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Johnstone Castle Renfrewshire |
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Tuesday, 16 September 2003 |
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The Johnstone Castle project supported seven local community groups leading to the provision of play and gardening facilities.
Overview
PROJECT SUMMARY
The 3 neighbourhood pilot project was highly successful so Renfrewshire applied for European URBAN funding to continue the project. The project is still operational and now covers 16 neighbourhoods with 5 staff. Additional projects are being set up in other neighbourhoods. A European Regional Development Fund Objective 2 application was submitted to Strathclyde European Partnership in October 2001 and the project was awarded £79,850 for a one year pilot. Further funding has now been approved to December 2004.
KEY PARTNERS
Renfrewshire Council
Argyll & Clyde Health Board
Forward Scotland
Local Residents
European Regional Development Fund
FUNDERS
Forward Scotland £24,000
Renfrewshire Council (Social Inclusion
Programme Revenue) £155,743
ERDF £80,698
Renfrewshire Council
Social Inclusion Programme Capital £6,500
Over 4 years £266,941
This is the total budget for 2 workers and an administrator, covering all 11 Renfrewshire SIPs, including the 3 pilot neighbourhoods.
THEMATIC CRITERIA
Strathclyde; Sustainable Communities; Facilitating Organisation; Recycling / Waste Reduction
Plan
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
1. identify participating communities and groups and organisations within these communities to participate in the project;
2. establish local management arrangements for the development of the project;
3. develop a community profile including details of the local area, local facilities, activities, current developments or proposals for development, locally active groups and organisations and local concerns and priorities;
4. develop a 'local agenda 21' action plan for each community including a number of costed pilot projects together with a range of sustainability indicators;
5. implement, monitor and review pilot projects in support of the action plan;
6. evaluate and report on the findings and achievements of the Sustainable Communities project;
7. promote the project to the wider local community."
OUTPUTS
In Johnstone Castle 7 groups were supported:
- Play Area Committee
- Johnstone Castle Learning Centre - Cafe Group
- Gardening Project
- Tenants Association - Playscheme
- Compost Group
- Auchenlodment Primary School - Vegetable Garden.
The school is now seeking Ecoschool Status. This is a European quality award.
Other groups have developed and diversified as original objectives have been achieved, and the community is still very active.
FUTURE STEPS
Since 1997, the Renfrewshire project has evolved to take on wider activities and also a wider and much more numerous range of funders. The project has grown to work with almost 200 community groups - 55 of which are "live" project beneficiaries at present. Through a community development approach it has helped these groups establish projects such as:
- Community cafes
- Children's play areas and play schemes
- Organic community gardens
- Recycling projects
- Community clean ups
- Energy efficiency schemes
and is now developing a small business support programme.
12 schools are actively working towards ecoschools accreditation, and a further 12 have active environmental projects.
The project is now well integrated into Renfrewshire's community planning process, and it is making a substantial contribution to the Community Plan Action Plan. It has received much acclaim, both locally and nationally in the form of various awards and political commendations including the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities "Gold Award" for good practice in Social Inclusion, in February 2002 reflecting its confidence building, and awareness raising role as well as its commitment to community capacity building.
Progress
The Renfrewshire Sustainable Communities Project was started on 15 December 1997 and was originally a two year project. The initial impetus for the project was the 1992 Rio Summit, which resulted in Local Agenda 21 (LA21), a commitment by participant countries, especially in the developed world, to ensure that local authorities were entering the 21st century with a commitment to environmental sustainability. LA21 has evolved since 1992 to encompass other forms of sustainability, such as economic and social sustainability. This recognises that there are many facets to sustainability.
A Project Manager was appointed on 15 December 1997, funded by Renfrewshire Council's Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) and Forward Scotland. 2 additional staff members were appointed in May 1999 when the programme expanded to a further 8 neighbourhoods after receiving European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and additional SIP monies. Forward Scotland monies were used to assist ERDF leverage. This case study covers 15 December 1997 to 1 April 2001. It has since expanded further and now has funding to December 2004
The Sustainable Community Projects in Renfrewshire used a community development approach. The community worker appointed worked with residents to audit need, build confidence and skills and build community organisations with a view to improving the level of control people have over their own life and also improving quality of life in those neighbourhoods.
Johnstone Castle is a 1930s garden suburb development. The style of development is mainly "cottage flats" i.e. 4 flats in a block with their own gardens. It is a Social Inclusion area because there is a higher than average level of deprivation with a very young population, but it was the least disadvantaged of the Renfrewshire SIPs with 18.4% unemployment and 20% owner-occupation. Of the 3 pilot neighbourhoods, only Johnstone Castle had a Community Forum at the start of the project.
All 3 neighbourhoods are Social Inclusion Partnership Areas. They were selected for the Renfrewshire Sustainable Communities pilots because they had had less community development input than other SIP areas, and they were also 'further down the line' for major regeneration work.
The Renfrewshire Sustainable Communities Projects were part of a wider Renfrewshire Social Inclusion Programme in the Paisley Partnership priority areas. The Renfrewshire Partnership Forum placed the pilot areas into a network of 11 neighbourhoods which were active in regeneration, so the local work fed into the wider regeneration initiative and was not an isolated phenomenon. This greatly assisted linking neighbourhood organisations with external resources and helped with capacity building.
The project has been praised by residents for its capacity building amongst community groups. It was welcomed for relieving them of the stress that seems to be increasingly part of being a volunteer in the area. The general perception is that without the Sustainable Communities project, local community groups in the pilot areas would have had little in the way of support. General effects on community organisation include:
- Providing a sounding board for ideas and encouragement in the face of difficulty.
- Offering an alternative form of support .
- Standing with, understanding and supporting the needs of community groups.
- Promoting community groups and enabling them to build up their profile.
Review
ACHIEVEMENTS
The Sustainable Communities Project strengthened local feelings of community and pride in their area through several mechanisms:
- Getting the young and old to mix and to get to know each other.
- Enabling the community to improve the environment with immediate and visible results.
- Treating all members of the community as equal, regardless of age and other differences.
Key outcomes from the 1997 - 2001 phase of the project include:
- Construction of play areas in each of the 3 pilot neighbourhoods
- Progress of 39 community volunteers into employment or training (from all 11 SIPs).
- Development of 21 community gardens (from all SIPs).
By April 2001, the project had achieved a 'Gold Award' in the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health/Municipal Journal 'Green Apple' Awards, and a silver award in the Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum awards. Auchenlodment School had registered for the Ecoschools programme, and 21 community groups had won awards in the Beautiful Scotland in Bloom programme.
An evaluation by the Community Development Foundation for the Rowntree Trust stated that the "participants agreed that the Sustainable Communities Project made a substantial impact on the lives of individuals, be it in personal or social development or to a lesser extent on economic circumstances.
- Many individuals took part in the Sustainable Communities Project's activities as first time participants in community activities.
- There were demonstrable instances of health improvements.
- Participants took part in activities such as gardening which would not be available in the absence of the Sustainable Communities Project.
- By taking part, individuals took steps towards improving their economic circumstances".
A survey of volunteers active in April 2001 shows the following impact on resident perceptions of changes they have made in relation to environmental issues.
52% - now know more about recycling
54% - say there is less litter
95% - view the environment differently
86% - agree that their community is a better place to live as a result.
LESSONS
One of the keys to the success of this neighbourhood project has been the appointment of as skilled community development worker who had a strong grasp of professional community development practice.
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Communities 