Putting People at the Heart of Place — and Health at the Heart of Neighbourhoods

Wishing all of you in our 360 network a wonderful festive season and a joyous New Year!

As we move through the final month of 2025, it’s clear this has been a year of deep transition — for people, places, and the systems that connect them.

Across the UK, public sector reform, financial pressure and rising demand are reshaping how health, care, housing and public services operate at neighbourhood level. The question many leaders are now asking is no longer whether change is needed — but how to build systems that are preventative, community-owned and sustainable.

In 2025, a defining focus of our work has been the development of a new Integrated Neighbourhood Health model — grounded in real places, shaped with communities, and supported by a clear, investable business plan.

Working intensively in Leeds, and in parallel with partners in Surrey and York, we have moved beyond strategy into delivery-ready models that integrate health, community capability, enterprise and regeneration at neighbourhood scale.

This work represents a major step forward — not just for our organisation, but for how integrated health can be designed and delivered nationally.

Thank you for walking alongside us.

With warmth,
Catherine Smith
Chief Executive, 360 Degree Society

Honouring a Legacy of People-First Leadership

This year marked 10 years since the passing of Professor Aidan Halligan, a much-loved mentor and friend to many in our network. Aidan’s commitment to kindness, honesty and courage in leadership remains a guiding thread in our work — a reminder that systems only change when people are willing to lead with integrity, curiosity, and care.

Integrated Neighbourhood Health

A National Campaign, Rooted in Community

In 2025, 360 Degree Society has developed a robust, community-led business plan for Integrated Neighbourhood Health, positioning health not as a standalone service — but as the anchor of thriving neighbourhoods.

This approach brings together everything we have learned over four decades of place-based innovation: health, housing, enterprise, skills, regeneration and community capability — designed and delivered with people, not to them.

Our Integrated Neighbourhood Health work is now live in Leeds, with aligned development underway in Huddersfield, Surrey and York — creating a small but powerful national cohort of places ready to lead the next generation of neighbourhood health.

At its core, the model is built on six principles:

Start with people and relationships, not structures
Build community capability and entrepreneurial capacity
Integrate services into neighbourhood ecosystems, not silos
Align public, private and community partners around a shared mission
Use real-world delivery as the engine of learning
Create long-term, investable models that reduce dependency and improve outcomes

This is not a pilot in name only. It is a delivery-ready framework for prevention, regeneration and neighbourhood-level system change.

Burmantofts (Lincoln Green), Leeds

Over the past nine months, our work in Leeds has become a nationally significant pathfinder for new models of integrated neighbourhood health.

Invited by senior NHS and City Council leaders, and supported by Baroness Blake, 360 Degree Society has worked intensively in Burmantofts (Lincoln Green) to co-design a model that integrates:

Primary care and community health
Early help and prevention
Community enterprise and skills
Regeneration, housing and public realm
Long-term stewardship and sustainability

This work has been carried out in deep partnership with:
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Leeds City Council, primary care, NHS Estates, VCFSE organisations and regeneration partners.

More Than a Building

Crucially, this work has shifted thinking beyond infrastructure.

The hub is now understood as:

A platform for community capability, not just a service location
A catalyst for prevention, not a reactive facility
An anchor for regeneration, enterprise and opportunity

The real transformation has been cultural: renewed energy, belief and confidence that change is possible — and achievable now.

A Replicable Model for National Neighbourhood Health

Alongside Leeds, we are developing aligned Integrated Neighbourhood Health pathways in Huddersfield, Surrey and York. Together, these places form the foundation of a national movement from service-led health to neighbourhood-led wellbeing.

“Buildings do not create transformation — people, culture and relationships do. Integrated neighbourhood health is about creating the conditions for health, belonging and opportunity to grow together.”
— 360 Degree Society

National Partnership Highlight: Barratt Redrow

In 2025, the 360 Degree Society continued to strengthen its strategic relationship with Barratt Redrow, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, building on several years of collaboration focused on placemaking, social value and long-term community wellbeing.

The first phase of the Barratt Redrow Social Value - Learning by Doing Academy has resulted in a shared approach is now embedded through an approved Social Value Toolkit. A framework that Social Value Champions and regional teams are actively using to drive locally relevant outcomes.

