The first use of the term Anchor Organisation was in the government report Firm Foundations, which was published by the Home Office in 2004 when David Blunkett was Home Secretary. This radical document is the government's official framework for community capacity building and it states: "We are calling them `community anchor organisations` because of the solid foundation they give to a wide variety of self help and capacity building activities in local communities and because of their roots within their communities." In 2005, the Home Office funded the Community Alliance to develop the `Anchor` concept and to promote the model around England. The Community Alliance website carries information, historical and current.

In June this year (2007) the Dept. of Communities and Local Government published a draft of its Third Sector Strategy in which CAOs feature prominently. The Strategy refers to the `Firm Foundations` origin of the term `Anchors` but also offers a carefully developed definition of what it is intended to signify.

"Working with the Office of the Third Sector, we are exploring the increasing potential of approaches involving `community anchor` organisations. These are independent community led organisations with multi-purpose functions, which provide a focal point for local communities and community organisations, and for community services. They often own and manage community assets, and support small community organisations to reach out across the community."

It's worth remembering that the notion of a CAO is an abstraction. In the real world no one sets up a CAO as such. The community sets up an organisation to deliver one on more services it needs; housing, childcare, a building, whatever...The CAO concept is a way of recognizing and labelling some common practices and functions among community organisations which have been sucessful. What are the distinctive features of the organisations which have most effectively delivered empowerment to thier communities? The six characteristics offered bellow seem to recur most frequently.



Six indicative characteristics

Under Community control
CAOs are independent organizations under community control. They may engage in joint venture/partnerships with public or private bodies - but are themselves accountable to the communities they serve and have mechanisms of local accountability.

Multi-purpose functions
CAOs address the needs of their area in a multi-purpose, holistic way and are typically engaged in a wide range of activities. They take an overview of their community's needs. Community organisations which continue to operate with a single purpose eg housing, childcare or transport, while vitally important would not be able to fulfill the 'anchor role'.

Provide a physical hub
CAOs will often operate from a building which acts as a focal point and a gathering place for the community. They can act as the `engine house` for the development of the community sector in their area, supporting and helping to build the confidence of smaller groups.

Providing leadership
CAO's will often assume a "leadership" role within a community. They can provide support and assistance to the many less formal community groups operating in the area - including some of the most marginalised in the community. Many CAOs are structured to represent the views of local people and have networks reaching beyond their community - particularly to public bodies.

Focal point for community services
CAOs can provide communities with an opportunity to assess the range and quality of local services available and to participate in the planning of new services. They can also provide services directly themselves through community led enterprises and act as a gateway to other services.

Own and manage local assets
In order to achieve economic stability CAOs look to acquire and develop assets both for their own use and to provide a sustainable income. CAOs which can generate core income independent of public bodies have more autonomy.

Few Anchors will match all 6 of the above characteristics but they offer a model of what the ideal would look like. If the government adopts the term CAO, and it becomes widely used, pressure will grow for a standard definition, but LPL believes that it would do more harm than good if this were to become too prescriptive. Anchors are created by local people in response to local needs and they will all be different. The next section offers examples of this diversity.