Lessons from The Summerfield Community Chest: Neighbourhood Connectors

Introduction 

Between 2023 and 2026, Gloucestershire VCSE Alliance and The Summerfield Charitable Trust partnered on an innovative investment strategy designed to bring grant-making decisions closer to the communities they serve. This blog is part of a series exploring what has been learned along the way and highlighting some of the exciting projects being supported through this approach. 

One such initiative is the development of a network of Neighbourhood Connectors working across Gloucester, Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and the Forest of Dean. Building on Gloucestershire’s Family Hubs model, the programme focuses on strengthening the community capacity that surrounds the hubs, helping to ensure that early-years support is visible, inclusive and accessible, especially for families who may be socially or geographically isolated. 

Building Community Capacity 

Neighbourhood Connectors work alongside residents, community groups and familiar community spaces like leisure centres, cafés and community hubs. Their role is to recognise and build on the strengths already present in communities, identify emerging ideas and concerns, and support people to come together to shape activities and influence matters that are important to them. 

By fostering collaboration and encouraging local leadership, Connectors help create environments where community-led solutions can grow and thrive. 

Listening to young people 

Tracy Turner, Neighbourhood Connector based at The Venture Community Hub in Coney Hill, offers a powerful example of how this approach works in practice. 

By carrying out regular outreach alongside a youth worker from The Venture, Tracy built relationships with young people through informal conversations. These conversations turned to the closure of Kingsway BMX Pump Track in March 2026, after holes dug beneath the riding surface made it unsafe to use. 

Adults may have viewed this as a case of vandalism. However, discussions with young people revealed a different perspective. They explained that changes to the track had been attempts to create bigger and more challenging jumps, reflecting frustration with the limitations of the existing track rather than a desire to damage it. 

Recognising the importance of giving young people a voice, Tracy arranged for partners from Gloucester City Council and Quedgeley Town Council to visit the site and speak directly with those who used it. Although she worried that few would attend, around 40–50 young people turned up to take part in the consultation. 

Together, they generated 68 suggestions, including larger jumps, improved maintenance, safer layouts, lighting and places to sit and socialise. Their contributions demonstrated a strong sense of ownership and a genuine desire to improve the space. 

When the City Council responded quickly by cutting the overgrown grass around the track, it sent an important message to those who had participated: their voices had been heard. This small but visible action helped to strengthen trust and encourage further engagement. 

As conversations continued, it became clear that the issue extended beyond the BMX track itself. For many young people, bikes represented independence, friendships, practical skills and opportunities. From these discussions emerged the idea of a Community Bike Project, which would refurbish and repair bikes, enable young people to develop practical skills and strengthen community connections. Initial practical steps to develop the project have now begun. 

While much work remains to improve the BMX track and bring the Community Bike Project to life, the experience demonstrates what can happen when young people are treated as partners rather than problems. 

Community Chests 

To support their role in building community capacity, each Neighbourhood Connector has access to a Community Chest, providing flexible funding for ideas and initiatives developed by local families and communities. 

Work is currently underway to co-design how these chests will operate, ensuring that they are accessible, responsive and aligned with local priorities. 

Supporting the Programme 

The programme is coordinated by Gloucestershire Gateway Trust, which initiated the project and provides oversight at no cost, ensuring that the full value of funding is directed towards Family Hubs and frontline delivery. 

All Neighbourhood Connectors have participated in a training programme focused on strengths-based approaches to community development. This has been complemented by one-to-one mentoring to support the application of learning in practice, alongside regular peer learning sessions that encourage reflection, collaboration and the sharing of ideas. 

Over the coming months, participants will be working with Professor Mary Brydon-Miller from the University of Louisville, an internationally recognised leader in participatory action research, to co-design an evaluation approach. This will ensure that learning from the programme is captured in a way that reflects the voices and experiences of the communities involved. 

The development of the Neighbourhood Connector roles highlights the value of investing not only in services, but also in relationships, local leadership and community capacity. By creating space for residents to shape solutions and by providing flexible resources to support their ideas, the programme is helping to build stronger and more connected communities across Gloucestershire.