Cross-divisional collaboration and site-based learning have moved Social Value from concept to practice, with real sites testing and refining the methodology in live contexts. Strong executive engagement has reinforced leadership alignment, while a national network of trained Social Value Champions is building capability, peer learning and consistency. Together, this phase has established the conditions for sustained delivery, clearer impact evaluation and the successful scaling of Social Value in the next phase.

Through this partnership, the 360 Degree Society is working alongside Barratt Redrow to move beyond traditional development models, embedding people-centred, preventative and place-based approaches from the earliest stages of development. Together, we are working to ensure that new homes are not just places to live, but foundations for thriving, resilient communities. The partnership reflects a shared ambition to redefine what success looks like in development — shifting from short-term outputs to long-term outcomes for people and place.

We look forward to deepening this partnership in 2026, supporting the creation of communities that are not only well-built, but well-connected, well-supported and designed to thrive from day one.

Morgan Sindall Visit: Placemaking as a Health-Creating Act

360 Degree Society partnered with Morgan Sindall Construction’s Social Value Champions for A Place, A Street, A City — a two-day immersion in east London exploring how places, culture and work shape health and wellbeing.

Hosted at the Bromley by Bow Centre, the visit brought together leaders and practitioners to see placemaking in action. Through workshops, tours and conversations with community leaders, it became clear that health is created long before anyone meets a doctor — shaped instead by jobs, relationships, education and the environments we build.

Insights from Lord Andrew Mawson, local resident Sharon, and Professor Sir Sam Everington reinforced a shared belief: only around 20% of wellbeing comes from clinical care. The rest is influenced by purpose, connection and belonging. As Sam challenged the group:
“You’re not just building places. You’re building the health system of the future.”

From Bromley by Bow to Stratford and the Olympic Park, the visit showed how long-term partnerships and community-led regeneration can create thriving, connected neighbourhoods. The programme concluded with a collaborative workshop to develop a Morgan Sindall Placemaking Blueprint — a practical guide for leaving lasting, positive legacies.

For 360 Degree Society, the message was clear: when people flourish, places flourish — and when places flourish, so do people.

Launch of Strategic and Practical Advisory Support to Team Barrow

In 2025, the 360 Degree Society expanded its impact in place-based transformation by providing strategic and practical advisory support to Team Barrow, a major regeneration initiative for Barrow-in-Furness.

Team Barrow is a long-term regeneration partnership between the UK Government, Westmorland & Furness Council and BAE Systems, backed with over £200 million in investment and tasked with delivering a transformative 10-year plan for Barrow — aimed at revitalising the town’s economy, infrastructure, community services, and housing.

The advisory role from 360 Degree Society is bringing strategic insight and practical implementation support into this complex place transformation context. Our team are helping Team Barrow map out their transition from Vision to Mobilisation in 2026.

Prospect Business Consulting Joins 360 Degree Society

One of the most significant milestones in 2025 has been the formal acquisition of Prospect Business Consulting by Well North Enterprises, and the evolution of that partnership into 360 Degree Society — a national platform uniting communities, businesses and government to co-create a healthier, fairer and more connected society.

Prospect has spent over a decade building deep expertise in coaching, consulting and organisational development. Bringing Prospect’s people and practice into 360 Degree Society allows us to:

Strengthen our 360 Degree Society offer — supporting leaders and teams to build purposeful, high-performing cultures.
Provide more integrated support across strategy, leadership, culture, and delivery.
Scale our work nationally while staying rooted in local relationships.

We’re delighted that Donna Bradshaw remains closely involved as a Board member, ensuring Prospect’s purpose is carried forward within our shared mission.

As Lord Andrew Mawson OBE, our Chair, puts it: this is not about business as usual — it’s about taking a relationship-led, entrepreneurial approach to social and system innovation.

Our Model of Change in Action

Across all our work, our 360 Degree Society Model of Change has continued to shape how we support places and partners:

Deepening relationships between sectors and communities
Using data and local insight to understand need and potential
Backing entrepreneurial people with the tools, coaching and networks they need
Starting small, learning by doing, and scaling what works

In 2025 we’ve seen this model play out in many contexts — from national conferences and innovation platforms to community-led development and leadership programmes.

