national work
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The Triple Dividend: Thriving Lives. Costing less. Contributing more.
'How do we build a society that prevents problems from occurring rather than one that, as now, copes with the consequences?’ This was the question that the Early Action Task Force set out to consider. Early action – building…
The Teenage Pregnancy Journey
NHS Newham’s Health Improvement and Prevention Programme (HIPP) commissioned Community Links to research to into Newham’s teenage parents and young parents’ social and emotional well-being needs and the related cultural issues amongst…
Breast Cancer Screening Take-Up project: Year One Report
Community Links was commissioned by NHS Newham to increase the take up of breast screening by women, residing in the London borough of Newham. This report describes the first year of activity of Community Links’ Breast Screening Uptake project,…
Understanding the Informal Economic Activity of Refugees in London
The Greater London Authority commissioned Community Links and the Refugee Council to conduct a small scoping study to examine the causes of informal economic activity within refugee communities. This study aims to ascertain if there are ‘refugee-specific’…
Tackling Working Age Poverty Programme
Community Links, working in partnership with Church Action on Poverty and others, was commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to deliver one of the four national themed programmes of the
Deep Value
A Literature Review of the role of effective relationships in public services by Kate Bell and Matthew Smerdon. Deep Value is a term that captures the value created when relationships in public services are effective. …
TacklingPoverty
As part of our work on EY2010, the Europoean Year of Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion, Community Links in partnership with Church Action on Poverty organised…
Out of the Ordinary
A short study by Community Links founder David Robinson explains the Community Links approach to local social regeneration. Drawing on the 33 years experience of Community Links staff, service users, and partners, the study shows how the quality…
Strengthening Communities
Community Links runs a network of 60 different projects. This report focuses on one of our projects, reflecting a small part of the work undertaken by the Community Development team. We have found time and time again that the kind of intense…
What Young Parents Really Want
What young parents really want: Innovative ideas for service providers Young parents in Newham were invited to become Community Links Everyday Innovators,…
Means and Ends
CoSA Paper No.11 A concluding commentary on the the work of the Council on Social Action. This report reflects on the what has been learned over the two year lifespan of the Council on Social Action,including the range of ways…
Time Well-spent
CoSA Paper No.10 A Report on the Importance of the one-one relationship between civil legal aid advisors and their clients working across areas of law including debt, housing, welfare benefits, employment and immigration and…
People of Influence
CoSA Report No.9 In “Side by Side” (CoSA report No.2) we set a challenge to imagine a society in which…
Introducing the National Talent Bank
CoSA Paper No.7 This paper details CoSA's proposal for a National Talent Bank – a time limited partnership promoting and supporting employee volunteering amongst those with more time to share as a consequence of recession.…
Heart of the City: Building Stronger Communities Through Business Collaboration
CoSA Paper No.6 (produced in Partnership with Heart of the City) This paper sets out the learning that has been amassed from the successful development of the
Council on Social Action: Commentary on year one
CoSA Paper No.5 The Commentary provides summaries of the major areas of CoSA’s work in its first year. It describes the process of research and development as themes were explored and action taken forward and reflects…
Collaborative Commitments
CoSA Paper No.4 Written by Prof. David Grayson, Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility on behalf…
Side by side and the implications for public services
CoSA Paper No.3 The CoSA paper outlining actions for developing one-to-one work, Side by Side, concludes that one-to-one…
Side by side
CoSA Paper No.2 This report sets out the Council on Social Action's work on increasing the numbers involved in succesful, high quality, voluntary one-to-one activity. This includes Mentroing and Befriending and all kinds of transformative…
Willing Citizens and the Making of the Good Society
CoSA paper No.1 The first in the series of publications for the Council on Social Action, this report sets the scene for their subsequent work by…
Interact: benefits, tax credits and moving into work
This report by Community Links, Low Incomes Tax Reform Group and Child Poverty Action Group examines the complexity of peoples lives as they…
Understanding MPs views about the cash-in-hand / informal economy
In spring 2008 we interviewed a small number of Members of Parliament (MPs) and received written responses from a member of a Select Committee to understand their views and attitudes towards the cash-in-hand / informal economy. This summary report details…
Social Change Series
The Community Links Social Change Series draws together information from our existing research reports detailing our position and track record on significant, complex issues which we, as a multipurpose organisation, are engaged with on several levels.…
