Neighbourhood Community Organising

The Community Action team supports residents from Tulse Hill and neighbouring areas to build more active, represented and civically engaged communities.

Much of the Community Action team’s organising work is rooted in and around Tulse Hill, particularly focusing on the large social housing estates near the High Trees Hub. Our work begins with listening to residents to understand their key issues and identify potential community leaders. We then support these leaders in coming together to build an organising group. Typically, we compile the views gathered during these listening campaigns into reports, many of which are available on our website. This means our team is often out in the community, knocking on doors and engaging with residents one-on-one at their doorsteps or where they already meet.

By supporting the development of organising groups, the Community Action team helps residents to develop effective plans of action to address issues that matter to them. We provide this capacity-building support through one-on-one and group mentoring, as well as through access to our community organising training courses, all of which are focused on helping community leaders develop their organising skills. This approach equips residents with the tools to build more active, represented, and civically engaged communities ensuring that their work can continue beyond our involvement.

To ensure the accessibility of Community Organising, we also deliver free training courses open to all Lambeth residents. Additionally, we have developed a step-by-step Community Organising self-assessment toolkit to help participants and the people we support assess their organising efforts and plan their next steps in using the approach.

Over the years, the Community Action team has supported St Martins TRA to adopt the approach, helping them secure nearly 2 million pounds worth of repairs, alleviating damp and mould for hundreds of families on their estate, among many other victories for various groups. Currently, our efforts are focused on supporting residents on Tulse Hill Estate, who face similar issues to those experienced by St Martins residents, and on the local Fields Estate, where residents aim to improve conditions and foster a stronger sense of community.

Download our community organising toolkit

Current projects

The Tulse Hill Estate

We’ve been listening to the residents of Tulse Hill Estate about what life is like on the estate, what they love about it and what they want to see improved. The results of these conversations can be found in the ‘Tulse Hill Estate Listening Report’.

Download The Tulse Hill Estate listening report
Learn more

The Fields Estate

Residents have been coming together on the Fields Estate on Upper Tulse Hill. They have recently revamped their Tenants and Residents Association with new members, better engagement from all stakeholders and greater potential for positive change.

Download The Fields listening report
Learn more