Reports & Learning

These reports and learning papers capture how Connect has been evolving in Barking & Dagenham, and what we’re learning alongside residents, community organisations and partners as we work to reduce social isolation and build belonging.

Together, they bring insight from different moments in the programme, from our first year of learning, to more recent reflections on practice, partnership and people’s journeys beyond Connect. They combine resident stories, practical learning and emerging models, offering both an honest account of what’s working and questions we’re still exploring about how places can support meaningful connection in everyday life.

Connect Learning Update – Building connections alongside residents receiving adult social care (July – November 2025)

This learning update shares what we’ve been discovering through Connect since July 2025, as we continue working alongside residents in Barking & Dagenham who are experiencing social isolation. It captures how our partnership of Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise organisations has been deepening its approach, what we’re learning from residents old and new, and how people’s journeys have evolved after moving on from Connect. Alongside reflections on impact, the report highlights practical learning about what it takes to build connection in people’s everyday lives and what we’re noticing as we work with a new cohort of residents.

Connect: A Year of Building Belonging in Barking and Dagenham (June 2025)

This report tells the story of Connect’s first year, from its beginnings as a new approach to tackling social isolation to the partnerships, practices and relationships that have shaped it. It brings together learning from across the VCFSE partnership in Barking & Dagenham, combining the nuts and bolts of how the programme works with first-hand stories from residents themselves. The report is intended as both a reflection on what we’ve learned so far and a contribution to wider conversations about how places can build belonging and respond to complex challenges like loneliness.

Community: A place where everyone matters? What we’re learning in Barking & Dagenham

This learning paper explores a theme that has become increasingly important in Connect: mattering. Drawing on reflections from the Connect team and wider VCFSE partners, it looks at how feeling seen, valued and heard underpins meaningful social connection. The document brings together insights from 1:1 work with residents and from Connect’s neighbourhood learning community, where groups are experimenting with ideas to create more welcoming, connection-friendly spaces. It offers practical reflections on how small, intentional acts can help people feel they truly belong.

Community Innovation Partnership Report

This report sets out the Community Innovation Partnership model developed through Connect in Barking & Dagenham. Shaped over several years by the BD Collective, the model brings together residents, community organisations and services in a shared learning space to strengthen local connections and build place-based capability. Drawing directly on Connect’s experience, the report identifies key stages of the approach and explores how it can be adapted and used in other places, whether the focus is social isolation or other complex community challenges.