Community Connectors: Care that grows from conversation

At its heart, the work of Community Connectors in Lincolnshire is deceptively simple: listen carefully, build relationships, and help people and communities connect the dots.

But, as the stories shared by Community Connectors Mike Farley and Jo Taylor reveal, this approach has profound implications for wellbeing, prevention, and how care is designed and delivered.

Across towns, villages, and rural communities, connectors act as facilitators, listeners, and champions - not delivering to communities, but with them. What emerges is a powerful, strengths-based model of care that puts people, place, and possibility first.

Personalisation begins with listening

A recurring theme throughout our conversation with Mike and Jo is that personalised care cannot be prescribed from the top down. It has to begin with understanding what matters to people where they are. And It must be shaped by the unique character of each place.

With Lincolnshire spanning urban centres, market towns and deeply rural villages, a single model would fail quickly. What works in Grantham won’t necessarily work in Gainsborough or Mablethorpe. That’s why flexibility is essential.

Rather than arriving with ready-made solutions, connectors begin by listening. They learn what already exists, what’s missing, and what people actually want, not what professionals assume they need.

Jo: “The role of a Community Connector is different around the county because every community is different and every community needs a different personalised response. We can’t go to them and say this is what we’re going to do - it’s 'What does our community need?'”

This mindset challenges traditional service models that assume one size fits all. Instead, Community Connectors adapt constantly, responding to local strengths, gaps, and priorities. In practice, that might mean supporting a dementia singing group in one village, a chair-based yoga session in another, or simply sitting with someone who needs space to talk.

Mike: “We have to be very fluid in what we do, and we have to be very person-focused and person-centred - because that’s the only way it’s going to work.”

Strengths-based approaches: Building on what's already there

Community Connectors consistently frame their role around amplifying strengths rather than fixing problems.

Jo describes the work as “the bits in between the cobweb,” linking people, groups and organisations together. “We work with some incredible community groups,” she says. “We don’t want to take away from that, we want to complement it.”

This strengths-based approach recognises that communities already hold enormous assets: skills, relationships, creativity, and care. Often, the Connector’s role is simply to help those strengths connect and grow.

Mike: “We’ve just done a few bits - pulled some threads together - but then the community’s taken it and is living it.”

That shift in emphasis, from service delivery to community enablement, marks a fundamental change in how care is understood.

Place-based care: Why where support happens matters

Again and again during our conversation, Jo and Mike returned to the importance of place. Wellbeing Hubs, satellite hubs, and village-based activities provide accessible, familiar spaces where people feel comfortable and safe.

What matters most is not the label on the building, but how it feels to be there. As Mike puts it, feedback often comes down to one powerful phrase: “This is a place where I can be me...a ‘home from home’ or a ‘safe space’." 

For rural communities, this local access is crucial. Transport, cost, and confidence can all be barriers to support. Bringing activities into villages, rather than expecting people to travel, removes those obstacles.

Jo: “People shouldn’t be disadvantaged purely because they live in a village. The rurality of Lincolnshire is huge."

Relationships before referrals

Another defining feature of the Community Connector role is its relational depth. Connectors operate across multiple levels, from strategic partnership meetings to deeply personal, one-to-one conversations.

Mike: “I can be in a strategic conversation with the City Council one moment, or I can be sat with someone who just needs to tell their story at that moment, and have that heard.”

That ability to build trust over time creates opportunities for early support and prevention. Jo describes following people “throughout their whole life journey,” becoming someone they trust to talk honestly with about what’s really going on.

Jo: “They trust me. They chat with me. I get to hear what really is going on on the ground.”

This trust allows connectors to spot issues early, offer support gently, and connect people to services in a way that feels human rather than transactional.

It also provides invaluable insight back into the system.

Jo: “As professionals, we often think everyone knows about certain support, but when you’re actually talking to people, they don’t. The say ‘What’s that? I don’t know what you’re talking about.’”

Small connections, life-changing impact

In our conversation with Jo and Mike, stories emerged that reveal how small, human moments can spark life-changing outcomes.

Jo shares the story of a man who attended an Ageing Well event almost by accident after receiving a text from his GP. Initially hesitant, he was gently encouraged to explore activities that matched his interests. Weeks later, Jo found him at a bowling green “with the biggest smile on his face.”

Jo: “He said, ‘They’ve become my family'. He didn’t really have a reason to get up every day before. Now he does.”

Mike recounts another powerful example from a wellbeing café, where a young woman initially sat colouring in silence. Over time, trust grew, conversations followed, and eventually she accessed the professional support she needed. Months later, she returned with her boyfriend, and now in employment, simply to say thank you.

Mike: “It was just time. Time given, without pressure.”

Co-production and 'open-handed' partnership

The work of Community Connectors doesn't happen in isolation. 

Jo: “This isn’t one person’s or one organisation’s to own. It’s that joined-up partnership that makes it work.”

Mike describes this as “open-handedness” - sharing space, resources, and credit. Whether partnering with churches, councils, charities, or informal community groups, the focus is on collective impact rather than organisational branding.

Importantly, partnerships are resourced, not just talked about.

Mike: “We don’t just talk partnership. We actually resource partnership - and that’s when change really happens.”

This approach helps break down silos and allows support to flow naturally across sectors, from voluntary and faith groups to statutory services.

Safety to be yourself

Perhaps the most powerful theme running through our conversation with Jo and Mike was safety - emotional, social, and psychological.

In community groups, people are free to laugh, cry, sit quietly, or sing loudly.

Jo: “They don’t have to think about everything else that’s going on outside. It is their safe space.”

That sense of belonging is deeply therapeutic in itself. As Mike notes, it doesn’t matter whether a group carries an NHS logo or a transformation badge. What matters is that people feel they belong.

“When I hear people say, ‘This is where I can be me,’ then I think we’re doing something good.”

Conclusion: Care that grows from conversation

What emerges from the insight and experiences Jo and Mike shared is a compelling vision of care, one that grows from conversation, is rooted in place, and builds on strengths rather than deficits.

This is care that values time, relationships, and trust. Care that recognises communities as partners, not problems. And care that understands that sometimes the most powerful intervention is simply being present.

Jo: “Everything starts with a conversation.”

In Lincolnshire, those conversations are quietly changing lives.