Pride in Place is a long-term commitment to shift power so that people in some of the most overlooked neighbourhoods can shape real change where they live. Three years ago, 3ni partnered with Local Trust, Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) and Shared Intelligence to conduct research on what a neighbourhood programme of a similar vein – long term, resident-led – could deliver in communities.
Everybody Needs Good Neighbourhoods shows that communities mobilised, supported and resourced to work locally have lower levels of crime, fewer empty homes, a better neighbourhood environment, and show evidence of strong local relationships between neighbours, friends and acquaintances. A sequel published last year, with a larger counter-factual group, built on that initial research to show that neighbourhood-based initiatives have strong positive impacts on socioeconomic and community safety outcomes in deprived areas, with better outcomes compared to neighbourhoods which didn’t benefit from hyper-local organisations rooted in the local community.
Research outcomes from Everybody Needs Good Neighbourhoods 2 (2025).
Along with those findings, these earlier works left us with a list of dozens of places where neighbourhood initiatives have existed in some shape or form over the past decade. Knowing that Pride in Place funding would be going to some of these areas prompted us to ask: to what extent is Pride in Place building on previous neighbourhood initiatives where they exist?
This short and very timely report provides an answer to that question in the form of a deep dive into four case study areas: Matson and Robinswood; Walcot East; Britwell; and Weston Bournville. Carried out in the form of in-depth interviews with community organisations, practitioners, elected officials and council representatives at the heart of delivering Pride in Place in these areas, the research fleshes out the scale and type of neighbourhood activity that already exists in each place, and how it is being integrated into the work of the local Pride in Place Board.
It closes with key learning distilled from the experiences of these areas to date, particularly on how existing community activities and organisations can be harnessed to deliver the deep, meaningful community engagement needed for the programme to be a success.
“These snapshots from Summer 2026 highlight the importance of social infrastructure: community-building skills, trusted relationships, organisations that can handle assets. While Pride in Place is needed most where these are lacking, without them progress is slower and harder.”
Ben Lee, Director, Shared Intelligence
“It’s so important to Gloucester City Council and the success of this project that the community are able to take ownership and it’s not seen as a council scheme”
Ruth Saunders, Corporate Director – Communities, Gloucester City Council
“Whilst a small sample size, this early research demonstrates how important sustained community engagement and capacity building is to the Pride in Place programme. Local authorities have a key role to play in supporting residents to overcome the ‘catch-22’ of double deprivation, and developing the local social infrastructure that can underpin sustainable community wealth.”
Dan Crowe, Director, 3ni
You can read the whole report here.
Cover photo: Community Winter Fair in Edmonton Green
Photographer: Zute Lightfoot