People living and working in East Middlesbrough are being invited to take a direct role in deciding how £40 million of long-term investment should be used in their neighbourhoods.
Park End and Thorntree will each receive £20 million over the next ten years through the government’s Pride in Place programme. New neighbourhood boards will help turn that funding into local priorities, with six community board members being recruited for each area.
Charlotte Dinsdale, chief executive of Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation, and local community leader Gary Hamilton have been appointed as co-chairs. The pair bring experience spanning youth work, sport, health, and community development in East Middlesbrough.
The important bit is that the programme is designed to give local communities a meaningful say. Middlesbrough Council says the boards, working with residents, will decide what to prioritise. The funding can support areas including housing, education, employment, local businesses, health and wellbeing, transport and safety.
Applications are open to people who live in Park End or Thorntree, run a business there or are active in those communities. Applicants are asked to explain why they care about the area, how they would work with others and what change they believe matters most locally.
The deadline to apply is 7 September 2026. Selected applicants will be invited to short, informal interviews and will be subject to a DBS check. Travel expenses for board activity will be covered.
For East Middlesbrough, the money is . The more interesting part may be who gets to shape it. A decade-long programme gives Park End and Thorntree room to think beyond one-off projects, while putting people who know the neighbourhoods into the conversation from the start.