What is Big Local and how did Big Local North Cleethorpes come about?
Through the Big Local programme, 150 areas of the UK each received just over £1million in invest in their local area through a resident led work programme. One of these areas was North Cleethorpes.
The funding originated from the National Lottery Fund (Big Lottery) way back in 2010, and in 2012 a new organisation – Local Trust – was established to support the newly created “Big Local” programme across the whole UK.
VANEL and local partners successfully applied via Local Trust to become a Big Local area and the first steps getting the local programme up and running began in early 2013. After early consultations, “Big Local North Cleethorpes” was established and continued through to January 2025 when the programme came to an end.
Each Big Local has a specified geographical area where a need to improve the local area could be clearly defined. In the case of North Cleethorpes our area was away from the more ‘touristy’ Cleethorpes areas and included large parts of the Croft Baker and Sidney Sussex wards. (See more on our maps page)
A “Big Local” is a constituted group with a partnership committee largely populated by local residents with an interest in and a connection to the area.
Every Big Local also partners with an LTO – a Locally Trusted Organisation. The LTO is a more formally established charity or organisation which has been vetted by Local Trust and can legally hold the money on behalf of the Big Local area. The LTO can also purchase assets, enter into contracts, employ staff and generally support the resident led Big Local committee by providing the more formal, legal and financial activities on behalf of the partnership committee. The LTO for Big Local North Cleethorpes has been VANEL (Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire) throughout the entire life of the programme – 2012 through to 2025.
The Big Local partnership committee has to go through a regular process to create a “Plan” which sets out what the Big Local area wants to do over a period of several years. Each plan is reviewed and approved by Local Trust who releases funds against the plan in set stages – perhaps every year or six months, and the funds are provided to the LTO who then spends the money by following the wishes and projects as directed by the committee.
The very first Big Local North Cleethorpes plan started in 2014 and our very final plan ended in January 2025. Each plan is created collectively by residents, the committee, local partners and with the support of a Local Trust Representative and aims to set out a collection of projects, initiatives or ideas that can help develop the local area.
The overall national Big Local programme set out some very broad objectives which, along with the long-term thinking for the programme, allowed local resident committees a lot of flexibility in deciding what local people and local communities needed.
Those wider objectives were:
- communities will be better able to identify local needs and take action in response to them
- people will have increased skills and confidence, so that they continue to identify and respond to needs in the future
- the community will make a difference to the needs it prioritises
- people will feel that their area is an even better place to live
The Big Local North Cleethopes plan followed these objectives and focused down into various themes and local goals through each plan. The partnership committee met regularly throughout the ten years of the programme – sometimes monthly, but often weekly in the early years. Residents were encouraged throughout the life of Big Local to connect to the partnership and the plans to ensure their voice was heard and they could contribute.
One of the earliest decisions of the North Cleethorpes partnership was to fund a part-time Development Worker to support the committee and to put agreed workplans and actions in place. Providing Development Worker support throughout the life of the programme helped ensure follow through on even the smallest idea or initiative and was a large contributor to the local success of the project.
Once Big Local North Cleethorpes was established, there were a range of initial projects and approaches that were agreed upon and ran throughout the whole life of the programme. In summary these were:
Refurbishing and relaunching the Pavilion building on Sidney Sussex Recreation Ground – our very first major project
Working to clean up North Beach
Investigating ways to develop Chapmans Pond for the community
Investigating ways to improve local housing
Supporting and encouraging local charities, voluntary groups, social enterprises and other local organisations with their own local projects for the benefit of the community and often through funding provided via Big Local North Cleethorpes
Developing a community space or hub within North Cleethorpes
Working on projects and initiatives aligned to a number of identified thematic areas, namely:
The Environment
Young people and families
Older people
Community Safety
Arts, leisure, culture and heritage
Work in partnership with local agencies and businesses for the improvement of North Cleethorpes.
Additional information
Local Trust – the national Big Local organisation
National Lottery Community Fund – the funder of the programme
Planning for Real – a tool used to get Big Local started
VANEL is the Locally Trusted Organisation (LTO)
