We all want to live in homes that we love, in neighbourhoods that feel safe and strong. Places where we look out for one another and where we have opportunities to get on in life.  When our local places prosper, we can all live well and thrive. 

Housing providers are key to this vision. We see that they are vital in helping create stability for individuals, families and local communities. 

At Community Catalysts we see the potential in every area. That in every neighbourhood there are people with gifts and skills and the more these are recognised and nurtured, the better our places become.  

Here we celebrate what can be achieved when we partner with housing and other local providers. We hope the stories show how connections can be brought to life with a little imagination and commitment.

Supporting local places to thrive

Our partnerships support ideas for change and neighbourhood development, and explore solutions to knotty issues. Projects are bespoke but some of the activities we might carry out include:

• Scope out and connect with VCFSE partners 
• Explore physical assets and under-used spaces 
• Support ideas for change and come up with creative solutions 
• Help new groups to form which bring people together, combatting isolation 

Stories of change

Breathing new life into the ‘Grange’

The story of how three community entrepreneurs supported by Community Catalysts worked with SNG Housing Association to breathe new life into a community space in Ware, Hertfordshire. Read more.

Listening well for better ways of working with tenants, residents and local people

Our Big Conversation approach reimagines tenant engagement, equipping local people to be part of the solution to local issues. We can support organisations to listen well and reframe relationships with local people to one characterised by partnership. 

In the London Borough of Bromley, the council and ICB recognised that there was a lack of choice and creativity in the support on offer to older residents. We supported over 500 voicers to be heard, and those voices are shaping commissioning strategy in Bromley. Read more.

A partnership to fund the development of local micro-enterprises

In a London borough, a joint partnership between the council’s Adult Social Care Directorate and a well established housing provider has received the funding needed to see a growing group of community micro-enterprises in the area. Community micro-enterprises are small businesses that support the health and wellbeing of people in a neighbourhood. Community Catalysts has helped the growth of over 2,000 community micro-enterprises across the UK and will support this partnership.

Micro-enterprises offer:

• Care at home – to help people stay living at home for longer, delaying or reducing the need to move into residential care.
• Help at home and in the garden – bringing the ethos and quality of care within sheltered housing to local residents
• Group support and activities – opportunities for people to gather, connect and build friendships while doing the things they love

Developing the strengths of local people and their places with Stonewater

Community Catalysts worked with Stonewater, a housing provider to explore the strengths of people and assets in the community so that they could plan for, and deliver, improvements in housing provision. The work focused on three areas of the country where Stonewater had a mix of tenures: supported, general needs, and retirement living.

Community Catalysts helped to:

• Support colleagues and stakeholders with practical tools to understand and develop the assets and strengths of local people and their places
• Better understand what was working well already in three local areas where Stonewater had a presence with a view to sharing ideas, approaches and positive practice
• Share stories and inspire others to take more community focused approaches and to spread and scale learning to inspire impact across Stonewater

Read more.

Support for people experiencing housing instability and homelessness

Local Area Coordination is a strengths-based, relational approach that recognises and builds on people’s skills, existing connections, and talents.

Nick Sinclair, Programme Director at Community Catalysts, shares four stories of how the Local Area Coordination approach has helped people to have stability in their housing arrangement and stay out of homelessness. Read his reflections and the stories.

If you would like to discuss partnership working, please contact Zoe Miller.