See what local communities did with Year 4’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF)

The Octopus Foundation secured funding to run the Cre8 Shed project, a safe and supportive carpentry workshop for men, mainly aged 40 to 60, who are living with mental health challenges.

Through practical activities like woodworking and woodturning, participants can build skills and have natural conversations that reduce stigma and isolation.

Items made in the workshop are kept, gifted or donated to local community projects, encouraging pride, purpose and contribution. Sessions are led by skilled staff and volunteers, including people with lived experience.

Find out more about the Cre8 Shed on the Octopus Foundation website.

Ideas Test secured funding to deliver Luton Lights 2026, a place‑based programme of light‑themed workshops and events in and around Luton, Chatham.

Co‑created with residents, artists and young people, the programme invites people to design and make light pieces, explore projections and trails, and take part in neighbourhood moments that bring streets and community venues to life.

The focus is on wellbeing, connection and local pride, offering welcoming, family‑friendly activities plus opportunities for volunteers and emerging creatives to build skills and confidence.

Luton Lights 2026 builds on earlier light‑based activity in Luton led by Ideas Test, helping more local people to get involved in culture on their doorstep and to celebrate what makes their area special.

Find out more about Luton Lights 2026 on the Ideas Test website.

Volunteer It Yourself secured funding to deliver essential improvements at Frindsbury Cricket Club, a 140‑year‑old, volunteer‑run club serving the local community.

Works include new boundary fencing, clubhouse redecoration and revitalised storage containers with a community mural to boost pride in place.

At least 15 local young people aged 14+ from Volunteer it Yourself, who are unemployed or disengaged from education, will take part in helping to deliver the UKSPF-funded improvements. Guided by professional mentors, they will gain trade skills and City and Guilds accreditations while helping to make key improvements to a valued community asset for Frindsbury.

The refurbishment will help the club welcome more members and activities, while helping the 15 volunteers build-up their confidence and work‑readiness.

Medway Plus secured funding to reduce isolation for children and young people with special educational needs (SEND) and other challenges through inclusive trips to historic, cultural and green places across Medway.

The programme builds on a successful programme that was funded through UKSPF Year 3. The Year 4 funding has enabled the programme to expand to reach more schools and pupils, providing experiences that grow both confidence and curiosity.

After each trip, pupils document what they learned through guided classroom activities including art and design. Selected artwork will be displayed publicly at Sun Pier House in Chatham, showcasing young people’s creativity to the wider community.

The project supports inclusion, education and pride in place by helping children connect more meaningfully with their local environment and future interests.

Find out more about the Discovering Medway Again project on the Medway Plus website.

Cement Fields secured funding to launch A Year Long Feast, a creative, community-led initiative on the Hoo Peninsula that aims to reconnect residents with the land, seasonal cycles, and local food traditions.

The first phase of the project is The Hoo Heddern, which sees a mobile trailer used as a travelling library of food and place that gathers local stories, recipes, seeds and oral histories at events across the Hoo Peninsula.

The project reconnects residents with land, seasons and local food traditions, responding to challenges like food insecurity and the loss of rural knowledge.

Alongside the trailer, there’s a Village Voices magazine column, a community vote to nominate a National Dish of Hoo, and Kitchen Table gatherings that bring farmers, residents and young people together for shared meals and storytelling.

This first phase lays the groundwork for a community‑led patchwork farm launching later in 2026, building local networks and a resilient, locally rooted food culture.