COUNCILS & COMMUNITIES

Helping you connect with your community

Town and parish councils, village halls and community organisations are often at the heart of their communities – but finding the time, skills and capacity to reach people, gather their views, promote what’s happening and turn ideas into action can be challenging. Free Range Collective provides flexible, practical support to help you understand and engage your community. From a one-off consultation or neighbourhood survey to events, communications, venue promotion and ongoing community engagement, we can work alongside councillors, clerks, trustees and existing teams to provide the extra resource and expertise you need.

How we can help

We understand the opportunities – and the practical realities – of working with local communities. Both Directors, Clare and Liz, have experience working at parish, district and county council level, as well as alongside community organisations, venues and local partners. This means they understand how local government works, but also what engagement looks like on the ground. They bring that experience together to provide practical, flexible support – whether you need help understanding what your community thinks, reaching new audiences, promoting a local venue, delivering an event or turning an idea into a project.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

We can plan and deliver consultation around local plans, projects, facilities and services, creating accessible opportunities for people to understand what is being proposed and have their say. From surveys and public drop-ins to workshops and stakeholder conversations, we can manage the process and bring the findings together into clear, useful feedback.

Neighbourhood and Community surveys

Whether you want to understand local priorities, gather views about a particular issue or find out what residents would like to see in their community, we can develop, promote and manage surveys that encourage participation. We can also analyse the responses and produce an accessible report to help inform future decisions and planning.

community engagement

We help councils and organisations reach beyond the people who already engage with them. Through conversations, workshops, events, local partnerships and creative engagement, we can involve different parts of the community, understand their experiences and create opportunities for people to play a more active role in their local area.

village hall promotion

Community venues can offer fantastic facilities but often have limited time or resources to promote them. We can help develop a clearer identity and offer, improve websites and social media, create promotional campaigns, reach potential hirers and audiences, and develop activities that encourage more people to discover and use the venue.

marketing and comms

We provide practical communications support that helps you keep local people informed and involved. This could include social media, newsletters, websites, printed materials, campaigns, event promotion and community information – creating clear, consistent communications without adding another job to an already busy team.

events and activities

From community celebrations and seasonal events to workshops, consultation days and programmes of regular activity, we can help turn an idea into something that happens. We can develop concepts, source performers and suppliers, coordinate partners, promote the event and support the practical planning and delivery.

community planning

We can help you build a clearer picture of your community – its needs, assets, opportunities and priorities – and use this to inform future projects and plans. By combining local research with consultation and engagement, we can provide practical evidence and insight to support funding applications, investment and future decision-making.

Local Research
Sometimes you need evidence before you know what to do next. We can undertake research into local audiences, facilities, organisations, activities and opportunities, bringing together existing information with community insight to provide a useful starting point for developing projects, services or funding applications.

One-Off or Ongoing Support

One-off projects

Have something specific you need to get done? We can take responsibility for a defined piece of work, such as a community survey, consultation exercise, event, communications campaign, venue marketing project or programme of engagement. We’ll agree the scope and outputs with you, manage the work and provide the additional capacity needed to take it from idea to completion. This can be particularly useful when you have a project or funding deadline, need independent support for a consultation, or simply don’t have the time or specialist resource available internally.

Ongoing Support

For organisations that need more regular help, Free Range Collective can become an extension of your existing team. We can provide an agreed amount of support each month across community engagement, communications, marketing, events and project development, responding to priorities as they arise.

This gives smaller councils, venues and community organisations access to experienced support without needing to create an additional permanent role – while still providing continuity and someone who gets to know your organisation, your priorities and your community.