Sowing the Seeds of Change Sky Higgins Carlisle
Volunteers (left to right) Helen, Mark, Iona and Lisa
It has been an amazing journey to be part of the Community Organisers Programme, and I have been proud to be a part of bringing community organising to my own little corner of the nation. I started door-knocking with some trepidation but swiftly realised that I had nothing to worry about –
on the disused bowling green beside their houses
people were friendly, even the ones who chose not to speak to me. Though some listenings were a bit
that they would like to turn into a community garden.
surreal….I did one sitting on a lady’s bed while she was in it, as she had a long term illness, and one with a Labrador virtually sitting on my shoulder! I heard many good things about my patch and people were
A key project that emerged from listenings in one of my areas,
telling me how much they liked living there. Of course there
has been a plan to oppose unsuitable development of a disused
were issues, and over the year a clearer picture of these emerged,
bowling green and to create a community garden on the site.
which has informed some projects in the area, and will continue
However this project faced a lot of negativity from the council,
to feed into the work I hope to do in my second year.
as the land was on the asset disposal list, and they would have liked nothing better than to sell it off for housing.
Together myself and fellow CO Emma developed as a team. We both worked away on our own projects and areas, however
As the group started to plan an initial meeting to consult
through shared needs and volunteers we ended up working on
their neighbours, I sent out invitations via email to the local
a shared project that became the Bee-U support group. Meeting
councillors to come to the meeting at the request of the
monthly and gradually taking more responsibility as volunteers,
residents. However the meeting was as negative as I anticipated
the women involved in this project followed a classic path of
and we were shocked by some of what the councillors said and
identifying a lack in their area, and stepping forward themselves,
their attitudes, including complete denial of things they had said
with our help to make things happen.
via email. After that I spent time researching the history of the land and whether there was a covenant on its use stating that it should benefit the community. I didn’t manage to track anything down, though I learned a lot and had some very interesting conversations with staff at the land registry office! I encouraged the residents to put their ideas into writing and get them sent into the council which they did. They also canvassed
Sky and Emma…the CO team
the area and gathered support for a proposal that highlighted the positive benefits of community gardens, and their vision for how it could be.
Sowing the Seeds of Change (continued..) Sky Higgins Carlisle
Volunteers Mark and Mary, and Emma Mark, a key volunteer, was employed in a role working with the
at our litter pick.
council to develop community gardens. This put him in an ideal position to get one off the ground in his personal time – but he also had to be mindful of his professional relationships. So with me taking a back seat, and him treading carefully, progress was
It had been a challenge working with a varied team of volunteers
necessarily tentative.
who all have their own lives and challenges. They have been able to input in varying degrees and I have learnt a lot about the fine
Things turned a corner after Mark sent in the residents’ proposal
balance between supporting them without pushing too hard.
and with an election just on the horizon the same councillors who had been so negative started to thaw a little. Currently the
It had been truly inspiring to be part of a national team, to train
residents are waiting to hear back. They are planning a litter
and share ideas online, to see amazing work going into commu-
pick on the land, and to approach the press and keep steady
nities across the country. It has also been an incredible learning
pressure on the council about their ideas. However in a recent
curve and drawn on skills as varied as group facilitation, desktop
development, the proposed area plan for Carlisle now shows
publishing and researching land titles to name just a few!
that particular piece of land as ‘green space’ rather than as an asset for disposal….so here’s hoping that after nearly 25 years,
I am looking forward to putting what I have learnt into practice
a bowling green that was once a communal space, can have a
in my second year, and carrying on listening, learning and flying
new lease of life as a community garden.
the flag for community organising.