From Footholds to Futures: our first People and Place impact story
Sep 2026
What does a year of backing community innovators actually look like, once you put it all in one place?
This week, we published our 2025 impact report: From Footholds to Futures. It tells the story of fifteen community innovators from ten neighbourhoods across England, who joined People and Place in 2025, each with home-grown solutions to the challenges facing their community, and each working to bring buildings, land and spaces into local hands.
From Grimsby to Plymouth, Haggerston to Sheffield, this is the story of what happened when they were backed with a grant, a mentor, and a peer group who understood exactly what they were up against.
"The programme has made me resilient and stubborn not to give up - to acknowledge the wins and celebrate them even if they weren't what were expected. To be brave!" - Pippa, Whitleigh, Plymouth
It's called From Footholds to Futures, because that's what this work is. Not a straight line from idea to outcome, but people finding somewhere to stand, and the confidence to take the next step from there.
Peers hearing Grace (Kitty's Laundrette) and Tom (Homebaked CLT) during our Spring Field Trip to Liverpool. | Folk chit chatting at the Community Asset Leaders Gathering at Wolves Lane. Photo credit: Footwork