APPENDIX 1
Hartcliffe and Withywood Community Partnership
Background Information (GRI 16 (I))
INTRODUCTION
Hartcliffe and Withywood Community Partnership
(HWCP) was established to lead the regeneration of the local area
and to co-ordinate the "Working Together for Change"
Single Regeneration Budget Round five (SRB5) scheme. HWCP is controlled
by local residents, led by local needs and focuses on locally
led solutions.
Hartcliffe and Withywood are two post war estates
on the southern edge of Bristol, mainly built in the 1950s and
1960s. In fact, 2002 is the 50th anniversary of the first houses
being built and occupied. The area now has a combined population
of 20,000 (8,000 households). When designed, the estates were
intended to be self-contained and fully serviced. As was so often
the case however, the money ran out and many of the planned facilities
did not materialise.
Combined with the economic recession of the
late 1980s', the closure of the Wills' tobacco factory meant that
the many people previously dependent upon manual and semi-skilled
employment could no longer find jobs. The Wills factory (later
Imperial Tobacco then Hanson Trust) employed about 5,000 people
from Hartcliffe, Withywood and Knowle areas. It is estimated that
closure of Wills precipitated the loss of another 20,000 jobs
in associated industries, mainly across South Bristol. Public
transport links to jobs elsewhere in the city were also poor and
people suffered the added burden of "postcode" discrimination.
To address these problems of infrastructure,
employment and perceptions, the area was put forward for City
Challenge funding in 1991. The failure of a second City Challenge
bid in 1992, however, coincided with riots which left Symes Avenue,
the commercial heart of the area, ransacked and in a state from
which it has never properly recovered. This was followed by Business
in the Community organised a "Seeing is Believing" visit
in 1992.
Hartcliffe and Withywood were, though, able
to attract other of funding which helped contribute to a long
period of capacity building in the local community. This included
housing improvements under Estate Action and Capital Partnership
funding for HWV to construct the Gatehouse Centre, opened in 1995.
Consequently, the local community was able to
work together to put forward a presentation to the community conference
organised by the Bristol Regeneration Partnership (BRP) in October
1998. The outcome of the conference was that the Bristol communities
selected Barton Hill to go forward for New Deal for Communities
funding and Hartcliffe and Withywood were selected to bid for
SRB5 funding.
Local residents and organisations worked with
the BRP, Bristol City Council and other key agencies to write
a bid for SRB funding. A bid for £13.5 million SRB was submitted
in April 1999 to the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA).
In July 1999 SWRDA awarded £12.15 million
(90 per cent of the bid) from the fifth round of the Single Regeneration
Budget (SRB5) towards a £32.8 million scheme (with leverage
of £17.6 million public sector funding and £3.1 million
private sector funding) to help regenerate the local area. This
is the largest grant to a local community in the south west. The
scheme lasts seven years, up until March 2006.
From the time of approval, local people and
community organisations have put considerable time and effort
into building local involvement and getting to grips with the
intricacies of SRB funding.
Unlike the other SRB schemes in Bristol, which
are managed by the BRP, the SRB5 scheme has been community-led
through HWCP, and in many ways has mirrored the New Deal for Communities
approach.
WHAT IS
HWCP?
To manage the regeneration of the area local
residents set up HWCP. HWCP is a limited company with charitable
status. It held local elections for its Board In June 2002, which
is made up of local people, businesses and agencies, with local
people making up the majority of the membership. There are staff
responsible for supporting the partnership and administering and
managing the money.
HWCP is working towards its vision of:
"A strong local partnership, which
will reduce poverty and exclusion in our diverse community by:
— creating opportunities for all to
work and learn;
— improving our environment now and
for the future;
— making the area a safe and healthy
place to live."
HWCP is achieving this vision through seven
key themes of action to regenerate the area as a learning, locally
owned, inclusive, healthy, balanced, working and safe community.
HWCP is currently being run by a Board made
up of ten local residents and the representatives from two local
organisations, Bristol City council, local schools, youth projects,
the Primary Care Trust and local employers organisations, together
with advisors on disability, race and sustainability.
Underneath the Board there are three theme groups
made up of local residents, workers and representatives of local
agencies. They are responsible for identifying problems, developing
projects to spend the money on and monitoring projects once they
are up and running. The theme groups are:
— Local Ownership, Balanced and Inclusive
HWCP works hard to raise its profile in the
area and to improve the image of the area to those outside. It
has done this through its quarterly newsletter, wham!;
setting up its own website [www.hwcp.org.uk]; the local champions
who have given over 30 presentations to schools and community
groups about the Partnership; producing a diary (delivered to
every household and business in the area); and various events
and articles in the local newspapers, on local radio and in the
specialist regeneration press.
