Supporting Community-Led Regeneration in Gleadless Valley

Moving from Engagement to Community-Led Regeneration 

Gleadless Valley is a large post-war estate in Sheffield. It was an impressive piece of regeneration, 5,000 homes built in 10 years, inspired by ideas of a brutalist Swiss village which created a real buzz from the outset. However, subsequent lack of investment, long-standing socio-economic challenges and a challenging topography has left the community with segregated sense of identity and low trust in regeneration processes. 

As the area entered a critical phase of regeneration, with a refreshed masterplan in development, there was a clear need to ensure that community voice didn’t sit alongside the process — but actively shaped it. 

Working in partnership with Heeley Trust and Sheffield City Council, Growing Circles supported a programme designed to move beyond traditional consultation and toward a more community-led approach to regeneration. 

This meant combining deep engagement, creative practice and system leadership — ensuring insight translated into action, influence and long-term ownership. 

A Different Approach to Engagement 

Rather than relying on one-off consultation, the work focused on building a sustained, relational programme of engagement. 

This included: 

• Community conversations, walkabouts and local gatherings  

• Creative storytelling and community journalism (with fILM fAM)  

• A photography competition and exhibition capturing everyday life in the Valley  

• Structured engagement with young people, including a large-scale school’s event  

These approaches enabled people to participate in ways that felt natural and accessible — particularly those less likely to engage through formal processes. 

Just as importantly, they surfaced rich insight about identity, place and aspiration, helping partners understand how the Valley is experienced day-to-day. 

Using Creativity as a Catalyst 

One of the most powerful elements of the programme was the community photography project and exhibition. 

Residents were invited to answer a simple question: 
What does your neighbourhood mean to you? 

The response was a collection of images and stories reflecting: 

• Everyday life and social connections  

• Landscapes, streets and shared spaces  

• Memory, belonging and identity  

The public exhibition became a pivotal moment — bringing together residents, partners and decision-makers to see the Valley through the lens of lived experience. 

It helped to: 

• Shift the narrative from deficit to possibility  

• Build trust between communities and institutions  

• Create space for more open and constructive conversations about the future  

Connecting Community Voice to Design and Decision-Making 

A key priority was ensuring engagement didn’t sit in isolation, but directly influenced regeneration outcomes. 

Community insight fed into: 

• The Vision for the Valley  

• The refreshed masterplan and spatial framework  

• Ongoing conversations with planners, partners and the Regeneration Board  

Creative outputs — including photography, film and storytelling — were used not just as engagement tools, but as influencers of decision-making, shaping how stakeholders understood place and prioritised investment. 

Investing in the Community 

Alongside engagement, the programme focused on ensuring that resources flowed into the community. 

This included: 

• Commissioning local organisations to deliver engagement  

• Delivering micro-grants and community funding programmes  

• Supporting local events, ideas and grassroots activity  

Community grants enabled residents and groups to take action on priorities such as: 

• Improving neighbourhood spaces  

• Supporting young people and families  

• Strengthening wellbeing and connection  

• Celebrating local culture  

Although modest in scale, these investments were critical in: 

• Building confidence and momentum  

• Demonstrating visible change  

• Supporting emerging local leadership  

Strengthening Leadership and System Connection 

Alongside community work, we supported Board and leadership development, including a full-day immersion and visioning programme. 

This brought together: 

• Board members  

• Senior leaders  

• Community organisations  

• National regeneration experts  

Through site visits, shared insight and facilitated workshops, this created space to: 

• Reflect honestly on challenges and opportunities  

• Explore practical models of community-led regeneration  

• Build confidence in moving beyond consultation toward shared ownership  

Impact and Learning 

The programme has helped to: 

• Embed community voice within regeneration design and strategy  

• Strengthen relationships between residents, partners and the Council  

• Increase confidence in community-led approaches  

• Build foundations for long-term governance and local ownership  

• Create immediate momentum through community-led action  

Perhaps most importantly, it demonstrated that relatively modest investment can unlock significant social value when it supports trust, creativity and local leadership. 

Why This Matters 

This work highlights what it takes to move from engagement to genuine community-led regeneration: 

• Working relationally, not transactionally  

• Using creative approaches to surface deeper insight  

• Connecting community voice directly to design and decision-making  

• Investing in local capacity, leadership and infrastructure  

• Supporting systems to shift, not just communities to participate  

Looking Ahead 

As regeneration in Gleadless Valley continues, the foundations are now in place for a more community-led future. 

The challenge — and opportunity — is to build on this momentum: 
ensuring that community voice, leadership and ownership remain central to how change happens in the Valley.