Platform Places

✨ 🏘 5 neighbourhoods in Bristol, Liverpool City Region, London, Newcastle & Sheffield have joined a new pilot programme of Local Property Partnerships! 🌆 🏫 We're delighted to share that @tnlcommunityfund has supported Platform Places & partners with almost £2.5 million over three years. The funding will be used to enable communities to come together and secure long-term spaces for the activities and services that they need the most. In each neighbourhood, local leaders will work together with their partners and communities to transform town centre buildings for local benefit. This programme is being supported by national partners @archhfund , @_powertochange & @thesocialinvest . 👉 Swipe to meet the Partnerships! 👉 Read the full press release ➡️ platformplaces.com/news #LocalPropertyPartnerships #PlatformPlaces #CommunityPower #UKHighStreets #TownCentreProperty #Placemaking

🏚️ The town centre property system isn’t working. But solutions exist. Through the power of local partnerships, we can do things differently. 🔑 and YOU hold the key! Join #PlatformPlaces as a council, asset owner or community leader: platformplaces.com

🤔 What’s a ‘Local Property Partnership’? → A tried-and-tested model where councils, asset owners & community leaders work together → …to make great things happen on your high streets. → #PlatformPlaces connects & supports you with access to funding, technical expertise and networks → …unlocking 1, then 10, then 50 buildings for community use or ownership Nominate your town or city for the next cohort: platformplaces.com/local-property-partnerships . . . #UKhighstreets #towncentreproperty #communities #vacancy #citycouncil

💡 What if, by 2035, one in three high street buildings were in community hands - owned or stewarded by local people? 💡What if every neighbourhood had its own #LocalPropertyPartnership — a cross-sector group transforming neighbourhoods, with community leaders in the driving seat, not just at the table? 💡What if philanthropy and government came together to unlock billions of pounds – and powers – for community-led neighbourhood transformation? We’d see... ➡️ Cultures and spaces of care and mutual aid 🎨 🍲 ➡️ Ecosystems of community businesses flourishing, meeting local needs, creating meaningful work and inspiring civic pride and generosity – like @future_yard , @bristoltrinity , @wolveslanecentre and many more today 🏘️ 🏛️ ➡️ Climate-resilient neighbourhoods, with rewilding green and blue spaces, retrofitted neighbourhoods and community response hubs, as envisioned in @civic_square 's and @darkmatter_labs 3°C Neighbourhood work So what's stopping us? What will it take from funders, government and asset owners to get there? Read Rebecca Trevalyan's essay for #PowerToChange10 via the link in bio! @_Powertochange *** 📸 Sarah Furniss Photography | Wandsworth Town Property Partnership Dinner at Home Community Cafe

📍 18 months in: Peer power, national networks, community-led high street partnerships 🏘️ In April, midway through the pilot programme, the Local Property Partnerships came together for their annual gathering of restoration and inspiration. 2 days were spent at the beautiful @hawkwood_cft to share learning, ideas and mutual support 💚 This meant workshops on comms and social investment, forest bathing, sound healing, fireside singing and collective collaging, watching a special screening of Power Station and being nourished by seasonal, organic, locally-sourced food… …followed by a morning in Bristol, visiting and learning from: ➡️ @bristoltrinity – a former Georgian church transformed into a creative, cultural and arts venue. We heard from CEO Emma Harvey (part of #MycelialNetworkCADs) and her colleagues about the journey to save this treasured community space for future generations, and their recent work securing and reimagining the historic Jacob Wells Baths (dormant since 2018) via a Community Asset Transfer from Bristol City Council. ➡️ @stokescroftlandtrust – created to resist gentrification and nurture Stoke Croft’s vibrant, artistic soul, and @peoplesrepublicofstokescroft which runs community spaces for art, workshops, music, support for homelessness, with a China shop to boot (@stokescroftchina )! These form part of a constellation of community asset initiatives in Bristol, like @artspaceuk , @bricksbristol , @windmill_hill_city_farm , Southmead Development Trust, @wecanmakehomes and many more. And the movement spans the country... ...including the 5 #LocalPropertyPartnerships who are working to shift multiple buildings into community use and ownership in neighbourhoods in Sheffield, Bristol, London, Newcastle and Liverpool City Region, while openly sharing their learnings (funded by @tnlcommunityfund ). BIG thanks to all the hosts, supporters & facilitators, incl. @fungi.futures & @riekowhitfield 📸 Top image in slide #2 by Shamphat Productions. All others by Platform Places / @footworktrust / Emma Rushton. #LocalPropertyPartnerships #NationalLottery @brightboxmakerspace , @bigriverne , @kindred_lcr