HWCP sees itself as having a wider role than
just managing the SRB5 scheme and has become involved in other
regeneration initiatives in the area. It is represented on the
Bristol Regeneration Partnership (BRP), Bristol (Local Strategic)
Partnership, Hartcliffe, Highridge and Withywood Sure Start and
the Withywood Education Action Zone (Success@). It has also supported
the South Bristol URBAN2 bid.
WHAT WILL
SRB5 DO?
SRB works by giving money to projects, which
have to fit in with HWCP's themes and strategic objectives. Projects
go through a detailed process of project appraisal before funding
for them is approved. Project Managers are then responsible for
making projects happen. Over 40 projects have now been developed,
covering a wide range of issues, to meet HWCP's aspirations.
The first year of SRB5 (the year up to the end
of March 2000) was mainly involved in setting up the office and
all the systems, training people to enable them to get involved,
collecting data about the local area and looking at how people
are tackling similar problems elsewhere. The first project was
approved, Capacity Building, which has successfully continued
to operate in supporting the involvement of local people in the
Partnership. In 2000/01 (Year two), 26 projects were approved
and another 18 projects were approved in 2001/02 (Year three).
From baseline research commissioned by HWCP
two main priorities were identified—working with young people
and tackling the problems of drug abuse and a "Vision Day"
held in November 2000 confirmed these priorities. As a result
two major community-led and cross-theme group projects have been
developed, involving partners from different sectors. These both
started in 2001: Kickin' Space (out of school activities for 4-16
year olds) and HAWKS (Hartcliffe and Withywood Kick Start—for
action on drugs).
Under the Balanced theme a wide range
of activities have come forward that address environmental issues
including: energy efficiency measures; environmental education;
involving local people in improvements in local open space; housing
improvements; and the investigation of the feasibility of a Green
Business Park.
The Healthy theme has brought forward
projects that provide complementary therapies, sports development,
healthy eating, and "warm" homes. Projects planned to
start in Year three are to support carers and to help the prevention
of teenage pregnancies.
Existing Inclusive theme projects, which
provide leisure and personal development opportunities for disabled
people, welfare and other advice are continuing, while new work
includes race equality, setting up a Disabled Persons Forum and
an Older Persons Gardening project.
Current Learning theme projects include
the promotion of lifelong learning and the support of parents
of children with special education needs. ICT needs in the area
are being researched by several pilot activities.
Under the Local Ownership theme the South
Bristol Church and Community Trust Enabling project and the Hartcliffe
Community Campus Development project are continuing with proposals
for community, youth, lifelong learning and leisure facilities
on different sites across the area. A Community Chest, giving
local groups easier access to small grants of up to £1,000,
was set up and a media and communications project is being developed.
Also, HWCP intends to bring forward an external evaluation of
the whole scheme.
Safe theme work with community safety,
safe and secure homes, safe victim and supporting ex-offenders
continues and a traffic-calming project has started.
A major Working theme project, Towards a Working
Community has started and Securing the Future (Cater Road) will
be coming on stream in 2001-02. The Childcare 2000 project, providing
childcare during school holidays for working parent continues.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
HWCP has taken the issue of equalities and inclusion
seriously right from the beginning. The original bid identified
people of minority ethnic background, older people, disabled people,
lone parents, young people and people living in poverty as local
groups that experience double exclusion. The Inclusive Theme Group
is taking this agenda forward and commissioned the University
of the West of England (UWE) to carry out research into the needs
of those identified, using local people from these groups as researchers.
The HWCP Steering Group always meets in accessible
venues. Advisors from the West of England Coalition of Disabled
People (WECODP) and the Black Development Agency (BDA) attend
its meetings. It also tries to ensure that all projects take the
needs of excluded groups into account, through use of the advisors
and proper consultation. HWCP has a hearing loop available for
use, produces a large print copy of wham! and makes an effective
use of electronic communications. Disability and race equality
training is provided for both steering group members and project
managers.
CURRENT STAFF
| Director | Stephen Hewitt
|
| Development Worker | Keren Suchecki
|
| Finance and Monitoring Officer | Jane Smallcombe
|
| Administrator | Sarah Drew |
| Media and Communications Worker | Troy Tanska
|
| Theme Group Co-ordinator | Teresa Anstey
|
| Theme Group Co-ordinator | Caroline Jenkins
|
| Theme Group Co-ordinator | Bob Lewis
|
| Local Champion | Vanessa Lewis
|
| Local Champion | Cheryl O'Connor
|
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