Crown: The Space Between

Community spaces across the UK are disappearing.

Behind the headlines about funding cuts are the very real consequences: youth clubs shutting their doors, centres falling into disrepair and communities losing the places that once held them together.

Crown Paints asked us to bring their purpose – to help everyone paint their own possible – to life in a way that delivered real, tangible impact. As a brand rooted in creating happy and healthy spaces, we began with a simple provocation: what happens when those spaces disappear? What happens when people no longer have the places that help them connect and thrive?

To understand the scale of the problem, we issued FOI requests to councils across the country. The findings were stark: funding for community services had fallen by 18% in just two years. But statistics alone couldn’t show what this really meant for people’s lives. So we told the story of one space that embodied the crisis.

Brockmoor Community Centre in Dudley – the worst-affected council in the UK – had been rescued from closure by volunteers. Once a vibrant hub, it had become run down and uninspiring. Young people stayed away, choosing instead to gather in streets and car parks. It was the perfect illustration of what happens when the “spaces between” work and home aren’t prioritised.

Crown partnered with BBC Interior Design Masters winner Banjo Beale to turn things around. With the help of local volunteers, we transformed Brockmoor with colour and creativity to show what renewed investment in shared spaces can do for the community.

The transformation was only the beginning. Crown launched a national petition calling for long-term government investment in community spaces, and committed to donating 50,000 litres of paint each year through our Project Possible programme to help revitalise centres just like Brockmoor across the UK.

The campaign struck a chord. It generated widespread national coverage and sparked thousands of conversations about the value of shared spaces. Dudley Council reinstated £240,000 of community funding. Fifty centres contacted Crown asking for help. And every one received support.

Most importantly, Brockmoor regained what it had lost: a bright, welcoming, thriving space.

By pairing hard data with human storytelling, The Space Between reframed community hubs not as forgotten buildings, but as essential spaces of connection and possibility – and made the case for why they must be protected before it’s too late.