🏘️🎭🥬🎨 Come paint a mural, watch an opera, join in community gardening & hear about Wandsworth Town Property Partnership's work transforming local buildings for community benefit! 🗓️ 20th June | Expect a creative, welcoming gathering, hosted by WTPP as part of the official @londonfestivalofarchitecture , at the historic Chapel Yard (home to the National Opera Studio). Whether you're a local resident or a practitioner in regeneration/placemaking from further afield, you're invited! 🎟️ /event/belonging-in-practice [link also in bio] ✨ With thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund & #NationalLottery players for funding the pilot programme of #LocalPropertyPartnerships ✨ #CommunityAssets #WandsworthTownPropertyPartnership #BelongingInPractice @shizaaaaaa #NationalLottery @wandsworth_council @tnlcommunityfund

#TuesdayTips: How to connect with the building owner💡 Have you found the perfect space for your community-led business or project & discovered who owns it? Sometimes tracking them down and arranging a viewing isn’t a challenge (some landlords with underutilised buildings are happy to meet) but other times, asset owners are absent, uncontactable or land-banking – a tricky hurdle. 1. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 & 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐬 🤝 This is where you need partnerships with those who have connections & power to bring key stakeholders around the table, and open up conversations about tackling the vacancy crisis and revitalising high streets. 2. 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 🗺️ Chat to local business people and tradespeople and on local forums. They may hold direct relationships with the same landlord or heard useful rumours about them and their plans for the building. Or they might know about other suitable buildings. In Hillsborough, Linda Bloomfield of @rivelinco put letters through every door on her high street, until one landlord who didn’t know what to do with their vacant property contacted her. They then agreed a deal that worked for them both! 3. 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥📓 Get clear on what you need from a space and what you can offer. How will your idea generate vibrancy and footfall? Write it down in a simple two-page proposal attached to a short email — a teaser to get the landlord to a conversation. 4. 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 🧠 To best engage with councils, agents and asset owners, you need to understand the inner workings of their business, their interests and the language (or jargon) they use. Mentors can help with this, as well as trying to do meetings as coffee chats and conversations over dinner, to better understand where each party is coming from. Read more (including templates, jargon-buster & examples) in our online resource, co-created with the #PlatformPlaces network 👉 /news/how-to-secure-a-building-tactics-for-community-assets (link in bio) #CommunityAssets #TownCentreProperty #CommunitySpaces

What's the vision of community businesses in the North East for their high streets? What's community-led action on the ground already demonstrating? 🏙️ 🛍️ The High Streets Commission launched by north_eastkim and @northeast_ca brings together community businesses, socially trading organisations (STOs) with the Mayor and institutions from across the region. One of those community businesses is @bigriverne – which leads one of the #LocalPropertyPartnerships in our pilot programme funded by @tnlcommunityfund . Big River Bakery is working with local partners to transform high street buildings in Byker and surrounding areas for long-term community benefit – creating a network of interconnected high street spaces for food, arts and start-up organisations 🎨🥯🏘️ Read more about the Commission from Power to Change: .uk/evidence-and-ideas/news-and-events/reimagining-high-streets-in-the-north-east/ #NationalLottery #LocalPropertyPartnerships #UKHighStreets #CommunityHighStreets #TownCentreProperty #BigRiverBakery 📸 Big River Bakery (Recent Commission meet at Re-fuse community cafe and on high street in Chester le Street)

📢 𝐇𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 📢 Local people have a new power to buy the buildings and spaces that matter to them — pubs, libraries, pools, social clubs and more — when they've been registered as Assets of Community Value 🏘️ The 'Right to Buy' replaces the previous 'Right to Bid', and means: 🔹 Community groups have first right of refusal when the asset is put up for sale. 🔹A moratorium of 12 months (rather than 6) gives groups more time to raise funds and complete a purchase. There will be key obstacles in practice (e.g. fundraising and capacity) and we still advocate for dialogue and collaboration between asset owners and communities wherever possible 🌱 But this is another tool in the box for local people with amazing ideas for local spaces that help us live affordable, sustainably and together. We'll share a practical guide soon, created with @make.cic 🛠️ A big shout-out to the fantastic organisations and individuals who have campaigned for this, as well as those on the ground demonstrating the magic that happens when local spaces are in local people's hands ✨

