Every three months or so, I share my thoughts on local area progress with you as residents as your Big Local Rep and with the central team managing the national programme. Your comments and thoughts are always welcome.

The last quarterly report shared the sad news about the arson attack on Woodville Road’s Pirate ship. So it is good to start this next one with the news that it will be replaced along with other upgrades to local children’s play facilities, funded through Boston Town Area Committee. Fran Taylor of Boston Borough Council is a tireless champion for children’s play and her advocacy and action has helped secure this success.

The big picture

I was pleased to see this year’s Guardian Christmas appeal for Citizens Advice and Locality. These two organisations represent much of what Big Local is achieving: vital support to individuals and families in significant and growing need and also building community strength and resilience, connection and capacity. As the 15 year Big Local programme across 150 areas of England approaches the final stages, our resident led partnerships continue to advocate and invest in these twin pillars, strengthening our communities and improving the lives of its residents.

Local Trust wants to make sure relevant support is on hand to each area through Make it Happen:

  • Community engagement and volunteer management
  • Securing a community asset
  • Becoming a legal body
  • Mastering communications and storytelling
  • Climate proofing the BL plan
  • Funding and income generation
  • Engaging diverse groups of people
  • Measuring Change

In the longer term, Local Trust lobbies for the Community Wealth Fund to follow the Big Local model of community led funding and change.

Make it happen

As the Big Local programme enters its final phase, with area investment completed by late 2025, Local Trust is upping support to each area to ensure maximum opportunities for maximum investment in local priorities, opportunities to find future funding and growing the number and skills of volunteers. Catch up on the offers by getting the newsletter. The sort of free expert advice available includes:

  • Community engagement and volunteer management
  • Securing a community asset
  • Becoming a legal body
  • Mastering communications and storytelling
  • Climate proofing the BL plan
  • Funding and income generation
  • Engaging diverse groups of people
  • Measuring Change

Looking back

Boston Big Local held its AGM and community meeting at the Len Medlock Centre in October, with key speeches from Michelle Sacks, Deputy Chief Executive of Boston Borough Council, Michele Jolly, CEO of Age UK Lincoln and South Lincolnshire and Katy Roberts, Boston Big Local’s plan co-ordinator. The meeting helped review successes over the last eighteen months and launch the development of the final plan due to start in April 2023.

The partnership continues to meet monthly, with great support from the plan co-ordinator and the Local Trusted Organisation, Age UK Lincoln & South Lincolnshire. Finances are reviewed each month and headline figures displayed on the spend barometer on the website. Quarterly reports from partners were reviewed in October. All were approved. These are posted to the website and form the evidence for stories of action and change and in newsletters, the autumn edition again being delivered to every household. The partners are the Stichers, Woodcarvers, Memory Lane, Samaritans, Boston Community transport, Restore Pantry, Boston in Bloom, LCVS environmental improvements and volunteering and the Borough Council with the play equipment and the beach event. Some questions have been addressed to one delivery partner. The partnership also approved a schools Heritage Project, led by the Chair, Richard Tory and based on reproducing and distributing to schools an old schools atlas published in 1939.

Looking ahead

The partnership launched the process of developing the new plan at its October AGM. It has now undertaken a partnership review and is half way through reviewing in detail its current plan. This will lead on to drafting the new plan ready for submission to Local Trust by the end of February. It is likely to be a one year and final plan with a budget of around £130,000, with the same vision, themes and priorities with a tapering of activity to reflect this final year.