Who’s in the Network?
Types of Care Actors
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Types of Care Actors
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The Clapton Common area is home to a rich mix of people, groups and organisations contributing to care and support in different ways. Our map brings visibility to this care ecosystem, showcasing the wide range of actors whose relationships and contributions help sustain community well-being.
Below are the main types of actors represented in our map: each playing a distinct role in shaping the local landscape of care.
These are local residents who offer time, care or skills to others in their neighbourhoods. They’re not part of a formal group, but their informal support - checking in on a neighbour, giving a lift, helping with shopping or childcare - forms the foundation of community care. Motivated by relationships, values, or a sense of shared responsibility, they are often the quiet connectors behind local resilience.
These are informal, volunteer-led groups rooted in local knowledge and trust. They usually operate without a legal structure or formal funding, and focus on:
Peer support
Mutual aid
Community-building They are often highly responsive and flexible—filling gaps where more formal services can’t reach.
These are registered charities or community interest companies (CICs) providing services to particular groups or needs. Many collaborate with statutory services and employ a mix of paid staff and volunteers. They typically:
Deliver care and support to specific populations
Offer structure, consistency and capacity
Bridge the gap between local government services and community needs
These businesses exist to address social or environmental problems through trade. Their impact might be direct (e.g. delivering food or care), or indirect (e.g. offering wellbeing services, tech access or safe gathering spaces). They reinvest profits into community outcomes, often acting as allies in care provision and community development.
These organisations tend to be more formal and well-established, often acting as a physical or symbolic hub for services. They may coordinate:
Health and wellbeing activities
Advice services
Community gatherings or education They play a key role in connecting different parts of the care landscape.
These include social workers, district nurses, NHS mental health teams, and other care professionals commissioned by the local authority or NHS.
While they are an essential part of the wider care system, they are not currently included on the map. This is partly:
A design choice: our pilot focused on mapping community-led networks
A reflection of reality: it proved difficult to build sustained collaborative links with statutory services in this phase
This absence is significant. It highlights the lack of integration between formal services and the informal care networks already active in the community.