Community Wealth Building in action

What is Preston City Council doing?

We are proud to have been implementing CLES - Community Wealth Building activity in Preston since 2011, working with our anchor institutions wherever possible. To date,  this has included activity such as paying the Real Living Wage; developing an anchor procurement practitioner network; facilitating the Community Anchors: A Co-operative Recovery programme; working with the University of Central Lancashire and Preston Co-operative Development Network (PCDN) for a cooperative development project funded by the Open Society Foundation (OSF); and progressing plans with Liverpool City Council and Wirral Council for the establishment of a North West Mutual.

The case for Community Wealth Building is stronger than ever in the face of the devastating economic and health consequences of Covid-19. Significant sectors of the local economy have been severely affected with the loss of many jobs. While we are always looking for new ways to contribute to our Community Wealth Building agenda, our activity falls under 8 main categories:

• Progressive procurement of goods and services
• Commitment to social value
• A more diverse and democratic economy
• Decent and fair employment
• Making financial power work for local places
• Using the Council's assets for social and environmental benefit
• Harnessing the 'power of place' through collaboration with other anchors
• Place leadership

Community Wealth Building 2.0 Leading Resilience and Recovery in Preston Strategy (PDF, 2 MB) outlines the next phase of our Community Wealth Building agenda.