Advocacy for Community-led
Change

Communities hold the answers.

We work to make sure systems listen.

At Right to Succeed, advocacy is about shifting power closer to children, young people, families and communities. We work alongside local people, partners and decision-makers to influence the policies, investment and systems that shape children’s lives.

We believe lasting change happens when communities are trusted to lead and when services, institutions and government work differently together. Our advocacy is rooted in evidence, lived experience and place-based partnership.

Across the UK, communities are already showing what works. Our role is to help remove barriers, influence decision-makers and scale approaches that create better outcomes for children and young people.

How we do Advocacy

We start with communities

Everything we do begins with listening to children, young people, families and local organisations. Through our place-based partnerships, we help communities identify the challenges they want to tackle and support them to shape solutions that reflect local strengths and ambitions.

Our advocacy is grounded in:

Community voice and lived experience
Strong local partnerships
Evidence and data
Long-term relationships
Shared accountability for outcomes

We work with schools, health services, local authorities, employers, voluntary organisations and residents to align efforts around a shared vision for children and young people.

Why Advocacy Matters

Children and families experience systems as one reality

Children’s lives are shaped by many interconnected systems — education, health, housing, employment, transport and community infrastructure.

Too often, these systems operate in isolation. Families are left navigating fragmented services while inequalities widen.

We advocate for approaches that:

Focus on long-term outcomes, not short-term fixes
Join up services around children and families
Invest in prevention and early support
Strengthen local relationships and community capacity
Share power with communities
Build systems around what children and families need to thrive

Our work is driven by the belief that every child should have the opportunity to succeed, no matter where they grow up.

What Is Changing

1

Community-led change is influencing regional policy

The ideas and approaches developed through our work are increasingly shaping policy and practice beyond the communities we directly support.

One significant example is the growing recognition of cradle to career approaches as a way to improve outcomes for children and young people.

Cradle to career is a long-term, place-based approach that brings together schools, services, employers, communities and local leaders around a shared commitment to support children from early childhood into adulthood.

This approach reflects what we have seen across our partnerships: sustainable change happens when communities, institutions and systems align around shared outcomes and long-term collaboration.

2

Influencing regional and national thinking

Right to Succeed’s work is increasingly recognised as part of a growing movement for place-based and community-led change across the UK.

Our approach and learning feature in the UK Government publication Our Place to Give: A Plan for Growing Place-Based Philanthropy, which highlights the importance of long-term, locally rooted partnerships that bring together communities, funders and institutions to improve outcomes.

The report reflects many of the principles that underpin our work:

Community leadership and local decision-making
Long-term collaboration and investment
Cross-sector partnership
Shared accountability for outcomes
Building stronger local ecosystems around children and families

This recognition reinforces the growing national understanding that sustainable change happens when communities are trusted, connected and properly supported to lead.

3

Service Name

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram’s manifesto includes a commitment to a cradle to career approach across the Liverpool City Region, recognising the importance of coordinated support for children and young people throughout their lives.

This is an important shift toward:

Long-term investment in children and communities
Better alignment between education, health, employment and community systems
Stronger collaboration across sectors
Prevention and early intervention
Community-led approaches to tackling inequality

We are proud to contribute to the conversations, partnerships and practical learning helping to shape this direction of travel.

How your money can change young lives

Programme Impact

Meet the Cradle to Career Partners

02:09

Young Leaders Media Workshop Ljmu

01:47

Brooklin Young Leaders Case Study

01:12