Our Place Partnerships work in Thanet, Gravesham, Medway and Swale continues to build momentum, bringing together local partners, communities and organisations to tackle inequalities and help more people become active. While each place is at a different stage of development, significant progress has been made in strengthening partnerships, establishing governance, developing leadership, embedding community insight and creating the foundations for long-term system change.
Achievements to date:
As of October 2026
- Thanet
Together We Move (the Thanet Place Partnership) submitted its Full Award application to Sport England, bringing together learning, community insight and partner priorities into the next phase of place-based work.- The Full Award approach focuses on strengthening the local system, trusted community infrastructure, workforce pathways, mental wellbeing and social connection.
- Ripple Effect Mapping is helping partners understand relationships, influence and opportunities for stronger collaboration.
- Learning from Test and Learn projects with children and young people and older residents living with frailty is informing future investment, workforce development and community engagement.
- A six-month leadership programme follow-up enabled partners to review progress, reflect on changing ways of working and identify priorities for the next phase.
- The Community Connector role is evolving, with greater emphasis on community champions, lived experience and connecting people into activity, volunteering, training and wider support.
- Gravesham (Westcourt and Northfleet North)
Connect, Listen, Move (the Gravesham Place Partnership) is preparing its Full Award application to Sport England, using Development Award learning to shape future plans.- Partners have been agreeing priorities audiences and focus to create a stronger shared foundation for the Full Award.
- The Place Partnership and Gravesham Health Alliance have been brought together, helping reduce duplication and strengthen links between strategic decisions and neighbourhood insight.
- Ripple Effect Mapping is helping partners understand relationships, areas of fragmentation and opportunities for greater alignment.
- The St Gregory’s Green Space Test and Learn highlighted the importance of safety, accessibility and community ownership in encouraging people to use local spaces.
- Northfleet Diaries used creative storytelling to understand residents’ experiences and barriers to being active, with the learning now informing locally inspired walks, as well as future plans.
- Learning and evidence from the Development Award phase is helping partners shape priorities and the next stage of the Place Partnership.
- Medway
Medway Can (the Medway Place Partnership) continues to build on relationships, leadership and community insight work, strengthening the foundations for longer-term place-based working.- A three-month leadership programme follow-up session has been delivered, enabling partners to review progress, reflect on ways of working and consider priorities for the next phase.
- The Let’s Get Active Test and Learn, delivered through Medway Public Health, showed that trusted community relationships, social connection and locally responsive activities can help reach new audiences. It also highlighted the need for a clear shared purpose, more time for engagement and provider coordination, and consistent approaches to communications and learning capture.
- The Medway Voluntary Action (MVA) Community Power and Self-Organisation Test and Learn has been delivered. Early findings indicate inactivity is shaped by wider issues including confidence, communication, access, safety, belonging and social isolation. It reinforced that sustainable responses are more likely when residents help shape, deliver and evaluate them, with priorities emerging around Community Champions, hyperlocal communication and resident-led insight.
- Learning and evidence from the Development Award phase is helping partners shape priorities and the next stage of the Place Partnership.
- Swale
Two Community Connectors are now supporting the programme through Swale CVS and Seashells Children and Families, strengthening local relationships and community insight.- Partners came back together for a three-month leadership programme follow-up, reviewing progress and considering the partnership’s next steps.
- Community Connectors shared what they are seeing and hearing locally, bringing neighbourhood insight directly into partnership discussions.
- Proposed Test and Learn projects have been developed, with partners contributing expertise, community connections and existing insight. Test and Learn will explore both what works for local communities and how organisations can work differently together to tackle inequalities.
As of July 2026
- Thanet
Community Connectors, hosted by Social Enterprise Kent (SEK), are strengthening local relationships across Cliftonville West, Margate Central, Dane Valley, Central Harbour, Beacon Road and Newington, building community insight and identifying local opportunities.- Learning from two collaborative Test and Learn projects with Thanet District Council, SEK and other local partners is influencing local practice, including work with children and young people and support for older people with frailty through Orbit Housing.
- Place-based learning is helping shape wider system thinking, highlighting the importance of trust, belonging, community relationships and recognising small steps towards participation.
- Delivered a successful three-month follow-up to the Place Partnerships Leadership Programme, bringing together partners from multiple sectors to share progress and strengthen collaboration.
- Place-based leadership development, ongoing work with the Thanet Health Alliance, Active Thanet and links to Pride in Place are strengthening collaboration across the system
- Gravesham (Westcourt and Northfleet North)
The Place Partnership continues to align closely with the Gravesham Health Alliance, helping embed physical activity within wider health and wellbeing priorities.- A new Community Connector, hosted by The Grand Healthy Living Centre, is building relationships and local insight across Westcourt and Northfleet North, helping identify community assets and opportunities.
- In Westcourt, a Test and Learn project delivered in partnership with Gravesham Borough Council and other local organisations has explored how St Gregory’s Green could better support community activity, wellbeing and connection.
- In Northfleet North, partners are using community stories to better understand local experiences and barriers to participation, helping shape future approaches.
- Ongoing leadership development and shared learning are helping partners shape future priorities, investment and community-led solutions.
- Medway
Continued to build strong foundations for long-term place-based working through relationship building, trust and partnership development across local partners and communities.- Delivered two-day leadership training to increase partner confidence and readiness to work collaboratively around shared priorities and local need.
- Supported the Community Connector model hosted by Medway Voluntary Action (MVA), helping to build community relationships, improve local intelligence and strengthen connections between residents and services.
- In collaboration with Medway Public Health and Medway Voluntary Action, delivered Test and Learn activity to increase understanding of local barriers, enablers and opportunities to support participation and wider wellbeing outcomes, particularly within Strood West, Luton, Wayfield and Weedswood, Gillingham North and Twydall.
- Creating the conditions to support future delivery and investment through a focus on learning, collaboration, evidence generation and system development.
- Swale
The Place Partnership is focusing on the Isle of Sheppey, Sittingbourne and East Faversham, building relationships and developing a stronger understanding of local communities and assets.- Governance arrangements continue to develop, with partners working together through the Swale Place Partnership Board to shape future priorities.
- A new Community Connector, hosted by Swale CVS, is increasing local capacity for engagement, insight gathering and relationship building.
- Partners took part in a two-day Place Partnerships Leadership Programme, strengthening relationships, developing a shared vision and identifying opportunities for collaborative action.
- Learning from leadership and engagement activity will help inform Swale’s Theory of Change and future Test and Learn projects.
Explore the latest insights, learning and evidence from our place-based work, including the stories, challenges and progress shaping each priority area.
