“We’re definitely a charity, but we have to operate as a business. We’re a local business with social outcomes, not financial outcomes.”
It’s not the answer most people expect from the Chief Executive of a charity. But as Stephen Craker explains it, that’s precisely what allows Communities 1st to fulfil its purpose.
Communities 1st supports people and organisations across Hertfordshire in a range of ways, from volunteering and community transport to health and wellbeing, social inclusion and creative programmes. It also works alongside local organisations and community groups, helping connect people with the support, opportunities and relationships they need to thrive.
For many organisations, growth is the measure of success. More staff. Bigger budgets. New locations. Communities 1st sees things differently.
Stephen describes the principle as focusing less on becoming bigger and more on making a bigger difference.
That principle has helped shape many important decisions the organisation has made over the past decade.
It helps explain why Communities 1st has worked with charities facing change or uncertainty, and why it has invested in partnerships rather than trying to do everything itself. It also explains why, even as the organisation has developed over the years, Stephen still talks far more about protecting services than increasing the size of the organisation.
Growth, in itself, has never been the objective. Impact has.
Stronger Together
Communities 1st officially launched in 2018, but its story began long before that. Across Hertfordshire, two long-established charities had spent decades supporting their respective communities, each with very different strengths.
One organisation had built deep experience delivering frontline services but had very limited financial resources. The other was financially stronger but focused primarily on supporting voluntary organisations rather than working directly with local people.
Many organisations in that situation might have viewed each other as competitors. Instead, they asked a different question. What could they achieve together that neither could achieve alone? The answer was a merger built not on survival, but on shared purpose.
Stephen describes the merger as “two equals coming together,” rather than one organisation rescuing the other. That distinction mattered.
From the outset, Communities 1st wasn’t built around acquiring organisations. It was built around preserving the strengths each one already possessed while creating something stronger for the communities they served. Then, just as plans were taking shape, another challenge arrived. Hertsmere Community Transport, which had previously been part of one of the merging charities, found itself in financial difficulty and wanted to join the organisation again.
What had been planned as a relatively straightforward merger suddenly became a three-way merger.
Stephen laughs as he remembers it. “It was relatively painful.” It’s an honest answer, and perhaps the most revealing. Many organisations speak enthusiastically about growth after the difficult part is over. Stephen is equally willing to talk about the uncertainty, complexity and hard work involved in getting there.
Because none of those decisions were driven by a desire to become bigger. They were driven by a responsibility to ensure valuable community services didn’t disappear.
Looking back, Stephen believes those early months shaped far more than a new organisation. They established a culture where collaboration consistently came before competition.
That principle has guided every major decision since
Over the following years, Communities 1st welcomed other charities into its family, including Volunteer Centre Broxbourne and East Herts, Para Dance UK and, more recently, Trestle Theatre Company.
Again, the motivation wasn’t expansion for expansion’s sake.
Each organisation already played an important role in its community. The goal was to give those services the stability to continue, protecting the relationships, knowledge and local trust that had often taken decades to build.
For Stephen, the principle is straightforward.
Where a service is valuable to its community, Communities 1st would rather explore how it can be preserved than see it disappear.
It’s a philosophy that reflects the question Communities 1st keeps returning to.
Not “how can we become bigger?” But “how can we make a bigger difference?”
Growth That Matters
On paper, Communities 1st has grown significantly.
Since 2018, the organisation has expanded from just eight part-time employees and around 50 volunteers to approximately 80 members of staff and around 2,500 registered volunteers, with hundreds giving their time every week.
But growth has never been the only objective. For Communities 1st, what matters is whether that additional capacity enables the organisation and its partners to support more people, strengthen communities and protect services that matter locally. It’s another reminder that Communities 1st measures success differently. The numbers aren’t the story. They’re simply evidence that the organisation has earned the trust of more volunteers, more partners and more communities.
