What we're for
Locality is the national membership network supporting local community organisations to be strong and successful.
Our 2,000 members bring people together in places where everyone belongs, building connections, drawing on local strengths and responding to local needs. In a period of rising division, being clear about what we stand for matters more than ever. Our values guide how we work: we are ambitious, respectful and fearless.
Locality helps our members grow their impact and secure their future, using the community anchor model as a guide. We work with government, funders and local authorities to remove the barriers community organisations face. Through specialist advice, peer learning, resources and campaigns we help every neighbourhood thrive.
What we want to see by 2030:
More strong and successful community organisations, especially in the places facing the greatest disadvantage, owning assets and employing local people.
More neighbourhoods with real power over the buildings, services and investment that shape their futures.
More cohesive, connected places where division and extremism cannot take root and racial justice is part of everyday life.
More community-led solutions to the climate and economic crisis.
More community organisations using technology to reach further and do more.
The community anchor model
The community anchor model is at the heart of our new strategy. Community anchor organisations are locally rooted, independent, multi-purpose organisations that exist to support the long-term wellbeing of their neighbourhood. These organisations are run by and for local people, with deep, trusted relationships that have often been built over decades. They typically combine:
- A strong local identity and presence in the neighbourhood
- Long-term stewardship of buildings or community-owned assets
- A mix of services, activities and enterprises shaped around the needs of local people
- A role convening and coordinating local groups, networks and partnerships
The anchor model is a direction of travel. It describes what is possible when a community organisation has the space, the support and the conditions to fully develop. This is an aspiration we share and enable, not a requirement we impose.
Our five strategic objectives
Make it easier for community organisations at every stage to access the support they need
Deliver expert support that helps community organisations be stronger, more resilient and better connected
Build a national network where community organisations learn, connect and lead together
Change the systems and policies that hold community organisations back
Be a financially resilient, values-driven organisation that earns the right to lead
Become a Locality member today
Join our network of 2,000 local community organisations. It's where peer learning happens, where solidarity is built, and where community organisations get the inspiration and connections they need to keep going.
We're for the doers, the shapers, the people who see a need and step in.
Locality is here to give you advice and tools and the inspiration to make things happen. We link you up you with hundreds of other people like you, to spread ideas and share what works. We help you grow your impact and secure your future. We make sure people outside your community hear about your work, from funders to think tanks, all the way to Whitehall.
Unlock the power in your community with us.
