Carrying the Big Local Flame

What would it look like if funders really handed over the pen?

Big Local gave 150 neighbourhoods across England £1 million each – and the complete freedom to choose how to spend it. Residents set the priorities, made the decisions, and led the work themselves. It was one of the most ambitious experiments in community-led funding the UK has ever seen.

The Big Local programme ended in March 2026. Carrying the Big Local Flame aims to continue its legacy, asking whether the principles that made Big Local work – resident leadership, hyper-local focus, real power – can take root in mainstream grant-making.

_{Community centre in Winterton Big Local, credit – Emily Jane Lovell.}

What is the project?

IVAR and Yorkshire Funders have been commissioned by Local Trust to work with seven funders across Yorkshire and The Humber to pilot resident-led, hyper-local grant-making.

Each of the seven funders will design and deliver their own resident-led grant-making process – choosing a specific neighbourhood and distributing funds through a process the residents themselves help shape.

We aren’t arriving at this with a recipe or tried-and-tested approach. This project is about learning as we go.

Which funders are involved?

The funders taking part in the programme are:

Shears Foundation, Sir John Fisher, Leeds Community Foundation, Two Ridings Community Foundation, Yorkshire Sport Foundation/Streetgames, Woodsmith Foundation and York Together.

We have purposely selected a range of funders; spanning coastal, inner city and rural areas. They include community foundations, a family foundation, local infrastructure organisations, a small place-based grant maker, an independent trust and a corporate foundation. All are committed to developing their practice in participatory granting, community decision-making and resident-led grant-making.

Carrying the Big Local Flame

What would it look like if funders really handed over the pen?

What is the project?

Which funders are involved?

Find out more