Today has been an extraordinary eye-opening insight into what local communities can do for themselves. A couple of years ago we started working with the Onion Collective, a community interest company four amazing women established in their small town in West Somerset. They raised the money for the first piece of work – a master plan for the town which we completed a year or so ago, which identified several buildings to be completed over the next few years.

The first building set within that masterplan opened today – a new visitors centre for the town, which is an extension to the Brunel designed Boat Museum – which was also restored as part of the project. The Onion Collective not only raised all the money for the projects, but they now also have funding to get the new visitors centre up and running, which opened its doors today with new staff, employed via money obtained by the Onions. In September we’ll start work again on the next phases, again with money raised by the Onion Collective.

For us, and many others, the four Onions are an extraordinary testament to the power of community – and to the power of a strong minded and astonishingly capable group of women, trailblazing in showing how they really can change the world.