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Community connections

Building community pride

While every community has features that residents value and take pride in, less is known about how local pride can be nurtured and strengthened.

Here we share learning from communities across the UK, highlighting practical approaches that have helped people feel more connected to where they live.

Co-production

Co-production brings people and stakeholders together to design and deliver services.

It shows people that you are committed to working for them and with them, rather than ‘doing to’ them. But it’s not necessarily the easiest thing to do when working with limited time and resources and within:

  • established systems

  • practices

  • cultures

Here we share what we’ve learned about successful co-production practice from the projects we fund.

Loneliness and social isolation

We believe that preventing loneliness has the potential to strengthen communities and improve lives.

For that reason, we're proud to support community-led initiatives that:

  • bring people together

  • address barriers to social connection

  • help people find meaning

  • create welcoming spaces,

  • identify people who may be struggling

Here we share insights from this work, highlighting how community-led action can tackle loneliness and social isolation.

Supporting people who are out of work

For 3 decades, National Lottery funding has helped people gain skills, confidence and pathways into work, starting with its first grants in 1995.

 Here we share learning from this work, highlighting the special contribution of voluntary and community sector and how it adds value to what others are able to offer.