Anchor organisations

Last year, the annual Director of Public Health report highlighted the role of anchor organisations in supporting the health and wellbeing of the residents of Gloucestershire.

“Anchor organisations are large organisations that are unlikely to relocate and have a significant stake in their local area. They have sizeable assets that can be used to support their local community’s health and wellbeing and tackle health inequalities.”[i]

The report outlined the benefits of taking this approach and made recommendations around five key areas:

• Employment – the role of anchor organisations in recruiting and retaining local staff, particularly those from more disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Procurement and commissioning – how goods and services can be procured so that organisations that know their local communities can effectively provide these services.
• Buildings and capital – ensuring that anchor institutions make their spaces available for community use, and how they can support access to affordable housing for staff.
• Environment – how anchor organisations can help Gloucestershire meet its carbon neutral targets, as well as supporting improvement of air quality and the local environment.
• Partnering in place – working in partnership across Gloucestershire with other anchors and with communities in a strengths-based way.

To aid organisations in embedding an anchors approach internally, a self-assessment framework has been developed to suit local needs and priorities. The framework aims to help organisations to capitalise on their power and role as an inclusive anchor institution. It acts as a tool for organisations to use to self-assess where they are now against each dimension, and to then to support them in deciding where they want to be and the actions they can take to get there.