Repository
A curated and searchable collection of community-related research reports, case studies and publications from the Institute for Community Studies and other organisations.
Empowering Places – Change Framework
Published: 2021
This is a working ‘change framework’ for the Empowering Places programme – a five-year programme designed to empower communities to build community businesses. The framework sets out the desired vision and outcomes of the programme, as well as pointing to the elements of the programme that enable progress towards the vision and outcomes. …
Community Shops – A better form of business 2021
Published: 2021
This comprehensive publication looks at the community shop sector in the UK. It was first published in 2011 and has grown with additional information year on year. The report can now be used as a startup guide for new groups, a benchmarking tool for existing community shops, and is used by funders and support organisations to futureproof servic…
Community Pubs – A better form of business 2021
Published: 2021
This research used mixed methods to look at the size, characteristics and performance of the community pub sector in the UK. This is the seventh of such reports, building on what’s known about the sector as it becomes increasingly established. It can be used as an information resource and benchmarking tool for pubs, funders and support organi…
A Civic Strength Index for London
Published: 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 …
Volunteering in community business: meaning, practice and management
Published: 2021
This report attempts to fill in some of the gaps in understanding what volunteering means in practice in a community business context. Through a wide-ranging qualitative study, researchers from the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research explore how volunteering is conceptualised and managed, the role and influ…
Valuing the contribution of volunteers to community businesses supported by the Community Business Fund
Published: 2021
This research seeks to understand the value of volunteers to community businesses supported by the Power to Change Community Business Fund (CBF). To do this, the report looks at:
the types of roles that volunteers fulfil;
why community businesses decide to engage with volunteers and why some roles are fulfilled by volunteers;
the type…
Rapid research COVID-19 Briefing #14: Community responses to COVID-19 – Sustaining community action
Published: 2021
There is a growing body of evidence on how communities have responded to COVID-19, highlighting an early surge in community action and the subsequent power of communities to meet the needs of residents during crises. More recently, however, as the pandemic has continued longer than anyone imagined, there is increasing evidence pointing towards …
Power to Change and blended finance
Published: 2021
The social investment market in the UK is growing rapidly, with transaction values rising from £165 million to £1.1 billion over the last ten years. Power to Change sees social investment as being a key funding approach to develop the community business market. Working through the Key Fund and Social and Sustainable Capital (SASC) they have i…
Delivering the community led housing pipeline in England
Published: 2021
This report examines the financial requirements of community led housing projects in England and explores how these can be met. It quantifies the required amount of funding and finance and assesses whether current provision is sufficient.
Community business and the foundational economy
Published: 2021
This report looks at the role of community businesses which exist within the foundational economy (the range of goods and services that ensure places can function, and enables people in those places to thrive). With a focus on four places (Grimsby, Leeds, Leicester and Plymouth) this research offers insight into the democratising, empower…
Charities responding to COVID: Summer 2021 Update
Published: 2021
This report builds two previous reports- published by Lloyds Bank Foundation in May and December 2020 respectively and how small charities have fared since the first national lockdown in March 2020. This provides a snapshot of the experiences of small charities throughout the crisis.
In it, Lloyds Bank Foundation share their findings of how ch…
Towards resilience: Building energy systems with community at their heart
Published: 2021
COVID-19 has brought into sharp focus the fragile state and deeply interconnected nature of the critical systems we rely on for our health and prosperity. Our energy system is a case in point; the pandemic has underscored that existing top-down, centralised models of energy supply and management are not a good fit for the future.
You can find…