcoming space alongside opportunities to influence those in power.
South Norwood Community Kitchen created a community-led space that served 12,000 meals over the year. They also supported their guests to campaign on shared issues — including successfully halting the closure of a local Special Educational Needs (SEN) nursery. They created a safe environment for working class people to share their experience of injustice. This included community assemblies, residents meetings, and “Know Your Rights” trainings. They are now partnering with other groups to identify local leaders who can take forward campaigns and build a wider base of local power.
The Southeast and East Asian Women’s Association is running the “Let Us Lead the Change” training programme. This is a nine-month programme to equip trafficked and abused Filipino women with the collective care and advocacy skills to drive policy changes that affect their lives. Participants are already reporting that they have built their knowledge and confidence — and are increasingly aware of their power to effect change.
The Rights Collective seek to address unjust power hierarchies that sow the seeds of division across the South Asian diaspora. This year, they held a week long, intergenerational residential in Wales to address internalised oppression and foster practices that create futures free from violence. They also partnered with a range of other groups to steward “South Asians for Palestine” — an integenerational space of solidarity, learning and protest. And they launched the “Satrangi Initiative.” This informal gathering provides a safe space for queer Muslims to explore faith and sexuality.
Triangular CIO is a network of volunteers and professionals who support migrant communities in Tyne and Wear. They have made significant progress in strengthening their network of refugee community organisations. This includes hosting monthly meetings between the organisations and the local authorities. It also includes campaigning and organising training for groups, so they can build the power of their communities. Alongside this, they have secured more funding for these groups and helped boost their organisational capacity. This is creating to a thriving network of lived-experience-led groups who are making life better for asylum seekers, migrants and refugees across the region.
The UK Youth Climate Coalition is a non-hierarchical, youth-led organisation of 18–29 year olds from around the UK. They have combined community events, with formal conferences and learning opportunities to build a thriving and diverse network of young change makers. This includes cook-outs in London and Glasgow, special workshops on economic justice and inclusion, and working with over 800 students. This year, over 160 young people applied to join the network, the highest in UKYCC’s history!
The Workers Co-Op is a new federation of worker cooperatives, born out of a Workers Co-Op in Rochdale. They aim to bring together the 400 Workers Co-Ops across the UK to build a movement that can organise on common issues. In just one year, they have grown their membership to 97. They have done this by working across their networks to call hundreds of people, host local-meet ups across the country, and run inspiring workshops and events. They are now supporting local groups and designing shared campaigns.
