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Torbay Communities is happy to bring you the latest updates on Torquay’s £20 million pound Pride in Place funding allocation.

 

We were recently awarded the Torquay Pride in Place Community Support contract, to work alongside the Torquay Place Leadership Board and Torbay Council to deliver the £20 million pounds invested into our Torquay Community.

 

First, we wanted to take the opportunity to give you all the information to date on the Torquay Pride in Place work, so please read about the background to Pride in Place and catch up on all that has been happening over the last year.

 

Over the next few months, we’ll bring you updates on how the 2026/27 funded projects are progressing, together with the impacts they are starting to make on the local community. We’ll also let you know more about how the Board are preparing for the 2027-28 funding allocations.

Pride in Place is the government ‘s plan to create safer, healthier neighbourhoods where communities can thrive. It sets out how we will deliver a step change in how the government supports communities across the country and provide long-term funding to the most disadvantaged areas.

 

The Pride in Place Strategy was developed in consultation with communities and local people. It represents a break from the past, a new way for government to work in partnership with communities and neighbourhoods, empowering them with the tools and levers to drive meaningful change that reflects their priorities.

 

The money can be spent on physical improvements including:

 

  • Improving neighbourhoods
  • Improving Town Centres
  • Housing
  • Arts
  • Culture and Heritage
  • Crime and Safety
  • Transport
  • Education and Opportunity
  • Work and Skills
  • Health
  • Wellbeing
  • Sport

 

Torquay was one of the very first locations across the UK to benefit from Pride in Place funding, receiving an award of £20 millions pounds to be invested over 10 years from April 2026, to be administrated by Torbay Council. 75% of the money is restricted to capital and 25% for revenue.

This is how the Torquay Pride in Place work has progressed since the £20 million award was announced.

 

In mid-2025 the Torquay Place Leadership Board was formed to jointly make decisions on how the money should be allocated. The board is made up of a number of community leaders with representatives from, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundations, Torquay Ward Councillor, Member of Parliament for the Torbay Constituency, Devon and Cornwall Police, Sound Communities, Windmill Centre, Torquay Town Deal Board, South Devon College, English Riviera Bid Company, Torbay Council,  Melville Community Group, Faith Community, Stagecoach South West, Devon Chamber of Commerce, Community Partnership, Torbay Business Forum, Sanctuary Housing, Turning Heads, Department for Work and Pensions, Torquay United.

 

The Torquay Place Leadership Board meets quarterly throughout the year at the Town Hall, Banking Hall at Castle Circus, these meetings are open to the public. To find our more, please click here.

 

In the summer of 2025 Torbay Communities were commissioned by the Torquay Place Leadership Board to lead community consultations, successfully reaching over 1,200 Torquay residents from across our community, who told us what mattered to them about the place they live and work.

 

The findings of that community survey, shaped and set the priorities of Torquay’s Pride in Place work, the key priorities of our community were:

 

  • Physically improving our town centre
  • Helping reduce crime and making people feel safe
  • Physically improving our neighbourhoods
  • Improving life chances through new work and skills opportunities

 

The Plan for Neighbourhoods engagement report can be accessed here.

 

In the autumn of 2025, local community organisations were invited to workshops delivered by Torbay Communities and supported by Torbay Council.

 

The workshops were designed to inform our community organisations and leaders about Pride in Place in Torquay, the governments aspirations for the programme and the prioritise of our community.

 

Torbay Communities offered support to local organisations who wanted to put forward proposals to the Torquay Place Leadership Board for Pride in Place funding, whilst also joining up any organisations who could work together to deliver more impact through their work and the available funding.

 

In total 63 proposals from local organisations were put forward to the Board for consideration.

 

The Board made the decision on which proposals best met the criteria within the 4 community priorities. 30 were selected in total to progress to the next stage.

 

In autumn of 2025, the government confirmed the spending allocation for the first four years of Pride in Place:

 

2026 -2027 2027 -2028 2028-2029 2029-2030 Total
Revenue Funding £232,000 £256,000 £432,000 £432,000 £1,352,000
Capital Funding £360,000 £1,736,00 £1,605,00 £1,605,00 £5,306,000
Total £6,658,000

 

In late 2025 and early 2026 the selected applicants were brought together through several workshops delivered by Torbay Communities to support collaboration and the completion of full business cases for consideration by the Torbay Place Leadership Board.

 

From April to July 2026 the Board considered and assessed all the business cases through a fair and rigorous process.

 

The Pride in Place funding for 2026-2027 was allocated to the following successful projects:

 

Grant Recipient Project Capital Revenue Total
St Mary Magdalene Church The project will deliver the continuation and enhancement of “The Living Room” at St Mary Magdalene Church, a well-established community provision supporting individuals experiencing homelessness, rough sleeping, and multiple complex needs £3,600 £34,000 £37,600
Royal Lyceum Theatre Revitalisation The first phase of a programme of capital works to restore and revitalise the Royal Lyceum Theatre, safeguarding it as a historic asset and transforming it into a sustainable, community-led cultural hub £141,587 £0.00 £141,587
Ellacombe Community Multi-Use Facility First phase of the regeneration of the Ellacombe Church building, transforming a long-vacant Grade II listed asset into a safe, accessible, and sustainable multi-use community facility. £60,000 £0.00 £60,000
Barton Recreation Ground Community Hub Feasibility study to transform an underused site into an integrated community, health, wellbeing and sports facility. £0.00 £60,000 £60,000
Higher Union Street Regeneration Delivering a targeted programme of improvements to Higher Union Street, focused on enhancing the physical environment and strengthening community activity £10,740 £8,500 £19,240
Windmill Centre The project will deliver a comprehensive feasibility study to guide the transformation of the Windmill Centre into a modern Health and Wellbeing Hub. £0.00 £21,000 £21,000
Melville Community Hub The project will deliver a fully equipped and accessible community space through the installation and conversion of a shipping container. £50,000 £0.00 £50,000
Business Led Town Centre Improvements Delivering a coordinated programme of improvements to help revitalise Torquay Town Centre £46,750 £41,806 £88,556
Children’s Society and Sound Communities, Time for Young People Town Centre Hub First stage transformation including consultations, mobilisation and design, turning a vacant retail unit within Torquay town centre into a vibrant, accessible, and fully inclusive community hub for children and young people aged up to 25. £45,833 £44,695 £90.528
South Devon Creative and Cultural Incubation Hub  

Feasibility study to ascertain the possible transformation of a long-dormant and underutilised space within Fleet Walk into a vibrant creative, cultural, and enterprise hub for Torquay.

 

 £0.00 £22,000 £22,000
Total allocation 2026/27 £358,510 £232,001 £590,511

In September 2026 the Torquay Place Leadership Board will meet to review the Torquay Pride in Place process to date, with a focus on continuous improvement and public priorities to be addressed in 2027. We will update this page as new information becomes available.