At a recent visit to one of our Community Micro-Enterprise projects in the North West, Gary Cliffe, who leads Cheshire West Voluntary Action told me frankly that he'd been sceptical of the council bringing Community Catalysts into the area to develop new enterprises, because he couldn’t see what we’d be able to do to increase choices for Direct Payment holders that local VCFSE organisations and infrastructure bodies couldn’t do themselves.

At a recent visit to one of our Community Micro-Enterprise projects in the North West, Gary Cliffe, who leads Cheshire West Voluntary Action told me frankly that he'd been sceptical of the council bri...

There is some great community development work out there which gets alongside people as they start and build new community activities and resources. There is also some great strengths-based coaching and support programmes, and some great strategic transformation projects aiming to embed prevention and neighbourhood working. Perhaps what makes Local Area Coordination (LAC) unique is that it attempts to bring those three things together.

Reflecting on Local Area Coordination Week, Alex Fox, CEO at Community Catalysts, speaks about what makes the approach different and unique from other community based initiatives.

Phil Holmes' powerful first speech as ADASS President at the ADASS Spring Seminar 2026.

How do we build community cohesion — especially at a time when inequality, mistrust, segregation, and the loss of shared spaces are pulling communities apart?   That’s the question a group of Local Ar...

The Neighbourhoods for Living Well event with the UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing brought people together to hear about innovative solutions available to help build strong neighbourhoods wher...

The story of one woman's journey to setting up a Suffolk community micro-enterprise that makes a big difference to people in the local community.

Some (more) personal news: this time it's thankfully not health-related! I'm excited to be joining the Community Catalysts team in mid-March as their new chief executive. I wasn't looking for a new ro...

Alex Fox OBE will take up the role of CEO at Community Catalysts on 16 March 2026. Alex is an experienced leader and innovator.

The government has put a 'neighbourhood health service' at the heart of its vision for the NHS – but what does that actually mean for staff and patients? And how might it be implemented in different c...

Strengths-based practice is needed, and the shift towards it has been significant: there can’t be many councils or social care provider organisations that don’t at least claim their approach is strengths-based. But that shift hasn’t resulted in social care systems which are consistently enabling greater independence and becoming more sustainable. In many areas, reliance on the most restrictive forms of social care for working age adults is increasing, including for young people where care packages involving very high staff ratios are becoming more rather than less common.

Why isn't strengths-based practice working? Strengths-based practice is needed, but that shift hasn’t resulted in social care systems which are consistently enabling greater independence and becoming ...

Nottingham City aims to "set a blueprint for digital-enabled neighbourhood health", says Alexis Farrow, programme director at Digital Notts.