The Heseltine Institute carried out an evaluation of two roles funded by L30’s Million Big Local partnership: a Community Builder and a Health and Wellbeing Connector. In asset-based community development (ABCD) terms, both are connectors: neighbourhood-based practitioners who help build thriving communities through the 3Cs of connectorship – capacity, connectivity and commonality.
The evaluation found that the connectors have effectively strengthened local networks and community participation, creating ripple effects as residents themselves become new connectors. The success of these roles has depended on being embedded in the community, guided by ABCD principles, supported by flexible, long-term funding, and operating with local autonomy.
An embedded researcher from the Heseltine Institute spent time with the partnership and the connectors in their day-to-day roles. The evaluation drew on data from observations, interviews and workshops, employing techniques of appreciative inquiry and ripple effects mapping.
L30’s Million
Big Local has been a programme funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and administered by Local Trust, through which 150 communities across England each received grants of at least £1 million over 10 years or more to enable them to create lasting change in their neighbourhoods. As well as being long-term, Big Local aimed to be resident-led, non-prescriptive, responsive and flexible.
The L30’s Million Big Local partnership was awarded funding in 2014. It has been run by volunteers who live and work in Netherton, an area of Sefton that is located on the outskirts of the Liverpool urban area. As well as the connector roles, it has invested in local community assets and funded numerous activities.
Asset-based community development
An ABCD approach mobilises people and organisations to come together to realise and develop their strengths, in contrast to a deficit-based approach that focuses on identifying and servicing needs. Over time, L30’s Million developed an ABCD ethos drawing on resources including the work of Cormac Russell and John McKnight, who use the term connectorship as ‘the context in which active citizenship can emerge’. The L30’s Million vision has been for Netherton to be ‘a safe, clean environment, full of active citizens making decisions together and controlling their own assets’.
Health and wellbeing
The connector roles were developed in the context of the Covid pandemic, when L30’s Million provided vital funding for L30 Community Centre to be able to keep its services running and to support community members struggling with illness, job loss and isolation. The evaluation showed the ongoing effectiveness of neighbourhood-led, community-powered health approaches in strengthening both individual wellbeing and collective resilience. The connectorship model aligns with priorities in the NHS 10-year Plan: prevention, community-based care, and reducing health inequalities.
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