We're excited to see the UK Government recognising the power of partnerships to unlock high street buildings for amazing local ideas 🏘️ ✨ 🤝 Their new £301M ‘High Street Innovation Partnerships’ (full details & places TBC) echoes the focus of #LocalPropertyPartnerships: ➡️ communities transforming local spaces at scale, to meet local needs ➡️ ...while being supported & enabled by local partners, including councils, local businesses, private developers It’s an approach inspired & developed by so many in the Platform Places network & beyond (@HastingsCommons , @Stour_Trust , @SafeRegen , @CIVIC_SQUARE , @NudgeCommunity , @MakespaceOxfordshire and more). It’s at the core of our 3-year pilot programme, supported by £2.5M from @tnlcommunityfund . On the pilot, community leaders in Bristol, Liverpool City Region, London, Newcastle & Sheffield are working to acquire, activate & steward buildings to help tackle vacancies, improve social infrastructure & meet local needs – whether arts, food, skills training, sharing libraries, or social & climate justice hubs 🌱 🎨 🛠️ We hope to see more groundwork laid for England-wide adoption of this approach, with investment matching the scale of ambition & needs of community leaders. We also hope the Gov' will embed learnings from the #LocalPropertyPartnerships pilots, @_powertochange 's ‘High Street Innovators’, @archhfund 's ‘Heritage Development Trust’ model, @thesocialinvest 's vast experience in community organisation funding & investment, @Footworktrust ’s ‘People and Place’ programme & the legacy of the #HighStreetsTaskForce. As community power on the high street gets more policy traction (see also the Green Party's recent announcement), it’s key to build on what’s happening on the ground. @brightboxmakerspace , @make.cic , @artspaceuk #UKGov #CommunitySpaces #CommunityHighStreets #UKHighStreets #TownCentreProperty #NationalLottery #LocalPropertyPartnerships

Bedminster Works CIC is working at pace to safeguard a local heritage asset and create a cultural cornerstone for Bedminster. Are you a music / arts / cultural organisation that wants to play a part? Are you a local community organisation or social enterprise looking for an iconic home? Do you know an organisation that aligns with the vision and can support an acquisition? Reach out now ✉️ Visit bedminsterworks.co.uk and click 'Get in touch' in the top right 🏘️ #BedminsterWorks is one of five #LocalPropertyPartnerships in our pilot programme funded by @tnlcommunityfund 🏘️ --- #Bristol #Bedminster #SouthBristol #MusicVenues @musicvenuetrust #CommunityAssets #FiddlersBristol

What makes for a good building? 🏘️ 🏛️ We get asked this a lot by community leaders who: 🔸 need affordable space for their business or project 🔸 want to make that space a long-term community asset 🔸 want to see multiple local buildings transformed for local benefit 🔸 haven't yet identified a target property So what should you be looking for? 💡 Whether you want to unlock 1 building or transform your high street with 5, then 10, then 20, the first space is critical. We call this the 'catalyst' — a strategically-chosen building that acts as a proof-of-concept. It will demonstrate the success of community use or ownership and inspire more ideas and action across your neighbourhood 💫 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫? 🔸Size 🔸Location (who are you serving, are you near where they live or where they spend time?) 🔸Condition (if you’re looking for permanent use, you can bite the bullet and raise the funds for remedial works unlike a 3-month meanwhile lease) 🔸Features (do you need outdoor space, windows, ground floor access, a kitchen, parking, storage?) 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 ‘𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐭’ 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠? 🔸Sufficient floor space (200sqm+ = more viable if you are wanting to start a mixed use community hub) 🔸Key location: corner buildings, good visibility and/or footfall, or located near existing ‘anchors’ that drive footfall e.g. supermarket, pharmacy 🔸State of property and viability – you might not want to start with a Grade I* listed building, for example, without being prepared for the work and fundraising needed 🔸Of community value, i.e. to be able to tell heritage/local stories (these make for good firepower for a campaign) ⚠️ 𝐁𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 ⚠️ It's rarely straightforward to find a permanent space straight away. You may need time to build up your connections, skills and reputation in a ‘meanwhile’ space to start with. 🔗 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 & 𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 🔗 Go to 'Resources' at platformplaces.com #CommunityAssets #UKHighStreets #TownCentreProperty #LocalPropertyPartnerships #CommunitySpaces