Client
West Midlands Combined Authority
The mayoral combined authority for Birmingham, the Black Country, Coventry and Solihull.
About the work
The West Midlands Combined Authority brings together seven councils – Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton – under an elected Mayor of the West Midlands. Serving nearly three million people, it holds devolved powers and funding for transport, housing, skills, economic growth and the environment, and works to make the region greener, fairer and better connected. Its environment team leads on nature recovery, green space and climate action, including community grants that help local groups improve the places on their doorstep.
In 2024, the Combined Authority commissioned Always Possible to produce the first full impact report on its Community Green Grants programme. Launched after the pandemic, the programme gave £678,581 to 27 community projects between 2021 and 2024, run with the Heart of England Community Foundation. Its aim was to bring nature closer to people in the region’s most deprived and least green neighbourhoods. The projects ranged from river restoration and woodland management to pocket parks, sensory gardens and community allotments on old car parks and playgrounds.
We worked closely with the environment team throughout. We surveyed and interviewed project leads, reviewed applications and monitoring data, mapped who now lives within a 15-minute walk of new or improved green space, and built economic models covering recreation value, volunteering, training, jobs, health and carbon, in line with HM Treasury Green Book guidance.
The report found the programme had improved green space access for more than 325,000 people, around 11% of the region’s population, at a cost of about £2 per resident. Projects created or improved nearly 65,000 square metres of habitat, added 148 hours of weekly volunteering and spent around 61% of their budgets locally. Overall, every £1 of grant funding returned an average of £4.12 in net economic, social and environmental value. Our six recommendations, from prioritising open-access spaces to building in longer-term follow-up, were designed to shape the Combined Authority’s future green grants.
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