Royal Sutton Coldfield Pride in Place Programme

Royal Sutton Coldfield

Pride in Place Programme

Genecon was appointed on behalf of the Royal Sutton Coldfield Neighbourhood Board by Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council and tasked with supporting the development of a 10 Year Regeneration Plan and 4 Year Investment Plan as part of the UK Government’s Pride in Place Programme.

Co‑Created Community Engagement

Delivered an inclusive engagement programme reaching 4,000+ residents, including creative ward events, thematic working groups, and targeted outreach to under‑represented communities.
Built capacity within the Neighbourhood Board and empowered grassroots organisations to shape the final plans.

Evidence‑Led Strategic Planning

Developed a 10‑Year Strategic Vision, Regeneration Plan, and 4‑Year Investment Plan grounded in robust economic, social and environmental analysis.
Used iterative research, best‑practice learning, and accessible visual formats (maps, charts, infographics) to support decision‑making.

Clear Pathway for Long‑Term Impact

Produced comprehensive, community‑rooted plans that provide a clear roadmap for investment and ongoing engagement across the first four years of the Pride in Place Programme.
Strengthened local identity, protected heritage assets, and addressed challenges such as deprivation and demographic change.

The Challenge:

The Pride in Place Programme (formerly known as Plan for Neighbourhoods) is about more than just physical infrastructure – it is about creating stronger communities, bringing people together and ensuring they see a visible improvement in both the social and spatial elements of their neighbourhood. Royal Sutton Coldfield, with eight different wards each with their own unique identity and almost 100,000 residents, has numerous exceptional green spaces and many community amenities, but also a variety of challenges to address – including a significant deprivation gap, a need to engage and bring together people from a rapidly changing and diverse population, and ensuring that important community, cultural and heritage assets are protected, adaptively reused and promoted effectively.

How We Did It Differently

Our approach focused heavily on engagement, not just consulting with people but really offering the chance to be involved and co-create the final Regeneration and Investment Plans. This included capacity building with the Neighbourhood Board; creation of four thematic woring groups bringing together community, political, local authority (Birmingham City Council and WMCA), enterprise and educational stakeholders; delivery of 8 creative ward engagement events; a comprehensive digital and paper survey; and support for five community grassroots organisations across Royal Sutton Coldfield to carry out activity and research targeting hard to reach groups.

Alongside this engagement we took an iterative approach to secondary research, integrating best practice and learning from other Pride in Place Programme areas and ensuring that the economic, social and environmental evidence was reviewed, analysed and consolidated into the process. This information was presented in a variety of formats including charts, maps and infographics to aid understanding as the project progressed.

Our Impact

In total we were able to support the Royal Sutton Coldfield Neighbourhood Board to reach over 4000 local people: raising awareness of the programme, building understanding of local needs and priorities and engaging and connecting local people of all ages with their culture and heritage.

The resulting final Regeneration Plan and Investment Plan were comprehensive, rooted in an evidence-based case for change which provided the Royal Sutton Coldfield Neighbourhood Board with a clear pathway forwards for ongoing engagement, activity and investment over the next 4 years of the Pride in Place Programme.

““It was brilliant! This is what a consultation session looks like: in person, in the community, and with the opportunity to talk, ask questions and share ideas”” Anja Pawson
Royal Sutton Coldfield resident and campaigner

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Case Study

Royal Sutton Coldfield Pride in Place Programme

Case Study

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