About Us

Our vision and mission

Southampton Collective is a social enterprise committed to a healthier, more sustainable city of Southampton, powered by its communities. We are passionate about sustainable, regenerative futures, with no one left behind. We are committed to working collaboratively, with communities and residents bringing their collective wisdom and drive to make change happen. By coming together with others who have a stake in the city and imagining the future together, we believe we can achieve the change that is needed

Our background

The Southampton Collective is a social enterprise that was set up in 2016 to progress collaborative projects in the city. We have been involved in key roles in a number of exciting projects, including: 

TEDxSouthampton 2016 and 2018, Riverfest 2017, Climate Conversations, Art in Health, Southampton City Vision, Breathing Spaces, Growing Places, Take Me to the Sea, Southampton Climate Action Network, Southampton Coproduction Corner, Generations of Regeneration and Beat the Heat. We have also supported Dead Good Days and Drawing on the Outside .

We have been a small organisation so far, but we are growing. We are building capacity to do more in the city, particularly around neighbourhood-level change, the intersection between health and climate change, and the importance of green infrastructure and skills. During 2026, we are reviewing our governance and priorities, to make sure that we are having the best impact that we can, and that we do our work as well as possible.

From our inception, we have always encouraged the following into to be a key element of our work:

• resilient communities and grassroots-led action;
• health and wellbeing for all;
• creativity and the arts;
• fairness and inclusion;
• environmental sustainability, with a greener and more locally-owned economy; and
• cross sector collaboration, including linking our work and residents with local government, academics and research.

As well as co-creating and delivering projects alongside our local communities, we also support others to introduce community development approaches, coproduction and sustainable practice into their work. For example, in 2024 we delivered coordination of Southampton Coproduction Corner for Southampton Voluntary Services, and in 2025, we delivered training on engaging community participants in research with Unviersity of Southampton's Faculty of Medicine. Our Co-Directors are experienced at policy development as well as the direct delivery of projects.

The vast majority of our funding is project-specific from a mixture of grant funding, contracts and consultancy. Our organisation was built up over many years using the kind goodwill of many people. We are hugely grateful to those people who have been part of the Southampton Collective over the years and helped us deliver different projects. We welcome people who can volunteer their time, but we also recognise that there is a limit to what can be achieved through volunteering alone. We are very appreciative of organisations who can give us both short and long term funding or contracts in order to keep us going. We always look at opportunities to fund people's time wherever possible.

If you are involved in Southampton in some capacity and share our values, you can become a Member of our organisation, by completing a Membership Form. It is free to join and will show your support for all we are trying to achieve. It also means you can get involved in decisions and/or in delivery of projects should you wish. Email hello [at] socollective.org.uk for a copy of the Membership Form.

The community development values of The Southampton Collective are to:

• Protect natural resources and actively pursue a low carbon economy
• Contribute to a vibrant city, supporting local arts and heritage
• Promote good health and the furtherance of education
• Foster co-production within our community and local governing bodies

Header image: Pexels/Fauxels