Strengthening Leadership Across Health and Care

Coaching and Leadership in the NHS Cancer Alliances

We’ve continued to walk alongside NHS Cancer Alliance leaders, particularly in the West Yorkshire and Harrogate, Northern, West Midlands, East Midlands and East of England Cancer Alliances.

Through tailored coaching programmes and leadership development, we’ve heard powerful feedback about the impact of this work:

Professional development

Stronger leadership confidence and clarity of purpose
Better decision-making in complex, pressured environments

Personal growth

Improved wellbeing and stress management
More honest, constructive relationships with colleagues

Organisational impact

Service improvements and better team dynamics
Higher levels of resilience, job satisfaction and retention

Participants consistently told us that coaching created a safe, supportive space to pause, reflect and reconnect with what matters, and that it has transformed how they see their role and contribution.

Our work with Effective Chairing Skills webinars and MDT development has helped clinical and operational leaders embed practical tools — from the “5 Ps” framework to clear ground rules and “car park” techniques — into everyday practice, making meetings more focused, inclusive and impactful.

WMCA Programme: Leading Through Change

With cohorts three and four from the West Midlands Cancer Alliance, we facilitated workshops at the Library of Birmingham exploring:

Psychological safety and team dynamics
Change models and accountability
Working with resistance in real-world systems

Participants used live challenges to apply theory in practice, consolidating learning across masterclasses and strengthening the relationships they’d begun to build earlier in the programme.

Across all these programmes, one theme stands out:

Leadership support in complex systems is not a luxury — it’s essential infrastructure for change.

Place-Based Innovation & the Built Environment

Healthy City Design Conference 2025

In October, we joined the Healthy City Design Congress 2025 as event partners — a milestone for our growing role in shaping healthier, fairer urban places.

Alongside the main agenda at Salford Quays, we hosted a fringe programme that focused on connection and place:

A Sunrise 5km run in partnership with #MileShyClub, founded by Jane Dennison — highlighting the power of movement and belonging for wellbeing.
A Stories of the Quays walking tour, led by local regeneration leaders — exploring how visionary planning and collaboration have transformed post-industrial docks into a vibrant, accessible neighbourhood.
A BeMore Breakfast networking session, hosted by Kash Haroon and Catherine Smith — a “jamming session” on listening, shared purpose and seeing from new perspectives before the formal conference day began.

These sessions reminded us that change doesn’t just happen in conference rooms. It’s often the informal conversations — over coffee, on a walk, or during a run — that spark new relationships and ideas.

“Shaping Our Future” at the National Theatre & UKREiiF

Earlier in the year, we co-hosted a special evening at the National Theatre with HLM Architects, exploring how entrepreneurial, people-first approaches to placemaking can create healthier, better-connected communities.

With contributions from:

Ashley Dalton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention
Jack Wagstaff, Place Leader for Surrey Downs
Lord Andrew Mawson OBE, sharing a 30-year story of “learning by doing” in East London

The evening highlighted what’s possible when health systems, local government, designers and communities work together around people and place, not silos and structures.

At UKREiiF, Lord Mawson’s keynote reinforced the same message: health, education and community are not ‘nice-to-haves’, but the essential foundations of thriving places. Our conversations with partners there underlined the appetite for social value-driven regeneration and innovative models of local collaboration.

Working with Morgan Sindall: Social Value and Just Transition

In partnership with Morgan Sindall Construction, we co-designed a two-day visit exploring social value, sustainability and just transition in practice.

Together with their social value and sustainability leads, we looked at:

How infrastructure projects can leave a meaningful legacy
How delivery partners can shape decisions about materials, design and community benefit
What it really means to build for future generations as well as today

Our Chief Social Impact Officer, Kris Mackay, framed it simply: meaningful legacy starts with shared intention, and with aligning purpose, practice and partnership so that people and planet are at the centre of every project.

Backing the Next Generation: STEAM and Skills

The National Science Programme

Our National Science Programme, led in partnership with Professor Brian Cox CBE FRS and Lord Andrew Mawson OBE, has continued to grow as a flagship initiative connecting young people with real-world STEAM opportunities.