Sharing Success, Not Owning It
That philosophy becomes even clearer when Stephen talks about funding. In many sectors, organisations naturally want to keep as much work and income as possible within their own business.
The voluntary sector is no different.
Funding is limited, demand continues to grow, and charities often find themselves applying for the same grants. The pressure to compete is real.
Yet Communities 1st has deliberately chosen a different approach. Rather than trying to deliver every project itself, it regularly works alongside other charities, local organisations and community groups, with a significant proportion of the funding it secures ultimately supporting those partnerships.
Stephen describes it as, “We try to make sure everyone shares the love.” It’s a light-hearted phrase, but it reflects a serious principle. If another organisation is better placed to deliver part of a project, Communities 1st would rather see the community receive the best possible support than insist on doing everything itself.
For Stephen, Communities 1st does not need to deliver every part of a service itself. What matters is involving the right organisations, maintaining quality and accountability, and ensuring people receive the support they need.
Seeing Strength Before Need
That same thinking shapes how Communities 1st works with individuals. Many organisations, often with the best intentions, begin by asking people what support they need.
Communities 1st starts somewhere different. It asks what strengths they already have.
Stephen describes this as an asset-based approach, but away from strategy documents, it’s a remarkably human way of looking at people.
Every person has experiences, skills, relationships, and something they can contribute.
The organisation’s role isn’t to define people by the difficulties they’re facing, but to help them build on what’s already there.
That philosophy influences everyone Communities 1st works with, from volunteers and partner organisations to the people accessing its services.
The aim is to build on people’s strengths, confidence, relationships and opportunities, while providing support when it is needed.
Values You Can Feel
Culture is easy to write on a wall. It’s much harder to make people experience it.
Stephen says one of his proudest moments isn’t receiving positive inspection reports or external accreditations; it’s hearing assessors describe how the organisation feels.
He recalls assessors saying that they could feel the organisation’s inclusiveness and the way it values people.
That observation means more to him than any formal recognition.
After all, policies can describe an organisation’s culture, and processes can support it. But ultimately, culture is revealed through hundreds of small decisions that people make every day. Like the choice to collaborate instead of competing, a willingness to share opportunities, and the determination to preserve services rather than protect organisational boundaries.
Listening to Stephen, it becomes clear these aren’t separate initiatives. They’re all expressions of a wider organisational principle: decisions should strengthen communities rather than simply increase organisational scale.
Helping Communities Thrive, Not Just Survive
Like every charity, Communities 1st operates in an environment that’s constantly changing.
Funding priorities shift. Public services evolve. Demand continues to increase. Stephen doesn’t pretend those challenges don’t exist. But throughout our conversation, one thing became clear; his instinct isn’t to dwell on uncertainty. It’s to ask what opportunity might exist within it.
Could Communities 1st support another area? Would new partnerships achieve more together? Could an organisation facing uncertainty be given the stability to continue serving its community?
Those questions have shaped many of the charity’s biggest decisions.
One of the most recent came through the merger with Trestle Theatre Company. At first glance, it seems an unlikely partnership. Alongside volunteering, community transport and practical support, where does theatre fit?
For Stephen, the answer is clear. “We want to bring creativity and joy back into communities.”
It’s a simple statement, but it reveals something important about how Communities 1st sees its role. Many people think charities exist to respond to crisis, and Communities 1st certainly does that. But Stephen believes a healthy community should aspire to something more.
Helping someone through a difficult period matters enormously. Yet once the immediate crisis has passed, people still need places where they can belong, contribute, create and connect with others.
When Communities Needed Each Other Most
That philosophy was tested like never before in 2020. Almost overnight, Communities 1st found itself responding to an unprecedented level of need. In the first two weeks of the first lockdown, it received around 2,500 volunteer applications and 1,500 requests for support. As its role later expanded into vaccination centres, its volunteer network reached around 12,000 people at its peak.
Within a remarkably short period, the organisation had built systems that allowed people to register, book volunteer shifts, coordinate support and claim expenses, enabling help to reach those who needed it at extraordinary speed.
