The Power and Challenge of Grassroots Organisations in Community Development
Written by Elisa Garbil – 29.05.2025
Grassroots organisations have emerged as vital engines of change in communities around the world. These entities, often volunteer-led and deeply embedded in local contexts, deliver a broad array of services that formal institutions struggle to reach, from youth empowerment and mental health to housing, public health, and civic participation.
As governments recalibrate their roles and responsibilities, particularly under austerity conditions or in the face of global crises, grassroots organisations are increasingly called upon to fill service gaps. Yet, these community-based groups are under enormous pressure. Underfunded and often marginalised in policymaking, they continue to adapt, innovate, and persevere in complex environments.
A Foundation of Community Trust and Action
At their core, grassroots organisations are built on community trust. They arise from within neighborhoods, often sparked by the collective recognition of unmet needs—safe spaces for youth, clean water, housing upgrades, mental health resources, or access to sport. These groups are often staffed by community members who bring intimate knowledge of local challenges, cultural nuance, and relationships that foster trust.
This embeddedness enables grassroots organisations to implement highly targeted interventions. For example, urban groups addressing unsafe housing conditions or climate resilience often mobilise local women to co-design and implement solutions. In doing so, they not only solve practical problems but also shift social norms around leadership and equity. In rural and indigenous areas, grassroots movements ensure that development initiatives reflect local values and that marginalised voices are represented in public decision-making.
Such proximity to the communities they serve makes these organisations ideally positioned to foster participatory development. Whether addressing mental health among youth in the UK or advocating for land rights in Latin America, grassroots organisations blend service delivery with empowerment; an approach that builds resilience rather than dependency.
Austerity, Shrinking Budgets, and Rising Demand
In the UK, the voluntary and community sector has experienced a harsh contraction due to prolonged austerity measures. As local governments have slashed budgets, voluntary organisations have faced deep funding cuts while demand for their services has simultaneously surged.
A 2014 analysis of the UK sector revealed that nearly half of local authorities had reduced grants to voluntary and community groups, often targeting smaller organisations disproportionately. These groups, which traditionally relied on small annual grants, are particularly vulnerable because they offer direct, person-centered services that cannot easily be scaled or commercialised.
These financial pressures are not merely budgetary—they erode the social infrastructure that communities rely on. Cuts often translate directly into fewer programs for vulnerable populations, fewer safe community spaces, and fewer opportunities for participation. In many areas, particularly those with high deprivation scores, these effects are compounded, risking a collapse in the very social capital that keeps communities cohesive.
Despite these challenges, grassroots organisations continue to find ways to serve. They stretch limited resources, rely on volunteers, and often innovate out of necessity. But the sustainability of this model is increasingly in question.
Community Sports: A Case of Resilience and Strain
The community sport sector exemplifies both the impact and precarity of grassroots work. In the UK, community sports groups support around one million young people annually, delivering services that span far beyond physical activity. These programs improve confidence, reduce anxiety, foster teamwork, and build a sense of belonging. These activities significantly improve mental health, confidence, and resilience, key ingredients in youth development.
Yet, these same groups report that cost-of-living pressures are making it harder for young people to participate. Over half of groups recently surveyed noted that financial hardship and transport issues were causing youth to disengage. Many leaders also cited the deteriorating condition of community facilities, rising venue costs, and inadequate government investment as systemic barriers.
Many of these groups are operating in the UK’s most deprived areas, with about 51% located in the top three deciles of deprivation. They’re largely volunteer-led and underfunded, yet they provide a holistic support network for youth, often stepping in where state services have been withdrawn. The loss of facilities due to climate change and funding shortfalls is another growing concern.
Despite these constraints, the spirit of local engagement remains strong. Many group leaders still believe they can influence decisions in their communities, but they feel overlooked when it comes to national policy and investment. The vast majority believe there is not enough government support for grassroots sport, particularly when compared to its proven social value.
Climate Change and the Fragility of Community Infrastructure
Climate change adds another dimension of vulnerability to grassroots efforts. Local groups are increasingly reporting that extreme weather – flooding, heatwaves, and seasonal unpredictability – has disrupted their activities. For outdoor sports organisations, this means cancelled matches, unplayable fields, and reduced youth participation. For groups supporting elderly populations or delivering health services, climate disruptions create new logistical and health challenges.
With limited access to climate-resilient facilities or emergency infrastructure, many grassroots organisations are left to respond reactively rather than proactively. This not only impedes service delivery but undermines long-term planning and sustainability.
Systemic Barriers to Growth and Impact
One of the central contradictions in the current ecosystem is that grassroots organisations are simultaneously expected to do more while receiving less support. Many have become entangled in complex commissioning processes where only the largest, best-resourced organisations can compete. The push for professionalisation has helped some organisations scale their services and access contracts, but it has also distanced others from their original missions and community bases.
Smaller organisations face further challenges. Often unable to navigate the formal contracting system, they survive on short-term grants and are the first to be cut when budgets tighten. Yet these groups are typically the most innovative and responsive, precisely because they are grounded in the daily realities of their communities.
Moreover, grassroots organisations face increasing pressure to justify their existence through performance metrics and impact assessments, many of which are designed without input from the communities involved. This risks distorting priorities and imposing models of accountability that don’t align with how grassroots change actually happens.
Redefining the Role of Government and Institutions
Despite these structural challenges, there is growing recognition that grassroots organisations must play a central role in future development strategies. They are not auxiliary or temporary stopgaps, they are essential to building equitable, inclusive, and resilient societies.
To realise this potential, national and local governments must rethink how they engage with and support community-led efforts. This includes:
- Stable, long-term funding: Grassroots organisations need multi-year financial commitments to plan, grow, and sustain impact, not just reactive emergency support.
- Policy inclusion: Community leaders must be included in the design of the policies that affect their work. This requires more than consultation, it demands shared governance.
- Capacity-building and infrastructure: Beyond money, groups need access to training, technology, safe spaces, and climate-resilient infrastructure.
- Recognition of value: The success of grassroots work should not be measured only in financial terms or rigid outcomes but in the lasting social bonds, empowerment, and change it produces.
Conclusion: Investing in Community Infrastructure
Across urban centers, rural landscapes, and underserved neighborhoods, grassroots organisations are charting new paths forward. They are reimagining care, education, safety, sustainability, and belonging from the ground up. Yet their ability to continue this work depends on whether the broader systems around them are willing to invest, not just in services, but in people, relationships, and trust.
For community development to be truly transformative, it must start with those who know their communities best. Supporting grassroots organisations is not charity—it is strategy. It is the infrastructure of justice, equity, and hope.