Through events like:

North Star Science School in South Yorkshire
Brooklands Innovation Academy in Surrey
Programmes in Ballymena, London, Rotherham and Surrey

we’ve brought thousands of students into immersive, hands-on experiences with scientists, engineers, creatives and innovators.

Teachers tell us that these events:

Help young people see how school subjects link to real jobs
Raise aspirations, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds
Offer rare, high-quality experiences at no cost to schools, thanks to committed sponsors and partners

Researching Equal Access to STEAM Careers

With support from partners including the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and Work-Wise in Rotherham, we’ve been exploring how to make apprenticeships and vocational STEAM pathways more accessible — particularly for women, ethnic minorities and young people with disabilities.

Our emerging recommendations emphasise:

Early, inclusive engagement with vocational learning, starting in primary school
Better quality, visibility and reach of careers guidance and apprenticeship information
Targeted support for underrepresented groups
Innovative models like bitesize skills programmes and immersive workplaces to bridge the gap between education and industry

These insights are being built into the development of a new Apprenticeship Platform within Skills Street — an immersive world-of-work attraction in South Yorkshire designed to connect over 16,000 young people with local businesses every year.

Looking Ahead: Liverpool and Beyond

Alongside our established programme, we’re excited to be adding more places to the Science Summer School calendar.

We’re actively inviting new partners and sponsors to help us:

Keep events free and accessible to schools
Expand the national network of Science Programme locations
Build a pipeline of diverse talent for the UK’s STEAM industries

Convening a National Movement

#BeMore: Spaces for Honest Conversation

Our #BeMore series has grown into a regular gathering point for purpose-driven people who care about place, innovation and leadership.

In 2025 we:

Hosted a powerful BeMore event in April, exploring AI, system innovation and healthier communities, with contributions from Amir Hussain, Kash Haroon and Donna Bradshaw.
Continued to run BeMore Breakfasts and Lunchtime Learning sessions — including a July event with Kash Haroon on career transition support, responding to growing uncertainty and change in public services.
Took BeMore onto the Healthy City Design stage with breakfast networking sessions that brought together international delegates around the theme: connection creates change.

The message across all of these sessions has been clear:

Innovation thrives when people connect outside traditional silos
Technology should serve people, not the other way around
Safe, supportive spaces for honest dialogue are essential if we want fairer, healthier systems

Community AI, True North and National Partnerships

We’ve also deepened strategic partnerships with organisations that share our values:

Community AI — exploring how social value procurement and AI-enabled tools can transform corporate supply chains into engines for local impact.
Brabners True North — contributing to the Scaling Northern Ambition report and events, where Kris Mackay, chaired discussions on collaboration and place-based innovation.
Universities, housing partners and councils across Leeds, Sheffield, Surrey and beyond — working together on integrated health, housing and economic regeneration models.

These partnerships are helping us turn national ambition into local reality, one place at a time.

Looking to 2026: How Ready Is Your Place?

At Healthy City Design we launched our State of Readiness Assessment — a simple, 10-minute diagnostic tool helping place leaders explore how prepared their systems are to deliver healthier, fairer, more connected communities.

The tool looks at four key dimensions:

Inspire – Is there a shared, bold vision?
Connect – Do relationships and culture enable real collaboration?
Create – Are people genuinely co-designing priorities?
Do – Are skills, resources and governance in place to deliver at scale?

We’ll be using this framework throughout 2026 to help partners understand where they are today — and what small, purposeful steps can move them closer to integrated, people-first systems.

Join Us in Creating Change

Thank you for being part of the 360 Degree Society community. Together, in a year of uncertainty and transition, we’ve shown that relationships, courage and practical action still change things.

If you’d like to:

Explore leadership coaching or system development support
Partner with us on STEAM and skills programmes
Collaborate on place-based innovation, regeneration or social value
Or simply share what matters in your community

we’d love to hear from you.

- Visit: www.360degreesociety.org
- Get in touch: enquiries@360degreesociety.org

Let’s keep building this together.

The 360 Degree Society Team

360 Degree Society — 2025 Year in Review