People and their environment are better protected when they have control of their local land, enterprises and services.
Biobased Economy
Ecological Homes
Community Skills
Our ecological values
Wessex Community Assets is driven by our commitment to social justice, environmental sustainability, and the power of people in connected communities to change their world. We apply these values in all our work and use them to review our performance and assess new initiatives.
“Broken and prepared for market”: West Dorset Flax Project 2025
Soil degradation, climate change, economic fragility and fragmentation – these are all challenges that rural areas in South West England are facing – and the cultivation of natural fibre crops, flax in particular, has been re-emerging as a practical and place-based response to these issues, rooted in the heritage and history of the region. Back in 1789 the government paid…
David Dixon leads on WCA’s work with local farmers growing and processing hemp as part of a regenerative agriculture project. Collaborative environmental action has been at the heart of over 20 years working in the landscape sector, engaging with ambitious and innovative ecological and community engagement projects.
Find out about our industrial hemp field trials
Retrofit Reimagined: Dorset – Healthy Homes, Stronger Communities
Warmer homes, stronger communities, and a greener future for all. Retrofit Reimagined: Dorset invites you to explore how upgrading our homes can transform not just how we live, but how we connect with each other and the places we call home. Over one month of webinars and in-person gatherings, we’ll reimagine what retrofitting could mean for Dorset—not just as a technical solution, but as a community-driven opportunity to rebuild our…
Tim Crabtree is a co-founder of WCA and has 20 years co-ordinating research and innovation in the field of community led housing. Through Raise the Roof, he’s currently seeking to change the way we build affordable housing.
Find out about our ecological homes concept
Spinning straw into gold
As part of Wessex Community Asset’s work to develop the bioregional economy in SW England, we held a workshop on hemp fibre with 30 participants at our workspace in West Dorset. The process begins with separating (“decorticating”) the outer bast fibre from the woody core (the shiv), either manually with a hemp break or with our Hurdmaster decortication machine. The…
Find out about training and skills opportunities
Courses and open days
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About
Wessex Community Assets is a Community Benefit Society, governed by a board of directors, and driven by our theory of change. You can explore our theory of change in the diagram below.
More locally-controlled jobs, houses and services develop as people take greater control of community assets. 
People feel connected and empowered; and stronger social and economic networks develop. 
Local ecological assets are restored and enhanced, building a more resilient landscape and societies 
A grassroots social movement grows, empowering and inspiring people to take action to live more sustainably and build commuity wealth 
This network of active communities helps build a democractic mandate to bring about policy change. 
Policies are implemented that nurture community ownership and more sustainable economic systems