Looking back, Stephen doesn’t talk about the logistical achievement first; he talks about people. The pandemic reminded him that communities already contain enormous generosity.
And the challenge isn’t persuading people to care; it’s creating the connections that allow that willingness to become meaningful action.
Technology helped make that possible
So did planning, and partnerships that had been built years before anyone could have imagined a global pandemic.
In many ways, the response demonstrated exactly why Communities 1st had spent years investing in relationships rather than simply expanding programmes. When communities needed those relationships most, they were already there.
But willingness and good intentions alone could not have turned that generosity into practical support at scale. The response also depended on robust systems, technology, processes and partnerships that could work together. In that sense, the pandemic demonstrated something that applies far beyond the charity sector: achieving meaningful impact at scale requires the same operational discipline as running a strong business.
Looking Ahead
Towards the end of our conversation, we asked Stephen what he wished more people understood about Communities 1st. His answer wasn’t about the organisation’s size, the number of volunteers, or the range of services it provides.
Instead, he paused for a moment before saying something much simpler. “I wish people knew we were here.”
It’s an answer that stays with you. Too often, people discover Communities 1st only after struggling for some time. By then, problems may have become more complicated
Stephen believes many of those situations could be made easier if people knew where to turn earlier.
Sadly, it’s a challenge many charities face; raise awareness too successfully and demand can quickly exceed capacity. But stay too quiet, and the very people who could benefit most may never realise help is available.
Finding that balance isn’t easy.
The message Stephen hopes people remember is that they do not need to wait until life becomes overwhelming before asking for help.
Because communities become stronger when people feel able to ask for support before a problem becomes a crisis.
Making a Bigger Difference
Listening to Stephen throughout our conversation, one theme surfaced again and again; Communities 1st has never measured success by the size of the organisation. Instead, they measure success by the difference they make.
A recurring question is whether a decision will help Communities 1st make a bigger difference.
Everything else follows from there.
It’s a philosophy that resonates strongly with us at Tristar. Technology, much like community support, is rarely about the technology itself. It’s about what it enables.
The best IT partnerships aren’t built around fixing today’s problems as quickly as possible. They’re built around understanding an organisation, planning ahead and helping remove the obstacles that stop people doing their best work.
Over the years, we’ve seen that same long-term thinking in every interaction with Communities 1st. That’s why this partnership has always felt like such a natural fit.
About Communities 1st
Communities 1st is a Hertfordshire-based charity dedicated to helping people and communities thrive. Working across volunteering, community development, health and wellbeing, community transport, social inclusion and creative programmes, the organisation connects people with the support, opportunities and relationships that help build stronger communities.
Established in 2018 through the merger of two long-standing community organisations, Communities 1st has continued to grow by bringing together charities that share its collaborative approach. Today, the charity works alongside around 80 staff members, thousands of volunteers and a wide network of partners, businesses and public sector organisations to create lasting social impact across Hertfordshire and beyond.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does Communities 1st do? Communities 1st is a Hertfordshire charity that helps people and communities thrive through volunteering, community development, wellbeing services, community transport, social inclusion initiatives and creative programmes. It also works closely with local organisations to strengthen the wider voluntary sector.
How did Communities 1st begin? The charity was established in 2018 through the merger of two long-established charities, with Hertsmere Community Transport joining during the same process. Since then, several other charities have become part of the organisation, helping preserve valuable local services while expanding support across the region.
How is Communities 1st different? Communities 1st believes collaboration creates greater impact than competition. Rather than focusing on organisational growth alone, it works in partnership with other charities, public services, businesses and volunteers to build stronger, more connected communities.
What is Communities 1st’s vision for the future? The organisation wants to help communities do more than simply overcome challenges. By strengthening partnerships, encouraging volunteering, supporting other charities and promoting creativity and connection, its aim is to create places where people can truly thrive.
