The Linwood Community Development Trust was formed by a local group of volunteers who shared a vision of investing time in the community to better serve its residents.
The residentsâ main concerns were the reduction of social inequality, improving health and wellbeing, and building âsocial capitalâ within Linwood; this meaning there was an interest in the Trust to foster a sense of engagement and participation from the people of Linwood via the use of land, enabling the Linwood community to function more effectively and equally.
After acquiring 15 acres of land through community asset transfers, the Trust has developed community facilities to meet the needs of the local community which were identified through extensive consultation. The Trust has now developed a number of projects to address issues which local residents identified as being important. These are Roots of Linwood, Linwood in Bloom, Linwood Community Choir, Kit & Caboodle and The Mossedge Village. Additionally, they run the Linwood lottery which sees 50% of ticket sales going straight back to the community.
A particularly good example in which community engagement and the use of the land has had a direct positive impact for the community is seen in their recent construction of new football facilities.
Football is a key activity for the community, with over 600 young people playing locally. In response to a lack of suitable access to football pitches for the local community, the Trust has secured ÂŁ1.4M in funding to acquire land to build a local football pitch and community centre that better serves residentsâ needs.
