Richard Harries

Only Reconnect

Repository entry 1 February 2023

A report of the ‘Reconnection Summit’ that took place in October 2022. The summit was organised by the Institute for Community Studies andTPXImpact, in partnership with Engage Britain and its ‘Grassroots Advisory Network (a group of community activists and leaders from across the UK who act as advisors on the work of Engage Britain and identify…

Community perceptions of social infrastructure

Repository entry 1 January 2023

‘Social infrastructure’ is a phrase often used by policymakers and academics to refer to those spaces – both physical and digital – that people use to come together. In its 2021 report, Backing our Neighbourhoods, Power to Change, the independent trust that strengthens communities through community business, made the case for a more coh…

Social infrastructure: international comparative review

Repository entry 1 January 2023

The British Academy report, ‘Shaping the COVID Decade’, included a call to “strengthen and expand [the] community-led social infrastructure that underpins the vital services and support structures needed to enhance local resilience, particularly in the most deprived areas” (the British Academy, 2021a, p. 34). In response, the British Academy fu…

Volunteering Journeys

Repository entry 1 September 2022

A rapid evidence review from the Institute for Community Studies, commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to explore young people’s experiences of, and attitudes to, volunteering.

Volunteering Journeys examines how young people perceive and experience the UK’s current volunteering ‘offer’, and how it cou…

Valuing and enabling citizen science: Lessons from the Citizen Science Exploration Grant programme

Repository entry 1 August 2022

In 2019, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded 28 Citizen Science Exploration Grant projects. This was part of its ongoing work to explore how researchers can work with diverse groups to participate with, and collaborate in, the research and innovation process – and to test opportunities for building citizen science methodologies into resear…

Understanding local patterns of volunteer activity during COVID-19

Repository entry 1 December 2021

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport commissioned The Young Foundation to undertake an initial scoping study to identify some of the ways in which volunteers were mobilised at local levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the research was:

to identify some of the ways in which volunteer groups operated and develo…

Volunteering in community business: a digest of recent research

Repository entry 1 December 2021

Volunteers are critical to how community businesses help to make places better. They help root community businesses in their local communities, and their time is central to community businesses’ financial viability. In fact, some community businesses would not exist at all were it not for volunteers.

This digest summarises three re…

A Civic Strength Index for London

Repository entry 1 October 2021

The London Civic Strength Index and its underlying framework have been co-designed and co-created by Londoners to understand where civic strength exists; to make that strength visible; and to capture what makes it unique in communities across London. This first report sets out a clear framework for civic strength in London, aims …

“Why don’t they ask us?” The role of communities in levelling up

Repository entry 1 July 2021

This report by the Institute for Community Studies reveals that current approaches to regeneration and economic transformation are not working for the majority of local communities and their economies.

Its key findings are that:

Interventions have consistently failed to address the most deprived communities, contributing to a 0%…

Community business: The power on your doorstep – Executive Summary – Power to Change 2020 Impact Report

Repository entry 1 March 2021

This is the executive summary of Power to Change’s second impact report.

Community business: The power on your doorstep – Power to Change 2020 Impact Report

Repository entry 1 March 2021

This is Power to Change’s second impact report. It draws together existing and new evidence from the Trust’s first six years to provide an updated picture of both Power to Change’s impact on its grantees and the wider marketplace, and the impact that grantees are having on people and places. It is intended for use by Power to Change, our …

Better places through community business: A framework for impact evaluation

Repository entry 1 October 2018

This is the first of three planned impact reports. It draws together existing and new evidence to provide a baseline picture of both Power to Change’s impact on its grantees and the wider marketplace, and the impact that grantees are having on people and places. It is intended for use by Power to Change, our stakeholders and anyone else who i…