About this site
Community Toolkit is a practical guide for people who want to make a difference in their local area. It is for councillors, candidates, campaigners, community volunteers and local groups who want clear advice, useful templates and honest explanations of how local government and community campaigning actually work, and how to achieve real success.
If you subscribe today, you'll get full access to the website as well as email newsletters about new content when it's available. Your subscription makes this site possible, and allows Community Toolkit to continue to exist. Thank you!
What Community Toolkit is
The aim is simple: to make local public life easier to understand and easier to take part in.
Whether it is dealing with a challenging issue as a community, or being an elected official trying to understand how to make a difference in Local government, things can feel confusing and complicated.
This site is here to make that learning curve a little easier.
Who is this site for
Community Toolkit is for people who are interested in local action, whether they are already involved or just starting to think about it.
That includes:
- New and aspiring councillors
- Local election candidates
- Political activists and campaigners
- Community volunteers
- Residents starting a local project
- People running or supporting local groups
- Anyone trying to understand how councils and local decision-making work
You do not need to be an expert to use this site. In fact, it is written with the opposite assumption: that most people doing useful things locally are learning as they go.
What you will find here
Community Toolkit brings together practical articles, explainers, templates and resources to help people take action locally.
The site covers areas such as:
- How local government works
- What councillors actually do
- How to campaign effectively
- How to target local campaign messages
- How to start or support community projects
- How to work with councils, officers and other organisations
- How to build stronger local groups
- Useful templates, checklists and guides
Some articles will explain the basics. Others will go deeper into the realities of local politics, public service, community leadership and campaigning.
The focus will always be practical. What do you need to know? What should you do next? What mistakes can you avoid? What makes a difference in the real world?
About the author
Community Toolkit is written by Adam Hicken, drawing on more than a decade of experience in local government, campaigning and community work.
That experience includes serving as a local councillor, working on political campaigns, supporting community projects, helping residents with local issues, and being involved in public service at a local level.
The site is shaped by what has been learned through doing the work: the useful lessons, the mistakes, the frustrations, the small wins and the bigger moments where local action has made a visible difference.
It is not written from the perspective of someone looking at local government from a distance. It is written from the perspective of someone who has been inside the system, worked with it, challenged it, and seen both its strengths and its limits.
What this site is not
Community Toolkit is not official legal, financial or professional advice.
The articles and resources are based on experience, research and reflection, but every council, organisation and area can work differently. Rules, procedures and guidance can also change over time.
Readers should always check the current rules, policies and procedures that apply in their own area, especially when dealing with legal duties, elections, finance, safeguarding, planning, employment or formal council processes.
This site is here to help people understand the landscape and make better decisions, not to replace professional advice where that is needed.
Why it exists
Community Toolkit exists because local public life needs more people who feel confident enough to get involved.
Too often, people only learn how things work after they have already stepped into the role, joined the campaign, started the group or taken on the responsibility. That can be overwhelming, and it can put good people off.
This site is intended to be a useful starting point and a practical companion.
Whether you are thinking of standing for election, helping with a campaign, starting a local group, supporting your community, or simply trying to understand how decisions are made where you live, Community Toolkit is here to help you take the next step.
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