Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES)
CLES is the leading national organization dedicated to local economies. Established in 1986 and headquartered in Manchester, CLES is a charitable organization committed to shaping a future where local economies serve the best interests of people, places, and the planet. With a renowned reputation for pioneering work in community wealth building, CLES is considered the steward of this movement in the UK.
Areas of work
CLES partners with organisations to develop bespoke solutions to deliver local economic change. These can include:
- Independent economic and social research
- Strategy development and action planning
- Developing and delivering community wealth-building
- Evaluations
- Best practice advice, networking and facilitation
- Movement building and advocacy
Doing this work allows CLES to advocate for change in national policy debates.
Contact details
Email – [email protected]
Telephone – 07809 387 695.
Involve
Involve is the UK’s leading public participation charity. They develop, support and campaign for new ways to involve people in decisions that affect their lives.
Since 2003, Involve has been working with governments, parliaments, civil society, academics and the public to create and deliver new forms of public participation that re-vitalise democracy and improve decision-making.
Areas of work
- Making the case – demonstrating why participation and deliberation are essential features for a healthy modern democracy, and ensuring that those in positions of power and influence understand and support their use in addressing some of the UK’s most intractable issues. Check out our latest thinking.
- Embedding change – building the capacity of public servants and practitioners, and developing the body of evidence, principles and standards that support participatory and deliberative practice. Check out our resources.
- Pioneering practice – encouraging widespread uptake of participatory and deliberative processes, and promoting continuous learning and innovation to improve democracy and deliver lasting solutions in key policy areas. Check out our practical projects.
Contact details
Telephone – (0) 20 3745 4334
Email – [email protected]
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF)
The JRF are an independent social change organisation, working to support and speed up the transition to a more equitable and just future, free from poverty, where people and planet can flourish.
Areas of work
The JRF’s work comes under three main themes:
- Work and family
- Community and place
- Changing society
Contact details
Email – https://www.jrf.org.uk/contact-us
Telephone – 01904 629 241
Local Trust
Local Trust was established in 2012 to deliver Big Local, a National Lottery Community Fund-funded programme which committed £1m each to 150 neighbourhoods across England. The £217m originally provided by The National Lottery Community Fund to support this programme is the largest single-purpose Lottery-funded endowment ever made, and the biggest ever investment by a non-state funder in place-based, resident-led change.
Areas of work
Local Trust aims are to demonstrate the value of long term, unconditional, resident-led funding through our work supporting local communities make their areas better places to live, and to draw on the learning from their work to promote a wider transformation in the way policy makers, funders and others engage with communities and place.
In practice, they are:
- Supporting Big Local partnerships to achieve their ambitions
- Delivering and commissioning great research, evaluation, analysis and storytelling from Big Local, and using this to influence and inform policy and practice nationally and locally
- Developing new ways to achieve a transformation in the way policy makers, funders and others engage with communities and place.
Contact details
Email – [email protected]
Telephone – 020 3588 0565
Power to Change
Power to Change is an independent charitable trust, established in 2015 with a £150 million endowment from The National Lottery Community Fund. Its aim is to accelerate the growth and impact of community business in England, through growing the sector, transforming places and making the case for investment in the community business sector.
Areas of work
Power to Change aims to:
- Connect community businesses to support, resources and ideas to improve resilience and impact.
- Support community business innovation.
- Improve understanding of what community businesses need and can provide.
- Advocate for more community ownership and greater community power.
Contact details
Email – [email protected]
Telephone – 0203 857 7270
Young Foundation
The Young Foundation is a not-for-profit research organisation, working with communities, organisations and policymakers.
They support locally-led action, building knowledge around the issues people tell us they care about. They work collaboratively to improve lives and address shared challenges, driving social change for stronger communities and a fairer future.
Areas of work
The Young Foundation remains open about which economic, societal and environmental issues we work on. This gives them the agility to respond to need and circumstance, and to drive participation and innovation across complex, interlocking challenges. There are some issues which they will prioritise in their partnership work, which include:
- The planet – achieving net zero by 2050 requires the participation of all UK households, accelerated by policies and support for a socially just transition.
- Place – the motivation to participate in social, civic and political change is stronger when connected to ‘place’ and a sustainable future is likely to be a more localised future.
- Prospects – collective societal change will be greater if we centre the capabilities and experiences of ‘less heard’ voices – and support younger people, particularly in amplifying their democratic voice and political participation.
Contact details
Email – [email protected]
Telephone: 020 8980 6263
The Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP)
The WCPP collaborates with leading policy experts to provide ministers, the civil service and public services with high-quality evidence and independent advice that helps them to improve policy decisions and implementation outcomes.
Areas of work
Areas of work include:
- Promoting Equality
- Loneliness and Connected Communities
- Children and Families
- Economy, Decarbonisation and Skills
- Health and Social Care
- Governance and Implementation
Contact
Email – [email protected]
Telephone – 02920 875345
