Useful links

Crime Concern

A national crime reduction organisation and registered charity. Provides advice and help to a wide range of professional and voluntary agencies.

Crime Reduction Website

Provides information and resources for people working to reduce crime in their neighbourhoods.

Crofters Commission

Concerned with the relationship between the land and the economy, agriculture, environment, heritage, culture and distinctive lifetyles of crofting communities.

Department for Constitutional Affairs

Information about the newly-created department.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

Department for Education and Skills

Department covering schools, universities and further education.

Department for Employment & Learning, Northern Ireland

Devolved department for skills, jobs, further education and higher education.

Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Northern Ireland

Responsible in Northern Ireland for arts and creativity, museums and libraries, architecture, sport, inland waterways and language diversity.

Department of Education, Northern Ireland

The department responsible for education provision in Northern Ireland.

Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Northern Ireland

The department's mission is to improve the health and social well-being of the people of Northern Ireland.

Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland department covering environmental protection, land use planning and local government reform.

Development Trusts Association

The national representative body for development trusts.

Directory for Social Entrepreneurial Organisations

A databank for, by and about social entrepreneurs in England.

Disability Rights Commission

An independent body created by parliament to promote equality for disabled people. Will be folded into the Commission for Equality and Human Rights in October 2007.

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

Research funding and training agency addressing economic and social concerns.

Education Action Zone

Government programme to tackle a range of problems including low educational achievement, truancy, exclusion and youth crime in deprived urban areas.

Ethnic Minority Foundation

Addresses the needs of Britain's most marginalised communities through research, lobbying, campaigning and developing community centres.

Fablevision

Fablevision's programmes allow communities in Scotland elsewhere to tell their stories through a variety of art forms.

Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens

The representative body for city farms, community gardens and similar community-led organisations in the UK. 

Flax Trust

The Flax Trust is the largest community regeneration project in the whole of Ireland.

Forth Sector

Creates supportive employment for people with mental health problems through running businesses.

Foyer Federation

Foyers provide accommodation with opportunity for young people, and a health-promoting community in which they can grow and thrive.

Free Form

Provides a range of arts and creative services for the built environment, to place art at the heart of urban regeneration.

Global Urban Research Unit (GURU)

At the University of Newcastle. Covers spatial planning, regeneration, governance, social inclusion, urban design, development and technology.

Green-Works

A charity and social enterprise providing schools and community groups with redundant office equipment.

Groundswell UK

A national charity that supports a network of people and projects committed to inclusive approaches to tackling homelessness, poverty and exclusion.

Groundwork

Environmental regeneration charity working to improve the quality of the local environment in poor areas.

HomePoint Guide to Housing Options in Scotland

Informaiton on housing association and council homes, and provision for special needs groups.

Housing Corporation

Responsible for investing public money in housing associations - and for protecting that investment and ensuring it provides decent homes and services for residents.

Housingnet

Information resource on social housing in the UK.

Human City Institute

Think tank investigating social and economic exclusion.

Inter Faith Network

The Inter Faith Network for the UK works to build good relations between the communities of all the major faiths in Britain: Baha'i; Buddhist; Christian; Hindu; Jain; Jewish; Muslim; Sikh; and Zoroastrian.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is one of the largest independent social policy research and development charities in the UK. It supports a wide programme of projects in housing, social care and social policy.

Lead Scotland

Lead Scotland, Linking Education and Disability, is a charity that enables disabled adults to access education and learning opportunities.

Learndirect Scotland

This site aims to keep organisations involved in lifelong learning in Scotland informed about activities and developments.

Learning and Skills Council (LSC)

Responsible for funding and planning education and training for over-16-year-olds in England.

Learning and Skills Network

LSN is a not-for-profit organisation offering services to policy-makers, practitioners and organisations funding, managing and providing education. Programmes previously delivered by Learning and Skills Development Agency and continuing beyond April 2006 are being delivered by LSN.

Local Exchange Trading Systems

LETS - Local Exchange Trading Systems or Schemes - are local community-based mutual aid networks in which people exchange all kinds of goods and services with one another, without the need for money.

Local Futures Group

A research and strategy consultancy providing a geographical perspective on economic and social change.

Local Initiatives against Social Exclusion

A database of more than 700 social exclusion projects across Europe.

Local Investment Fund

Set up in 1995 by the government and the private sector, led by NatWest, with the aim of overcoming the funding gap often experienced by social enterprises.

London Voluntary Service Council

LVSC strengthens voluntary organisations by providing services and a strong voice on policy issues that affect Londoners.

Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation

MDRC is a US nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research organization.

National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS)

The national evaluation is funded by the Sure Start Unit. The evaluation will study the effectiveness of all Sure Start Programmes in England (524 programmes) and will last for six years.  

National Federation of Enterprise Agencies

The National Federation of Enterprise Agencies is the membership body for Local Enterprise Agencies in England.

National Tenants Resource Centre

The National Tenants Resource Centre, a registered charity,  offers training and support to people living and working in disadvantaged communities in the UK.

Nearbuyou

Nearbuyou is a national trading network for social enterprises and those that wish to trade with them. It provides a set of tools for truly effective social trading.

Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation

National charity specialising in community participation, training and development. Works with local authorities, housing associations, voluntary agencies and community groups.

New Deal

New Deal is a key part of the government's strategy to get people back to work. It gives people on benefits the help and support they need to look for work, including training and job preparation.

Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA)

NICVA is the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, an umbrella body for voluntary, community and charitable groups in Northern Ireland.