North Birkenhead, Merseyside
Building pride, power and participation
North Birkenhead Development Trust
nbdt.co.uk
Rooted in place, building community power and participation
North Birkenhead Development Trust is a long-established community anchor organisation based at the heart of North Birkenhead. Working in one of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods in England, the Trust supports local people to build relationships, develop leadership and take collective action on the issues affecting their community.
Building on a strong tradition of community organising, campaigning and mutual support, North Birkenhead Development Trust is now exploring how People's Assemblies can strengthen local participation, connect community action and create new opportunities for residents to shape decisions affecting where they live.
Assembly Culture in North Birkenhead
Building on a strong tradition of community action
North Birkenhead Development Trust (NBDT) works with residents in a community that has faced decades of economic decline, poverty and disinvestment, while continuing to demonstrate remarkable resilience, solidarity and local leadership.
Based at the St James Centre, NBDT supports a wide range of community activity, from education, childcare and food support to campaigning, volunteering and neighbourhood organising. The Trust plays an important role as a community anchor, creating trusted spaces where people can connect, access support and take action together.
People’s Assemblies are being developed as the next step in this wider journey. Rather than starting from scratch, assemblies are intended to build on existing relationships, campaigns and community activity, bringing together residents from different groups and neighbourhoods to identify shared priorities and strengthen collective decision-making.
Over recent years, NBDT has been laying the foundations for assembly-based work through listening activity, story collection, creative events and volunteer development. This approach recognises that meaningful participation grows from relationships, trust and local leadership.
The community’s successful campaign to save St James Library demonstrated what can happen when residents organise around issues that matter to them. Through storytelling, creativity and collective action, local people helped secure an important community asset while strengthening confidence in their ability to influence local decisions.
This work is helping to create the conditions for long-term community power in North Birkenhead. By combining community organising with assemblies, NBDT is exploring how residents can move from addressing individual issues to shaping a shared vision for the future of their neighbourhood.
