This paper explores the community empowerment aspect of health promotion, where social experience is a key indicator of health, from the perspective of health visiting and other public health nursing. This contemporary model of practice is put into a health promotion context by use of a slightly modified framework and by the inclusion of examples of methods and outcomes of practice that link conceptually with the health assets model and aspects of 'Big Society' thinking. Community development, social capital and capacity building are discussed as key elements of community empowerment with a 'bottom-up' agenda driven by community members. This concerns micro-population health gain, where the process, the quality of the public health nurse-community relationship, is as important as outcome.