Self-employed and micro-entrepreneurs
Getting by, or getting ahead? Small businesses on a road to formalisation. Small cash-in-hand businesses could revitalise the economy in London’s most deprived communities if they were not penalised and instead encouraged to grow. Typically…
Self Employed People in the Informal Economy
Cheats Or Contributors? Government should encourage and support entrepreneurs out of the informal economy, not simply seek to penalise them. This is the message from a report produced by Street(UK) and Community Links, based on…
What If
For our 21st Birthday Community Links invited some of our friends to consider their visions for our communities in the 21st Century. The resulting collection of essays ‘What If..?’ became a best seller in which leading writers, thinkers…
Need not greed
Our latest research report: People in low-paid informal work: Need not Greed, explores the experience of people on low incomes, doing informal paid work, including those working cash-in-hand and those undertaking undeclared work whilst claiming benefits.…
Enduring change
‘Regeneration’, ‘mainstreaming’, ‘community involvement’, ‘evidence-based policy’, ‘public service reform’ – all are terms central to the government’s policy programme for tackling…
CREATE: A Community Allowance
This report details our proposal for a new Community Allowance: a simple and dynamic support package enabling local people to do valuable and preventative work in their local communities in partnership with community groups and public interest organisations…
Living Values
"Living Values" reports the findings of our Collaborative Inquiry into the values of the third sector. The report is available to download in full.…
Living Values
Living Values: a pocket guide for Trustees has been published by Community Links in partnership with the Governance Hub. The Guide highlights the implications of this work for trustees and sets out a range of practical activities that trustees can…
Untie Your Tongue and Get Life Licked
A practical public speaking guide for young activists. Packed with ideas for young people wanting to speak up and speak out with passion and with impact on behalf of themselves and the issues and causes they support. Published in partnership with
How to Be a Fundraising Champion
A practical manual for young activists who want to raise money for community projects. Details the essentials for young people about raising money to support community projects, including sections on sources of funds, how to ask for money, budgeting…
How to be a Community Champion
A practical manual for young activists who want to take action in their community. Provides information for young people planning to initiate a community project. Includes advice on setting up a group, identifying the issues and communicating the message.…
Letting The Future In
"There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in." Graham Greene: The Power and The Glory Letting the Future In Features innovative projects supported by the Local Network Fund…
Small Places Close to Home
‘Small Places, Close to Home’ celebrates the contribution made to their own and the wider community by asylum seekers, refugees and those who work with them. Refugees and asylum seekers are dedicated and important providers of services…
Staying connected
All communities have skills and experiences in responding to conflict. Sometimes the dislocation of war, loss, or of moving to a new country can make it hard for people to use tried and tested community conflict resolution methods. staying connected…
Holding up the sky
Holding Up The Sky: Love Power and Learning in the Development of a Community Relationships and the connections forged within the development process are central to both the story and the learning of a new and unusual book written by an experienced…
Unconditional Leadership by David Robinson
Now in its second edition Unconditional Leadership by David Robinson is a book about leadership… with attitude. The book describes a values driven approach to developing people, building teams and maximising results. The principles…
Making Links: 15 Visions of Community
Gordon Brown, David Cameron and others share their visions for our communities. To mark our 30th anniversary we invited some friends to take a look with us at the state of our communities and, perhaps more importantly, where we are going.
Britain’s Everyday Heroes
Community Links worked with Prime Minister Gordon Brown to produce this book telling the stories of 33 individuals whose commitment to a community or cause has informed and inspired him. We are grateful that proceeds from the sale of the…
Youth Empowerment
By including young people, we make our communities more inclusive, more functional and more effective. The ideas in Visible Voices illustrate the creative and risk taking ideas from young people that are bringing about change in local communities.
Sharing lessons on child poverty
“Creating Magic: a celebration of innovative projects tackling child poverty from the ground up” is now available. The full text of Creating Magic is also…
Ground Up
At a time when the elimination of Child Poverty is high on the government’s agenda, we celebrate exceptional role models and inspirational projects already making a practical difference to vulnerable families in disadvantaged communities. …