What we do

Although DTA Wales is a membership organisation for development trusts, we don’t just deliver services for our Members. We also have a range of programmes and services which benefit the wider third sector in Wales.

All our work is structured around 3 core areas which tie into our mission and values:

Community enterprise – we encourage development trusts and other community organisations to cultivate community enterprises for long term sustainability

Community ownership of assets – we support communities considering taking on land and buildings across Wales, or help develop those already in community ownership

Communities supporting communities – we use a peer support approach where possible in order to carry out community led regeneration in communities across Wales

Provide grassroots support: We provide support to our Members and Deliver a range of peer support programmes for the Third sector in Wales and Help negotiate better deals on utilities such as gas and electricity contracts so community organisations pay less.

We…

Produce resources for the sector: Such as our Assets Portal and DTA For Purpose Healthcheck Tool

Support Policy Development: We advocate on behalf of the development trust movement and third sector in Wales

Deliver consultancy services: We support communities to take on and develop community owned assets such as land and buildings following an asset transfer from public or private bodies

You can find out more about the specific programmes and services we deliver from the links on this section of the site. Click here to see some of our previous programmes.

Our current Programmes include:

Egin:  Helping communities tackle climate change and live more sustainably through Peer Mentoring support. We are already creating the Egin Online Community, a growing community of practice and online space for individuals and organisations in Wales who are working on community-led climate initiatives or want to learn more.

Community Ownership Fund: Supporting communities to buy community-owned assets at risk of closure

Social Business Wales: Supporting start-up and growing social businesses. DTA Wales is a full consortium member alongside Cwmpas, UnLtd and Social Firms Wales.

Our other services include:

Energy Action Group – a bulk purchasing scheme to drive down energy costs for communities

Consultancy Services – this includes short term contracts as well as long term support contracts

Policy work – We believe that local community organisations provide solutions to many of the complex social, economic and environmental challenges facing our communities. We feed into their experiences to change policy and create a more enabling environment in Wales for community enterprise and ownership of assets.