Case Study: Star and Shadow Cinema


Published: 2021

Star and Shadow Cinema is a community hub in Newcastle upon Tyne set up in 2006. It has multiple facilities including a cinema, music venue, café, bar, meeting rooms, dark room and a community garden. It offers a unique space for grassroots community organisations, independent artists and members of the public to promote cultural ideas through…

Case Study: Target Football


Published: 2021

Target Football is based in Toxteth, Liverpool, and runs sporting programmes and grassroots football across the city. It was set up in 2010 and currently has seven employed staff and about 15 volunteers. Volunteers are integral to Target Football’s continued success, ensuring football coaching and matches take place and pitches and grounds ar…

Case Study: Windmill Hill City Farm


Published: 2021

Windmill Hill City Farm was set up in the 1970s and is an important community hub in south Bristol. In addition to a community farm, it has a café, day care nursery and outdoor play areas, and an education department to welcome school visits.

Financial analysis of the Liverpool City Region community business market


Published: 2021

This study follows on from research conducted on community businesses in the Liverpool City Region in March 2019. The original work aimed to build a detailed evidence base to demonstrate the size and scope of the community business market in the region, and to provide insight into how growth and financial sustainability can be achieved.

T…

Green Synergy


Published: 2021

Green Synergy uses community gardening and horticultural therapy to build skills for life and work, improve mental and physical health and educate people about the environment, food and farming. The organisation works in disadvantaged communities and with vulnerable people, including those living with mental health conditions, learning dif…

Halifax Opportunities Trust


Published: 2021

The aims of Halifax Opportunities Trust (HOT) span from relieving poverty and unemployment to promoting community safety and improving health and wellbeing. They are practically addressed by services which help people to find new or better jobs, learn new skills, start or grow businesses and help raise their families.

Likewise


Published: 2021

Likewise has a 30-year history of working alongside people from all backgrounds and circumstances to support community wellbeing and help individuals navigate life. Likewise provides support and care to those living with mental ill-health, social isolation and homelessness. It is constantly working on building an inclusive community that is abo…

Pathways to good work: toolkit for community organisations


Published: 2021

Work that is decent and fair is crucial to creating a motivated and skilled workforce that is empowered to deliver high quality services and to innovate. Community organisations are already delivering on many aspects of good work. This toolkit is designed to help organisations understand what good work is and improve existing practices by focus…

The impacts of social infrastructure investment


Published: 2021

Social infrastructure can play an important role in supporting the levelling-up agenda in local areas. It creates institutions and physical spaces that foster personal relationships, civic engagement and social networks, leading to more cohesive and healthier societies.

Frontier Economics was commissioned by Local Trust to bring together exist…

The role of volunteers in community businesses


Published: 2021

This study examined the structure and role of voluntary labour for community businesses. Four chapters discuss the profile and working patterns of volunteers, how volunteers are recruited and employed, how volunteers’ skills are utilised, factors covering their training and professional development and the wider motivations to volunteer.

Windmill Hill City Farm


Published: 2021

Windmill Hill City Farm was founded more than 40 years ago as the first city farm outside London. It aims to promote environmental education and addresses disadvantage by providing a green, recreational space in the heart of Bristol. The organisation has grown over time and now provides a children’s nursery, wellbeing- related activities with…

‘Good work’ and community business: Identifying pathways to good practice during Covid-19 and beyond


Published: 2021

This report examines what good work means in challenging times, with a focus on how community businesses are able to provide work which is fair, decent and rewarding within diverse and often challenging operational contexts. The research involved a review and further analysis of existing data sources, in-depth interviews with employees, vo…

Top

Community research

The Institute for Community Studies is powered by The Young Foundation, a not-for-profit tackling societal issues with a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach.

Contact our team

Social innovation

Involving people from diverse sectors, The Young Foundation shapes game-changing initiatives.

Get in touch