Community voice sits at the heart of effective community development and it guides every WSA Community project. In our most recent Annual Update we shared examples of projects where we amplified lived experience to enable meaningful change. Four highlights from this report show just how beneficial people’s own experiences can be, whether they’re providing inspiration and guidance, shaping service delivery or helping us understand the impact of a massive global event.
1. Celebrating resident‑led change: Learning from Big Local
WSA Community has been part of the Big Local journey since its launch in 2011. Overseen by Local Trust, the Big Local programme gave grants of just over £1m to 150 communities across England with the aim that residents would creating lasting change in their neighbourhoods. When the initiative approached its close in 2026, we supported a number of Big Local areas as they reflected on and shared the impact of a decade or more of resident‑led investment.
In particular, we worked with Blackpool Revoe and Marsh & Micklefield Big Local areas to capture their achievements – from visualising a “tower of changes” to demonstrating how strong local relationships create lasting outcomes. This process should prove useful when these communities seek future funding, since they’ll be able to show the changes they’ve made and why.
At the same time, we worked with Local Trust to produce learning profiles of 21 Big Local areas. These profiles highlight how communities organised themselves, prioritised needs and made decisions to successfully create opportunities for residents, develop essential facilities and build long‑term local leadership. These stories now feature on the Big Local Learning website, a comprehensive resource that will provide inspiration and guidance for communities driving change in the future. As Local Trust say, the resource shows “what community power looks like in action”.
You can explore the Learning from Big Local resource here: https://www.learningfrombiglocal.org.uk/
2. Listening to lived experience: UK Covid-19 Inquiry
We spent two and a half years contributing to the UK Covid‑19 Inquiry’s Every Story Matters listening exercise, working with Ipsos, NatCen, Changing Minds and our long‑term partners Just Ideas.
By reaching out to communities, WSA Community enabled a wide range of voices to share their experiences of the pandemic and feed into the public record. Our team listened to people’s experiences of healthcare, social care, vaccines, health inequalities, test, trace and isolate, the impact on children and young people and the financial impact of Covid-19. We also engaged people who experienced bereavement during the pandemic through one-to-one and group sessions.
Every Story Matters is the largest public engagement exercise ever undertaken by a UK public inquiry and every story shared helps the Covid-19 Inquiry understand the human impact of the pandemic and learn lessons for the future.
The video below explains how stories submitted directly, plus the stories we gathered, are used by the Covid-19 Inquiry.
3. Shaping data use in addiction healthcare: Patient Advisory Group
Alongside our long-term partners Just Ideas, we’ve recently worked with Ipsos and RAND to support the development of a UK Addiction Research Data Roadmap for the Department of Health and Social Care’s Office for Life Sciences.
Talking to people with lived experience of drug or alcohol addiction and those working in addiction treatment services, we began by setting up a Peer Advisory Group to advise us. We then undertook ten fieldwork visits, speaking to a wide range of people with lived experience of addiction treatment and those working in addiction services.
Many people we spoke to had never thought about how their personal data was held and used, so these sessions opened up valuable conversations which will be taken into account as the roadmap evolves.
4. Evaluating peer support during the perinatal period: Parents 1st UK
Working with Parents 1st UK, B3 (Bumps, Birth and Belonging) CIC and Live Music Now WSA Community recently evaluated the learning from a project that supports families’ health and wellbeing during the perinatal period.
We developed a clear theory of change with the project partners and created multiple ways for parents, grandparents, musicians and peer supporters to share the difference the programme had made to them. Methods included keeping reflective diaries and hosting small group conversations.
For us, hearing families’ personal lullabies was a real highlight. For our partners, the learning gathered will help shape future support for parents at this important stage.
You can find out more – and listen to some of the lullabies – here: https://www.livemusicnow.org.uk/essex-lullaby-2025/
Interested in working with WSA Community?
Across the majority of WSA Community projects, one theme stands out: when people share their lived experience, they’re able to influence decisions that shape healthier, fairer and more connected communities. We’re proud to champion this approach and grateful to every partner who shares our commitment to community‑led change.
If you’d like to explore how WSA Community can support your organisation – through research, engagement, evaluation or facilitation – we’re always happy to talk.
You can read our most recent Annual Update here: https://wsacommunity.co.uk/annual-reviews/
Or contact us via our website: https://wsacommunity.co.uk/contact-us/ or email: info@wsacommunity.co.uk