How Local Coworking Spaces Become Catalysts for Community Impact

Imagine swapping the 2-hour commute for a 15-minute bike ride to the office – what would you do with the time you’ve saved? You might use it to build a growing network of neighbours, spend more quality time with family, or even volunteer with a local organisation, becoming more deeply rooted in your community. The opportunities are endless. At the center of it all is your local coworking space. Let’s explore how local coworking spaces act as catalysts for community impact. 

Strengthening a sense of neighbourhoodliness

With 45% of office workers embracing the rise of hybrid work lifestyles in 2023, their time is divided between home and the office, according to Ipsos Karian & Box. Responding to this shift, while supporting office workers who want to work closer to home, the last few years have seen a large number of coworking spaces open in secondary towns, on local high streets, and in rural areas. 

The Work Near Home concept, as it’s known, was coined by Freddie Fforde, founder of Patch (a neighborhood coworking brand) to describe a movement that’s more than just improving access to a desk and decent WIFI. According to Fforde, it’s “a new category to describe what we can achieve by reinvesting our time, money, and talent into places and people near where we live.” 

For example, neighborhood workspaces can cultivate meaningful connections among the workspace community. From the serial entrepreneur launching a new venture to the corporate worker whose company has leased a few hot desks in their local workspace to cut down the long commute –  these people may never have crossed paths if it wasn’t for their local coworking space. A local workspace becomes a meeting place for the local community to gather, and strengthen bonds beyond the workspace. 

The exchange of knowledge and support across these diverse groups greatly enriches their lives personally and professionally, with a sense of belonging boosting well-being. But, it also creates stronger local communities when people are more deeply connected. As Fforde puts it: This movement ‘reclaims our sense of pride in place and community spirit.’

Boosting local economies

Often, neighbourhood workspaces sit alongside other services, such as restaurants, cafes, gyms, local shops, and salons. Whether you’re grabbing lunch at the café next door with a friend, having a haircut at the salon down the road, or doing a workout at the gym around the corner – these services experience greater businesses when there’s a coworking space in town. 

Some workspaces double as event spaces. Local community members can hire space at Patch workspaces for children’s parties or workshops, for example, and the space is sometimes transformed into a pop-up shop activated by local business owners, including florists and bakers. Local coworking spaces even partner with providers to offer member discounts and incentives to spend locally, ensuring that money circulates within the community. This attracts even more businesses, revitalising towns, high streets, and rural areas.

Moreover, coworking spaces serve as launchpads for entrepreneurs and freelancers while offering established businesses opportunities to expand. For example, Barking Enterprise Centre, led by Karen Wylie-West, nurtures local startups and SMEs with resources and mentorship, supporting businesses to grow and stay in the area, and leading to greater career opportunities for local residents. It’s transforming the residential area from one marked by an industrial decline (Dagenham was once the location of Britain’s thriving Ford Factory until it closed down in the early 2000s) into a neighbourhood bursting full of new opportunities for local people. 

Regional cities have seen an uptick in demand for local coworking spaces, driven partly by corporations opening smaller, satellite offices in towns to support workers who want to work closer to home, and as they’ve downsized from a large HQ in the capital around the time of the pandemic. This presence increases job opportunities in the local area, benefitting graduates, for instance, giving them a reason to stay in their university towns, rather than losing talent to the capital. 

Equally, universities have partnered up with workspaces to provide greater access to opportunities. For instance, Birmingham’s STEAMHouse – a collective offering production facilities and workshops for scientists, designers, and innovators – is powered by the University of Birmingham. It exists to bring greater opportunities to entrepreneurial students in the city, again rooting the community to its location. 

Championing IDEA

Leading the way in promoting inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA), coworking spaces nurture equitable economic growth and access to employment for individuals who may have been underserved. Impact Brixton, for example, introduced The Impact Exchange Programme – exchanging free access to the workspace for volunteer contributions to maintaining the workspace. This initiative, aimed at improving local socioeconomic divisions (driven by rising house prices displacing residents), provides greater access to a professional space while connecting a network of peers, skill-building resources, and new opportunities. 

Some spaces hire locally, providing employment opportunities within the community while strengthening the connection of the workspace and its members to the space location. Additional programmes and workshops open the doors to upskilling people and being inclusive of people who are otherwise unable to access a professional workspace.

For this reason, some local councils in the UK (examples being Islington and Hackney councils), have introduced affordable workspace schemes to deliver social value and serve the local community with more affordable rates on office space. 

This can be particularly effective for people with disabilities, who are often excluded from employment opportunities. Between October and December 2023, 4.35 million people with disabilities in the UK were “economically inactive.” By creating a space inclusive of people with disabilities, coworking operators can bring about a greater sense of belonging within the community, while increasing access to opportunities – creating an overall inclusive, happier, and healthier community at large. 

The beating heart of local ecosystems

Local coworking spaces do much more than bring people together – neighbourhood workspaces act as community catalysts unlocking equitable access to opportunities, supporting inclusive growth, and empowering local people, businesses and neighbours.

By focusing on social value, coworking spaces are regenerating neighborhoods, promoting sustainable economic development, and building stronger, more connected communities for everyone.