What the Inclusive Communities Fund evaluation tells us
In 2023, the Inclusive Communities Fund (ICF) was created using the underspend from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Its purpose was simple but ambitious: to bring people together, to put the region on the map, and to create a lasting legacy for communities in the West Midlands and Warwickshire.
In total, £11.8 million was distributed to over 380 organisations, supporting a wide range of projects rooted in local need. To understand what that investment has meant in practice, the Heart of England Community Foundation commissioned Forever Consulting to carry out an independent evaluation of the fund.
The findings provide a detailed picture of the reach, scale and nature of the impact achieved – and what community funding can deliver when it is flexible, locally informed and well targeted.
Reaching communities at scale
The evaluation shows that ICF-funded projects addressed some of the most pressing issues facing communities.
- 56% of projects tackled social isolation
- 53% increased access to sport and physical activity
- 51% focused on supporting vulnerable people
Taken together, these projects reached significant numbers of people. In total, 468,908 people reported benefiting from an ICF-funded activity – equivalent to 122 people per 1,000 residents across the region.
While each project was locally focused, the combined effect demonstrates how community-led approaches can achieve meaningful scale when supported through coordinated funding.
Investing in places and spaces
Nearly a third of ICF funding (£3 million, or 29%) was invested in capital costs, enabling 89 facilities to be created or improved.
These investments focused on everyday community infrastructure, including:
- Refurbished community centres and meeting spaces
- Improved sports pitches, changing rooms and outdoor lighting
- Upgraded kitchens, toilets and dining areas
- New classrooms and office spaces
As a result, over 80,000 people benefited from new or improved facilities. The evaluation highlights that relatively modest capital grants often had a disproportionate impact – improving accessibility, safety and usability, and helping organisations future-proof buildings for long-term use.
The data reinforces the importance of capital funding in the community sector, where infrastructure improvements can unlock increased participation, new activity and greater financial sustainability.
Supporting people power: staff and volunteers
Beyond projects and buildings, the evaluation highlights the role ICF played in strengthening organisational capacity.
Funding supported staff roles and volunteer involvement across a wide range of organisations. For many, this meant having the time and stability to plan activity, coordinate delivery, manage partnerships and respond to local need more effectively.
For instance:
- A total of 118 new partnerships were established through ICF funding.
- £3.8M was spent on staff, the largest funding area across most grant sizes.
- 149 new staff roles were created.
- 5,464 people volunteered through ICF-funded projects, with 40% of them being new to volunteering.
This reinforces a key learning from the evaluation: community impact depends not just on what is funded, but on who is supported to deliver it.
Creating a lasting legacy
The Inclusive Communities Fund became a lifeline for hundreds of organisations across the Midlands due to the volatile nature of the third sector – with funding pots and resources often becoming harder to obtain.
However, the ICF did more than just provide immediate resource for organisations but it gave successful awardees the confidence and belief to apply for new funding streams – with over 60% of funded projects having secured additional funding to keep their activities running.
This is the reason the Inclusive Communities Fund was created, to build a lasting legacy for communities – a legacy where grassroots organisations are empowered, fortified and uplifted.
What the evaluation tells us
Across all four themes – reach, places, people and impact – the evaluation points to the value of flexible, community-led funding.
ICF enabled organisations to respond to local priorities, strengthen their foundations, and deliver activity that reflected the needs of the people they serve. The scale of impact achieved shows what is possible when funding is designed to work with communities, rather than around them.
Read the full report
This blog highlights just some of the findings from the Inclusive Communities Fund evaluation. To explore the data, insights and learning in more detail, you can read the full evaluation report here.