From the kitchen table to community action: designing change from the ground up

Not every big idea starts in a boardroom.

Some of the most powerful change we’re seeing in Adur & Worthing right now is starting in WhatsApp groups. Over a cuppa. On a park bench. Around a kitchen table.

These aren’t polished proposals or formal strategies. They’re people talking about what matters. What’s hard. What they wish they could fix. And then — slowly, relationally — turning those ideas into action.

We call it the Kitchen Table approach. And while the name is informal, the impact is anything but.

1. 🍲 What the Kitchen Table actually looks like

The model is beautifully simple:

• Someone shares an idea — it might come through a neighbour, a youth worker, or a WhatsApp group
• They’re invited to a Kitchen Table session: a warm, informal space to chat, explore the idea, and see what support might be useful
• If they’re ready, we offer micro-funding — small, fast pots of support to get started
• They get coaching and connection, not bureaucracy
• We stay in touch. We learn. We adapt. And we share stories.

This isn’t about managing demand. It’s about building confidence. It’s about recognising that people are already organising, already helping each other, already solving things — often with very little support.

Our job is to notice that. And to back it.

2.🌱 What we’re seeing so far

We’ve seen Kitchen Table projects emerge around:

• Peer-led cost of living support
• Language exchange and cultural celebration
• Food growing and community cook-ups
• Informal peer mental health networks
• Young people creating safer spaces in their neighbourhoods

These aren’t “projects” in the traditional sense. They’re relationships, rituals, shared time. And that’s exactly why they work.

3. 🔄 How this connects to bigger systems

What’s powerful is how this kitchen table approach is shaping our wider infrastructure too.

It will feed into:

• 🧭 Thriving Together — by offering real-time insight into what matters in neighbourhoods, and what support residents are already offering
• 📣 Go Vocal — our digital platform now supports groups that emerge from Kitchen Table, helping them share, grow and connect
• 🎓 Learning & Development — through stories and shared learning, we’ll feed what we learn from Kitchen Table into staff training and strategy work

In short: participation isn’t a one-off event. It’s an ecosystem. And Kitchen Table is one way we’re nurturing that ecosystem from the grassroots up.

4. 💡 What others can try

If you’re working in a council, funder, or community organisation — and you want to build something like this — here are some things we’ve learned:

• Start small and relational
  Don’t over-plan it. Begin with conversations. Focus on warmth, not frameworks.
• Use micro-funding as trust, not transaction
  The money helps — but what matters is the message: we believe in you.
• Offer coaching, not control
  People don’t need managing. They need cheerleading, honest feedback, and space to try.
• Share stories, not just stats
  What one group learns might help another. We’re using blogs to keep the insights moving.
• Join the dots behind the scenes
  We’ll be using Kitchen Table learning to shape how we think about commissioning, capacity-building, and neighbourhood planning.

5. 🌍 Who else is doing this well?

We’re learning from amazing peers across the UK and beyond:

🇬🇧 JRF’s

Inside JRF Team

Emerging Futures programme

Supports creative, resident-led approaches to local change — many of which look a lot like Kitchen Table in spirit and structure.

📖 JRF: Collective Imagination and Everyday Innovation

🇬🇧 Civic Square (Birmingham)

Blends food, storytelling, and space-making to grow community-led design and shared learning.

🇫🇷 La Pépinière (Marseille)

A civic micro-grants programme where residents pitch small ideas over lunch, and peers co-decide what to fund. Like a kitchen table with a French accent.

🇬🇧 Power to Change’s community business support

Demonstrates the power of small, early support in enabling long-term community-led action.

💬 Why this matters now

In a time where so much focus is on top-down system change, Kitchen Table reminds us of something simple: people are already doing the work.

What’s often missing isn’t capacity. It’s recognition. It’s flexible support. It’s someone to say: “Yes. That matters. Let’s help you try.”

If we’re serious about participation, we have to meet people where they are — not just invite them into our rooms.

And that starts with listening. With backing informal care. With creating spaces where people feel trusted and seen.

🤝 A call to connect

If you’re working on resident-led change, participatory funding, or creative infrastructure — we’d love to learn with you.

• How are you backing informal ideas and local knowledge?
• What support models have helped you build trust without red tape?
• What would a “kitchen table” approach look like in your place?

Let’s share recipes for change.