The Street Associations movement is coordinated by Hope Together, on behalf of a wide partnership including community organisations, faith organisations, local authorities, businesses, schools and residents, united in the belief that community spirit and supportive community are vital. Both Covid 19 and more recent triggers for community spirit such as the Coronation showed how many people are community-minded, ready to be friendly, helpful and kind. What we now need to do is to encourage and facilitate the creation of vibrant, community, street-by-street, across the UK, not just for a crisis or for an occasional national celebration, but for the long-term as part of who we are.
The first Street Association was launched in Harborne, Birmingham in July 2011. The initiative soon spread from Birmingham and, particularly through the Permission to Smile campaign and the As One campaign has spread to many parts of the UK.
The initiative is led by Sammy Jordan, director of Hope for Every Home, at Hope Together. Hope Together exists particularly to help the UK’s churches to be more outward-looking and to express their faith by serving their neighbourhoods in a variety of practical ways. Boosting community spirit, as part of a wide partnership, is one of them.
Previously, it was led by Martin and Gina Graham, who from 2010 to 2023 pioneered Street Associations, in 2018 developed the Permission to Smile campaign and in 2021 founded As One as a national movement.
Our vision is to ‘capture’ something of the community spirit that clearly exists – to harness it and to help it to become a permanent feature of streets up and down the country. To achieve this, we work with people of goodwill from all faiths and none, together with local councils, businesses, housing associations, the health sector, the police and – most importantly – local residents, to realise the vision of restoring community to every street.
