Locality analysis

The unique demographic and socio-economic profile of Springfield Ward in Hackney has significant implications for how Equal Care Co-op plans, delivers, and evaluates care. By aligning our Outputs and Outcomes with local realities, we aim to ensure that our model is inclusive, effective, and deeply rooted in the community it serves.

Implications for Targeted Outputs

Circle Outputs

Springfield’s diverse cultural and religious make-up — particularly the presence of one of Europe’s largest Orthodox Jewish communities — requires that our multi-stakeholder service evaluations consider not only accessibility but cultural and religious compatibility. This includes capturing feedback that reflects the varied values and expectations of different groups.

Circle recruitment efforts can benefit from the area’s high numbers of part-time workers and individuals without formal qualifications, especially those already engaged in caregiving roles or service work. This provides an opportunity to:

• Build teams that reflect the local demographic

• Engage younger adults and parents active within their families or communities

• Create trust through familiarity and shared lived experience

Volunteer engagement is another promising area. Traditions of mutual aid—especially in Orthodox Jewish and other community groups—can be harnessed through partnerships with faith institutions and grassroots groups, enriching the quality of life for care recipients and workers alike.

Team Outputs

The high prevalence of long-term illness and disability in Springfield means integrated care planning is essential. Teams must:

• Collaborate closely with local healthcare professionals

• Provide consistent, informed care that meets complex physical and mental health needs

Family-based care preferences — particularly common within the Orthodox Jewish community — make it essential that people can build care teams made up of friends, relatives, and trusted volunteers. This supports personalised, values-aligned care that feels safe and familiar.

Flexible scheduling is key. With high levels of part-time work and unpaid care duties, many residents need adaptable working patterns. Offering flexibility supports retention and makes care work viable for more people.

Commons Outputs

The commons have a major role to play in mobilising Springfield’s latent care wealth. Given the area’s high levels of deprivation, structured volunteering and mutual support networks can both support care provision and provide meaningful engagement for those at risk of exclusion.

Partnerships with religious groups and community organisations can help establish systems for time-banking, skill-sharing, and gifted care — reinforcing local traditions of support and deepening collective ownership of care.

These networks are not just useful for care delivery but are key cultural assets. Circles and teams that engage with them will not only be more effective but more trusted, rooted, and relevant.

Implications for Targeted Outcomes

Growth Outcomes

To feel in control of their care, individuals need services that understand and respect their cultural and religious identity. For example:

• Sabbath observance

• Gender preferences in care delivery

• Dietary laws Co-designing care plans with families and respecting communal structures enhances autonomy and satisfaction.

For care workers, growth outcomes hinge on improving livelihoods and security. The prevalence of economic hardship highlights the need for:

• Fair pay

• Stable hours

• Opportunities for progression This also strengthens recruitment and workforce stability.

Given the area’s lower educational attainment, training and peer learning are crucial for growing expertise. Accessible, ongoing learning opportunities will help local workers gain confidence and competence.

Systems Maintenance & Co-production Outcomes

Trusting relationships with professionals are vital in areas with complex health needs. To support this, teams need:

• Integrated care planning with local health services

• Feedback mechanisms that keep care responsive and adaptable

Springfield is rich in community spaces — from religious centres to grassroots venues. These can become hubs for:

• Team-building

• Peer-support

• Social gatherings …helping meet the goal of flexible, community-led care.

The ability to self-organise care is especially powerful in a context where formal services are often overstretched or underfunded. By enabling care receivers to choose their team members, the co-op’s model aligns well with Springfield’s family-oriented, culturally grounded approach to care.

Well-being, Relationships & Belonging Outcomes

Emotional well-being and a sense of safety are especially important in an area where deprivation and crime levels are high. Care must foster:

• Consistency and trust in relationships

• Cultural sensitivity in delivery

• Visible community presence to build local credibility

Springfield’s history of mutual aid and communal identity offers fertile ground for increasing belonging and connection. By amplifying this — through shared meals, collaborative activities, and gifting practices — we not only improve well-being but help secure the long-term sustainability of our care ecosystem.

Reducing reliance on paid care, particularly in financially pressured communities, is a key long-term goal. This can be supported through:

• Greater family and community involvement

• A culture of gifting time and care

• Increased self-determination for those receiving care

Finally, enhancing safety and trust within the care relationship is a core priority. This means recruiting and training care workers who are recognised, respected, and embedded in the local context.

Summary

Springfield Ward’s demographic and socio-economic profile brings both challenges and unique opportunities. To succeed here, Equal Care Co-op must focus on:

• Culturally appropriate care

• Flexible and secure employment for care workers

• Deep relationships with community and faith groups

• A values-driven model that reflects Springfield’s strengths

When care is designed and delivered in collaboration with the people who live it, and rooted in the cultural logic of place. It becomes not just a service but a shared act of community building.