Where would we be without our policy wonks?  I for one would never have managed to hack my way through the thickets of the Localism Bill without Rosie, your guide to all matters governmental.

Here, she shines a light on provisions within the Bill that are particularly relevant to community centres and neighbourhood associations. 


In normal times a Government Bill about planning processes, community groups and local government would have the nation hitting the snooze button. But these are not normal times.

It’s not often that the community sector hits the headlines, but the last six months have been an exception. Starting with the Big Society programme and the local government spending cuts announced in the Autumn, followed by the increasingly bitter fights about the impact those ideas are – or are not – having on the UK’s most vulnerable people, communities are now the issue of the ...

Guest blogger: Brendan Charles

Congratulations once again to Community Matters, for developing another tool that helps organisations like us demonstrate the real value we add to our community.  As if VISIBLE wasn't enough, they come along with another priceless piece of support kit for organisations like ours here in Horndean.

Please note I am not being paid by Community Matters to say this - this is our real experience of a pilot scheme that, in our opinion, should be rolled out across our area of work (and the rest of the country) without delay.

We were thrilled to be adopted as one of the pilot organisations - I personally saw this as a real opportunity to put into a more consolidated and robust form the real outcomes, benefits and impact we make on our community each and every day, to demonstrate that we're a proposition worth investing in. A huge personal thanks from me also go to my board and to our funders - on three levels o...

Guest written by David Tyler, Chief Executive

Welcome to Community Matters new website. I’m really excited about the improvements in the user-friendliness and the quality of the content and I think you will be too. One of the great new resources on the site is the On Line Guidance and Advice section (OLGA). We’ve radically overhauled our information sheets and Reference Manual to give you an expanded and yet more up-to-date set of fact-sheets, briefings and model documents. I think that the model documents will be particularly useful to you and I would like to expand this section of the site as a priority. Please tell us what you think of this resource and how you would like to see it expand. You can leave comments at the bottom of this blog or contact us. We have been talking a lot to our members and other similar organisations over the last few months...

At the end of a very busy and thought-provoking two days it was time for Chief Executive David Tyler to sum up and close the conference.

The message was that while it's ok to the sceptical about the Big Society, it's vital to be prepared.  There are a number of opportunities and challenges to face up to:

Overcome cynicism and prepare for the Big Society.  When community organisers are deployed don't freeze them out, get in touch and make them work for you

Step up income generation including service delivery, and don't forget small components like sub-contracting The BIG Lottery capital fund for community buildings is coming soon Keep trying to persuade local funders to make grants, they can be efficient and effective Don't dismiss the idea of contracting