GROVE
Find out more about the root organisation behind the Citizen Hub network, designed purely to support the growth of civic infrastructure.
What is GROVE?
A unifying framework that equips Citizen Hubs with the proven systems, infrastructure and collective power they need to thrive. We exist so that each Citizen Hub can be resilient, healthy and sustainable to best serve their communities.
What we provide
We are committed to creating and sustaining civic infrastructure for the now and generations to come. To achieve this, we provide:
Scale and influence
We provide centralised bidding power for grants and funding, the benefit of national partnerships ready to plug into local needs, and brand management so each hub can focus on what matters.
Foundations and frameworks
We provide the foundations for financial systems, people development, governance and quality assurance that is ready to be activated from day one.
Tools and infrustructure
We provide training and tools that make operations smoother. With a CRM fit for purpose, impact measurement to capture the moments of magic and IP management, local Citizen Hubs are fully equipped to thrive.
What you can expect
Growth
To find stability through challenges
Resilience
To expand your reach and impact
Opportunity
Access national connections for local possibilities
Vitals
Access proven systems, ready to use.
Eco-system
A network where everyone contributes and benefits.
Meet the team
Alex is building shared, place-based social infrastructure to help local areas better support work, skills, wellbeing and community life. With a decade of experience across business, charity and local leadership, he focuses on creating permanent civic assets that bring employers, educators and communities together.
Alex is building a shared, place-based social infrastructure designed to help local areas better support work, skills, wellbeing and community life.
The work spans towns, boroughs and cities, shaped by local context but grounded in a shared model that prioritises collaboration, long-term value and practical delivery. Alex is driven by the belief that lasting change in places only happens when delivery, governance and partnership are brought together, rather than treated as separate efforts.
Over the past decade, Alex has worked across business, the charity sector and local leadership, developing a systems-level understanding of how places function and where they fall short. This experience has shaped a response to fragmented projects and short-term funding, with a focus on creating permanent civic assets that bring employers, educators, community organisations and public services together.
Alongside this work, Alex holds several active roles as a chair, trustee, director and advisor across local initiatives and system leadership. Each role feeds into the same aim: building infrastructure that gives people genuine opportunity where they live.
Alex shares openly about what works, what doesn’t and what it really takes to build place-based infrastructure in the real world.
Katy connects ideas with real-world manufacturing, skills and community so more people can access good work where they live. Managing Director of Cap Air Systems and National Chair of Citizen Hub, she brings an SME perspective to regional conversations on skills and industrial strategy.
Katy connects ideas with real-world manufacturing, skills and community so more people can access good work where they live.
She is Managing Director of Cap Air Systems, a fast-growing UK electronics manufacturer, and National Chair of Citizen Hub, supporting place-based approaches to tackling barriers to employment, skills and opportunity. Her work brings an employer and SME perspective into regional and national conversations on skills, productivity and industrial strategy.
With a background spanning finance, operations and leadership across manufacturing, Katy is as comfortable on a factory floor as she is in a boardroom, focused on building local economies that work for people, not just systems.
John O'Brien MBE is a founder, leader and convenor who has lived many lives — soldier, campaigner, business leader and father. He founded Anthropy to champion the UK's unique potential, and pursues a quieter, deeper form of leadership rooted in wisdom, humility and long-term thinking.
John O’Brien MBE is a founder, leader and convenor driven by a belief in the power of character, service and national renewal.
He has lived many lives in one, including soldier, campaigner, business leader, entrepreneur, husband and father. Through these experiences, John has developed a deep commitment to leadership grounded in values rather than status, and impact rather than profile.
He is the founder of Anthropy, a vision that emerged from the pandemic to bring together people who believe in the UK’s unique qualities and its potential to be a force for good in the world. His focus has consciously shifted from being seen as a thought leader to becoming a thoughtful leader, pursuing a quieter, deeper form of leadership rooted in wisdom.
John continues to champion unity, long-term thinking and responsibility in public life, inviting others to lead with humility, courage and care.
Xavier is passionate about sport as a force for community change. Co-founder of Dons Local Action Group and founder of Sport Local Action, he is currently visiting all 92 professional football clubs across the country to champion football's role in doing good.
Xavier is passionate about sport and its power to create positive change in communities.
He co-founded Dons Local Action Group and is the founder of Sport Local Action, working at pace to bring sport and community together in more meaningful and practical ways. His work focuses on using the reach, energy and belonging that sport creates to support people locally and strengthen community life.
Xavier is now taking on an ambitious personal challenge. He will be leaving his role at Swansea City in August and travelling to all 92 professional football clubs across the country, finishing at Plymouth Argyle in November. The journey reflects his belief that football, at every level, has a role to play in doing good.
Through his work and this challenge, Xavier continues to champion football as a force for social impact and collective action.
Lauren is a curious strategist with a passion for insight, innovation and social impact. She specialises in supporting emerging leaders and brings expertise in design research, linguistics and social sustainability to her work as Co-design Lead at Citizen Hub.
Curious strategist with interests in insight, innovation, social impact; especially supporting emerging leaders, design research, linguistics, psychogeography and social sustainability. I will happily share on any of the above and happily learn about anything else.
