Make a big difference in your local community
Businesses can have a significant influence in the community where they are based, or by choosing a specific place to focus efforts. This can be incredibly rewarding, but trying to make an impact in a community can seem complex.
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1. Listen to the community
For place based initiatives, the first thing to do is identify where you want to make an impact. This might be your local area, or it might be a community that could particularly benefit from an initiative. Be flexible and be prepared to look at a range of options.
For smaller businesses this might be looking at individual local nurseries and schools. Focusing on a small but clearly defined community can be really impactful. Start by listening to your employees and the community organisations that matter to them.
The critical point is that you must be prepared that much of the leadership should come from the community.
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2. Build a coalition
Find the local leaders and influencers who will be your allies in designing for impact. These might be people within local authorities, charities or early years settings. Together agree a vision of what you want to achieve.
In Oxfordshire businesses have come together with the public and voluntary sector to create the Oxfordship Inclusive Economic Partnership to advocate for the early years as part of their mission for equality.
If you’re not sure where to start, there are several early childhood charities with a focus on local community that can help connect you to the right people:
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3. Measure and iterate
Community work has to be flexible and agile. Ensure that all partners agree the metrics you are looking to impact and the ‘how’ and ‘when’ you will measure.
It’s vital that the views of young children and parents are included in your reporting. Keeping momentum and excitement around these programmes can be one of the challenges, so demonstrating results is key.
Case study: The Lego Group
In 2024 The LEGO Group, along with Save the Children UK, Young V&A, EasyPeasy, Ambition, Aspire, Achieve and the Institute of Imagination, created their Power of Play in Tower Hamlets initiative; a collective partnership which aims to improve access to quality Learning through Play opportunities for children across the Borough of Tower Hamlets.
This borough-wide initiative draws on the expertise of each organisation to create a unified step change in harnessing the power of play to promote children’s wellbeing, develop essential skills such as creativity, confidence and communication as well as future potential.
The programme works within homes, schools and across the community, collaborating closely with the local community to ensure play opportunities are meaningful and locally relevant. The Power of Play programme also worked together to develop parents, carers and educators’ confidence to use play to strengthen children’s learning.
Why this matters
Prioritising early childhood within wider culture will impact the future prosperity of our society; promoting social mobility across the UK and contributing to social cohesion through supporting people to live happy and healthy lives.
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