Beyond the plan
Community-led delivery and legacy
Pride in Place does not finish when a plan is signed off. Boards are expected to work towards community-led delivery — building the organisations, ownership and partnerships that can sustain change long after the funding ends.
This is general guidance to help a Board have a better conversation. It is not legal, financial or tax advice. Take proper professional advice before incorporating an organisation, issuing community shares or taking on an asset.
Four tracks
What building a legacy actually involves
Most Boards make progress on one track and forget the others. Ten years is long enough to do all four — but only if you start early.
Build the institution
- Choose or grow an anchor organisation that can outlast the Board
- Board capacity: induction, training, expenses and realistic time asks
- Succession planning — assume every role changes twice in ten years
- Partnership governance with the accountable body written down
Own the assets
- Map buildings, land and spaces that could transfer into community hands
- Community asset transfer: condition surveys, liabilities and running costs
- Community ownership through shares or a community benefit society
- Plan maintenance and sinking funds before you take anything on
Sustain the money
- Sustainable revenue: trading, lettings, services and contracts
- Philanthropy and place-based funders
- Social investment, and when borrowing is and is not sensible
- Employing staff: payroll, HR, insurance and real overheads
Shift the power
- Participatory budgeting for part of the pipeline
- Resident-led commissioning and community panels
- Youth and under-represented group involvement in decisions
- Publish decisions and reasons so influence is visible
Structures
Choosing a delivery vehicle
There is no single right answer. The question is what you need it to do: hold assets, trade, employ people, raise investment, or give residents formal control.
| Structure | Best for | Ownership and control | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Interest Company (CIC) | Trading activity with a community purpose and a fairly simple set-up. | Asset lock; directors run it. Can pay staff and generate income. | Limited access to some grant funders and no charitable tax reliefs. |
| Charity or CIO | Grant-funded services, donations and long-term public benefit work. | Trustees hold assets on trust for the charitable purpose. | Trustee duties are real duties; trading is restricted. |
| Community Benefit Society | Community share issues and community ownership of buildings or land. | Members one-member-one-vote, statutory asset lock available. | Share offers need care and usually professional advice. |
| Co-operative | Member-run services where the users or workers are the owners. | Members democratically control the organisation. | Needs an active, committed membership to stay viable. |
| Partnership or hosted arrangement | Early stages, where an existing anchor holds funds and employs staff. | The host organisation holds legal responsibility. | Agree exit, IP and asset arrangements in writing from day one. |
Where to start
A sensible first year of legacy work
You do not need a new organisation in year one. You need to know which anchor could carry this, and what it would take.
- 1
Map the anchor organisations you already have and their real capacity.
- 2
Identify one or two assets that could plausibly move into community hands.
- 3
Agree with the accountable body what decisions can transfer, and when.