Case studies

Kirklees is a local authority with a large number of children who we support who live with connected carers under a Special Guardian Order (SGO) and our numbers are increasing.

As part of our work with the Early Years sector and the Food Environment through the Childhood Obesity Trailblazer programme (COTP) we decided to consult with providers (childminders, day care, after school clubs) to establish levels of knowledge, awareness, confidence and skills regarding food and nutrition. Our aim was to set a baseline from responses to help us measure progress and success against our overall project objectives. We also wanted to identify the needs of the Early Years sector and any further support required in relation to the food environment, adopting a whole systems approach.

Sheffield City Council received over £3 million from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2015 to develop a tech hub, as part of the tech north initiative. The grant was given to the council to administer, and through a competition the council chose a bid from the owners of Castle House, a former department store in the north of the city centre that had been vacant for over five years.

Telford & Wrekin Council’s ‘Pride in our High Street’ scheme awards grants for small businesses looking to take on empty units in the town centre.

The council’s initial ambition was regeneration of the town centre, which recognised the retail demise and growing vacancy, surplus retail and the opportunity for residential development on brownfield land in the town centre.

The key lesson from this case study is the increased impact through working in partnership to tackle the challenge of vacancy, rather than in silos and with individual approaches.

Bath and North East Somerset Council redirected funds from events unable to go ahead due to COVID-19 and used grant funding to pay for 12 installations by local artists in the shop windows of vacant commercial units in the town centre of Bath.

The council commissioned the charity Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust (TWBPT) to complete the restoration of three buildings sitting within at site of a convergence of regeneration schemes on Sunderland’s High Street West.

Cheshire East has had varied outcomes developing meanwhile uses. It has found that they works better if the council facilitates discussions with landlords to develop temporary uses.

Without any external funding, the Isle of Wight Council set up pop-up shops in Newport High Street in council owned and privately owned empty properties. This was part of the wider regeneration strategy for the Island.