Mend

Mend is a social enterprise rooted in the 'right to the city', active citizenship, and social capital traditions of urban and city studies. They see the 'Community as Client' and aim to elevate the role of communities in decision-making about their local area and city. Their core model helps businesses understand the skills and talent in local communities to achieve value gain for both sides.

Mend works with communities, businesses, and organisations to enable them to work positively together to identify and deliver change in their local area. This includes advocacy and managing relationships between different stakeholders, helping stakeholders navigate through the development and planning process, and supporting the design, development, and funding of community-led projects.

The business helps broker community permission for development and establishes who the community client is. They also help stakeholders maximise the benefits and opportunities arising from the regeneration process by unlocking social capital and resources that already exist within the community.

Their approach focuses on enabling instead of leading the process to ensure ownership and local pride in the end result. They use participatory design to support the community taking a stake in decision making and diffuse situations of conflict through open dialogue.

The business fosters positive relationships between design and development partners and a broad spectrum of people from across the community. They achieve this by focusing on developing the skills and confidence within the community to fully participate and have a meaningful dialogue.

The result of their work is projects that are locally relevant, have greater local ownership, and are sustainable. The social capital galvanized through this approach can be recycled as a valuable resource for other projects going forward.

Some reviewers on Trustburn say the team is highly skilled, professional, and efficient, with a strong attention to detail and prompt response. They also note that the team is friendly, knowledgeable, and goes above and beyond to meet expectations.

Some reviewers mention that the team delivered outstanding results in a short time and provided exceptional service that exceeded their expectations. Others highlight the professional and friendly nature of the team during their interactions.

Mend's website, mendlondon.blogspot.com, was posted in July 2012, and they also referenced a new website at mendlondon.org.uk in March 2012. They have been active in the community since at least 2012 based on their online presence.

The business is based in the US and operates as a social enterprise with roots in urban and city studies. They work with a diverse range of actors including urban designers, community workers, housing trusts, voluntary organisations, networkers, and think tanks.

The business helps communities and business unlock the social capital, resources, and potential that already exists within the community. They aim to help communities help themselves by fostering positive relationships and developing local capacity.

The official website of Mend is mendlondon.blogspot.com.