How might we design a consultation process that was both creatively engaging and methodologically rigorous, ensuring that the voices of Middleton’s diverse communities genuinely shaped the town’s regeneration?

Middleton Cooperating worked with Rochdale Borough Council and the Middleton Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) to complete a consultation process combining local trust and cultural insight with structured, evidence-based design.

We strengthened this by embedding Healing-Centred Design, ensuring the process was trauma-informed, inclusive, and co-produced. Middleton Cooperating brought strong community relationships and creative energy, making engagement feel accessible and meaningful. Through carefully planned phases—co-design, data collection, analysis, and reporting, the project captured both qualitative experiences and quantitative data.

Creative methods like pop-ups and informal sessions broadened participation, while thematic analysis ensured findings were clear and actionable. Regular updates helped partners stay aligned, while the final outputs were clear, accessible, and robust to meet council expectations. Altogether, this approach made the consultation feel like a shared community effort, open, inclusive, and genuinely useful in shaping confident, well-informed decisions.