Beyond the paperwork: turning Hateley Cross's story into investment
A community-owned investment prospectus is helping Hateley Cross Big Local turn hard-to-measure change into a compelling case for future partnership and support.
By Peg Alexander
When Local Trust commissioned support for legacy work at Hateley Cross Big Local, the brief was "comms support". In practice, it became a shared process of reflection, storytelling and planning for what should come next.
Peg Alexander was one of two Communications Support Partners working with Big Local areas. At Hateley Cross, she supported three delivery partners - 4 Community Trust, Powered by CAN and Sandwell Consortium - without funder-imposed deadlines. The pace and direction were agreed with the partners.
The work began with a facilitated story workshop, taking people away from organisational structures, monitoring and funding paperwork to ask a more fundamental question: what had changed for the community?
Jo Haydon, Chief Executive of 4 Community Trust, said:
"It's a different way of looking at it. You were able to tease things out of us that perhaps, if we sat down as a group, we might not have brought out."
That conversation surfaced forms of change that conventional measures can struggle to capture: greater pride in the area, safer and more usable shared spaces, stronger confidence and relationships, and a renewed sense of belonging and participation. The continued conversational approach highlighted the ownership and power in capturing these rich narratives and the important point was this was always their story.
From story to prospectus
Initial ideas included case studies, podcasts and videos. But repeated discussion showed that the partners needed something that could both preserve their shared legacy and make a confident case for future investment. The result was an Investment Prospectus setting out what had been achieved and a collective vision for Hateley Cross.
Although Alexander's role was funded as "comms", the approach was deliberately relational. She facilitated joint discussions, carried out research and interviewed each partner, looking beyond project outputs to changes in confidence, relationships and local ownership.
One partner said:
"We'd have never got round the table if it hadn't been facilitated by you. We'd have been working in silos. You could tease ideas out of us and kept us thinking strategically."
The partners reviewed drafts and remained the decision makers. This protected community ownership of the narrative while translating local experience into language that funders, investors and public bodies could understand.
For Haydon, the process revealed the "bigger picture":
"When you write a funding bid, you become focused on what that bid is for, and you don't see the bigger picture... That's what's made me go out and get three or four lots of funding."
The prospectus has since supported conversations with local authorities, regional collaborations and funders. It has helped secure support for the community pantry, youth work, a StreetGames running club and new work through the Black Country Beacons project. It is a living tool for sustainability, partnership-building and investment readiness, not simply a record of the past.
Learning for funders
The "added value" described by Haydon - improved mental health, family life and people's ability to cope and participate - shows why impact cannot always be reduced to targets. Highly prescribed monitoring can lead communities to work to the paperwork rather than what genuinely matters. First-hand stories from local people are therefore vital evidence. They show how investment has changed everyday life in ways statistics alone cannot convey, while keeping community voices at the centre.
The lesson for long-term place-based programmes is to embed impact thinking and communication from the start. Communities should define success, shape evaluation and own their stories. Funders should resource flexible, responsive support; allow relationships and ideas time to develop; and recognise that the real work behind a prospectus is not simply writing a document but building shared understanding and confidence.
When rooted in authentic community experience, storytelling is not an add-on. It is part of how communities sustain change, attract allies and investment, and retain power over the story of their place.
Discover more learning from Hateley Cross Big Local