Moving Beyond Promises
For more than two decades, we’ve heard promises to tackle poverty, improve health, build stronger communities, and create fairer opportunities. Yet, despite all the strategies and speeches, too many people are still struggling. Millions of children grow up in poverty. Food insecurity is rising. Housing remains insecure. Loneliness has become a silent public health crisis.
I’ve spent years in the NHS, local authorities, and the voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector, and I see the gap between policy and lived experience every day. National plans are often well-intentioned but designed from a distance. They overlook the truth that lasting change only happens when communities themselves are at the heart of solutions.
At Communities 1st, we see the power of people coming together. When local voices shape priorities, when we’re treated as genuine partners rather than passive recipients, communities transform. But without sustainable investment, infrastructure, and respect for local expertise, we’ll continue to see promises made from the top while delivery struggles at the grassroots.
Breaking the Cycle: Poverty, Equity and Opportunity
Behind every statistic is a story. A parent juggling two jobs and still visiting a foodbank. A care worker skipping meals to keep their children fed. A volunteer quietly admitting they can’t afford to heat their home. These are not exceptions; they are the realities of too many households.
Despite decades of policy pledges, poverty is entrenched. It shapes education, health, housing, and employment. Yet, we continue to treat these challenges in silos - tackling food insecurity separately from housing, housing separately from skills, skills separately from health. But communities don’t live in silos. Every challenge overlaps. Every solution must connect.
This is why equity matters. Equality treats everyone the same; equity recognises where disadvantage runs deepest and invests accordingly. The VCFSE sector is closest to these realities. We see where gaps exist, understand the stories behind the statistics, and co-design solutions with those most affected. That makes us essential partners in any serious attempt to break cycles of disadvantage.
Housing, Health and Belonging
A safe, secure home should be a foundation, yet for many it’s out of reach. Government plans to deliver 1.5 million homes by 2029 are ambitious, but they risk missing the bigger picture. Housing isn’t just about bricks and mortar; it’s about connection, identity, and belonging.
Where you live shapes your health, your access to education, your employment prospects, and your wellbeing. Overcrowded homes fuel poor health. Insecure housing affects mental health and deepens loneliness. But when housing is co-designed with local residents, we see something different emerge: spaces that foster pride, reduce isolation, and create environments where people thrive.
This is where the VCFSE sector can help bridge the gap. By bringing residents, local authorities, and developers together, we ensure communities are built with people, not imposed upon them. But to do this well, we need investment in local infrastructure, not just targets from Westminster.
Food, Health and Dignity
Food connects everything: our health, our environment, our economy, and our sense of community. Yet food insecurity has worsened, forcing families to make impossible choices. National food strategies talk about sustainability and nutrition, but families tell us they just need affordable, healthy food on the table today.
Across the UK, innovative pilots are exploring new ways to tackle food insecurity and rebuild dignity - from community-designed ‘public restaurants’ to social eating hubs that bring people together around affordable, healthy meals. These aren’t foodbanks; they are spaces where connection is as important as nutrition.
Imagine a future where these models scale - where local organisations, supported with fair funding, create food networks designed with and for their communities. With the right investment, the VCFSE sector can lead this transformation, turning food from a source of stress into a driver of health, connection, and opportunity.
Tackling Loneliness Through Connection
Loneliness is as damaging to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, yet it remains treated as secondary in health policy. It’s not just an issue for older adults; it affects young parents, teenagers, carers, and anyone disconnected from support networks.
When we design housing, food systems, and services without considering social connection, we fail to address the root causes of poor health and isolation. But when we create spaces where people naturally come together - Better Days Hubs, Creative Cafes, volunteer-led projects - we foster resilience and belonging.
Communities 1st has seen how even small interventions can spark big change. A chance to meet, talk, and create together can transform lives. That’s why investing in social infrastructure - the networks, places, and relationships that keep us connected - is as vital as investing in roads or hospitals.
Skills, Work and Inclusive Growth
Employment underpins so much: financial security, mental health, and self-worth. Yet over eight million working-age people live with long-term conditions that limit their ability to work. One-size-fits-all employment policies overlook these realities and risk leaving people behind.
This is where VCFSE organisations shine. By working alongside individuals, we help people build confidence, develop skills, and find pathways into work that suit their circumstances. Volunteering often acts as a stepping stone, providing purpose and connection before employment. Skills programmes designed locally respond better to real needs than centrally imposed schemes ever could.
Inclusive growth demands more than economic targets. It means ensuring everyone has a fair chance to contribute, thrive, and feel valued - something the VCFSE sector is uniquely placed to deliver if supported properly.
Sustainability and Resilience: Communities Leading Change
We face urgent environmental challenges. The UK produces millions of tonnes of waste each year and consumes resources at unsustainable rates. Yet the solutions are deeply local.
At the same time, our current systems are fragmented and frustrating. Kerbside recycling is inconsistent between areas, with some households managing up to six different bins and others lacking basic provision. Much of what could be recycled - like soft plastics or cartons - has to be taken to supermarkets, many of which don’t have the facilities to receive it. For residents, this creates confusion and, too often, disengagement.
This is where communities can lead the way. Repair hubs, sharing networks, and community-led recycling schemes are more than just green projects; they are catalysts for innovation, connection, and skills. By empowering local groups to take ownership of solutions, we can build systems that work for people, not against them.
With the right investment and infrastructure, the VCFSE sector can accelerate the shift towards a genuine circular economy - one where sustainability isn’t a burden on households but a shared opportunity for healthier, more resilient communities.
From “Done To” to “Done With”
Across housing, food, health, skills, and sustainability, one message is consistent: national strategies fail when communities are treated as passive recipients rather than equal partners. The VCFSE sector connects policy to people. We reach those statutory services can’t. We build trust where systems have failed. We innovate where rigid frameworks cannot.
But our sector is underfunded and undervalued. We’re expected to deliver outcomes without being invited to shape the systems that create them. That has to change.
With the right funding, infrastructure, and respect for local expertise, the VCFSE sector can be a driver of systemic change. We don’t just deliver services; we convene partnerships, amplify unheard voices, and design solutions rooted in the realities of people’s lives.
A New Kind of Leadership
After decades of promises, we need a different approach - one built on collaboration, trust, and shared power. Communities are not problems to be fixed; they are partners in creating solutions. The VCFSE sector is not a delivery arm; it’s an engine for innovation and belonging.
At Communities 1st, we see what’s possible when local voices lead. Volunteers giving their time, grassroots groups solving problems creatively, and partnerships challenging old ways of working - these are signs of hope. But hope alone isn’t enough. We need sustainable investment, bold leadership, and systems that treat communities as co-creators of their future.
Thriving communities are not built by chance. They’re built by listening, connecting, and acting together. With the right partnership between government, business, and the VCFSE sector, we can turn decades of promises into a future where everyone has the chance to belong, contribute, and flourish.
This is not a vision for tomorrow. It’s work we can start today - if we lead differently.
By Stephen Craker, Chief Executive of Communities 1st
