United Learning has announced it is in the final stages of launching a new charity to run and manage its growing group of Community Hubs. The charity, which will be known as ‘United Communities’, is being set up as a subsidiary of United Learning and will allow the Group to continue to make a meaningful and important contribution to the local communities in which it has schools.
In 2021, the Group set itself the target to create a community hub in every regional cluster in which it operates. To date, there are 14 hubs open including in Salford, Portsmouth and Sheffield with the newest opening this week in Bognor Regis. There are a further six in development with plans underway to have 26 open by the end of the 2025/6 academic year.
United Learning’s community hubs are inclusive spaces where residents can gather, share skills and resources and foster strong, more connected communities. Each community hub is unique, supported by a central team at United Learning to build upon the strengths and assets of the local community, driving positive change at a neighbourhood level. By prioritising relationships, hubs are developed by children, families, local residents, associations, and organisations. This collaborative effort ensures that the hub creates the conditions for local capacity building, fostering a more inclusive and resilient contribution.
Community hub activity may include community meals, youth provision, early years groups, walking groups, skill-sharing sessions, cooking, family activities, adult learning, community allotments, parent-led SEND support and community action initiatives.
This week, United Learning opened its newest hub in Bognor Regis, The Phoenix Centre, to serve the community around The Regis School and Southway Primary School. It boasts a range of state-of-the-art facilities enabling it to run a wide range of activities and services including youth work, sports and fitness, music sessions, parent and toddler groups and sensory sessions.
Once the new charity is launched, the Group plans to expand and strengthen its central team to better serve the hubs, supporting them to deepen their community building practice.
Sir Jon Coles, Chief Executive of United Learning, said:
“As a national group of schools, we are firmly committed to making an important contribution to the many local communities we serve. We have always supported our schools to be good neighbours and, in recent years, like many schools, they have taken on a growing role in supporting families and communities in ways which go beyond their educational remit. We have encouraged our schools to embrace this as an opportunity to develop stronger and longer-term connections, to share school assets and gift resources for the benefit of the whole community.
“Through our community hubs, we can amplify this work and reduce the time and effort expended by our school leaders. And now, by establishing United Communities, we can formalise this approach, seek funding from alternative sources and work to broaden and deepen this work across the country. This work is delivering real change in local communities as well as with our own pupils and their families. We are already seeing schools with community hubs report increased parental engagement and better attendance and, we are confident that the hubs are a contributory factor in this.
“It’s vital that every school retains its core focus on teaching and learning and doesn’t deviate from its mission. But, what has become apparent over the last few years is that many of the families we serve depend on our schools for far more than the education of their children. For many we are the focal point when they need wider help and assistance. As a result, community hubs are now a necessity rather than a nice to have.
“Support that used to come from local authorities has been either cut back or lost completely so schools are filling the gaps. This is a worthwhile responsibility but, of course, it attracts no extra funding from government. By formalising our approach through the creation of the charity we will be able to build our focus and attract funding whilst ensuring that it runs alongside, but does not take resource from, teaching and learning”.