Butterflies & Daisy Chains Nicky Brown Gloucester
The first occupants started moving into the newly built St Oswald’s residential estate in 2009. The estate houses a real mix of residents from all walks of life and residents include armed
Carnival time!
forces families, social housing, private housing and several buy-to-let properties occupied by young professionals and students. At the centre of the estate lies the Extra Care Village for Over 55’s - a 200 resident, £29million development opened by the Duke of Gloucester in 2011. When I started knocking on doors and listening to residents in April 2014, I was surprised to find that there was little evidence of community spirit and I felt a lack of shared identity and pride in the neighbourhood. I soon discovered that the local authorities had identified some problems and concerns within the estate. The grass wasn’t getting cut, there were no dog pooh bins and the roads were still unfinished. Fly-tipping was also becoming a problem and there had been incidents of anti-social behaviour. The residents rarely mixed together as there is no play park, no inclusive community activities or events and people weren’t aware of any useable community spaces. When I began listening in the community I found that the residents were generally dissatisfied with the state of affairs on the estate. A small group therefore came together and carried out a community clean up, collecting 25 bags of rubbish, sweeping the streets, clearing the drains and returning abandoned shopping trolleys to the retail park. Afterwards residents got together to have a BBQ, having discovered a little community building just on the border of the Over 55’s village and the surrounding estate.
Most of the residents had not known of the existence of the Gloucester Chinese Resource Centre or that it was available for them to use. The centre carries out its primary function wonderfully; offering a warm homely place for the 22 Chinese residents of the village to come together on Mondays; but as a fully volunteer run charity it did not have the resources or local networks to reach out into the surrounding community. As word spread, residents started to use the space for kid’s birthday parties, clubs and yoga sessions. In the summer the centre was used for carnival workshops and the local community gathered, designed and created a winning city carnival entry which had an environmental theme and featured as its centre piece a giant butterfly and a recycled wheel, which was found during the community clean up. These activities have helped the community to become more connected, and residents are starting to express their visions and dreams and find reasons to love the place they live in. Many ideas are now becoming actions and the winter saw over 100 healthy community meals at a cost of only £1 being served during a five week trial period. This gave residents the opportunity to eat together, wash up together and talk about their surroundings.
Butterflies & Daisy Chains (continued..) Nicky Brown Gloucester
There will be another carnival entry for 2015 and having won
The community at the Gloucester Chinese Resource Centre
last year, the St Oswald’s carnival crew are keen to defend their
has enjoyed seeing more local residents at its monthly coffee
title. Their theme is Flower Power, to fit in with the city theme
mornings and the St Oswald’s estate is beginning to feel a sense
of ‘World in Union’! Lucy, a gifted local resident, who started a
of pride and shared identity. 2015 will be a big year for this estate
crochet club this year, is going to lead an attempt at breaking
and a wonderful opportunity for residents to continue to create
a World Record by working with the community to create the
a place that they love and want to live in.
world’s longest daisy chain, as part of the carnival entry. There will be much opportunity for anyone who wants to join in to be
I have enjoyed listening to the many residents and witnessing
part of the effort and enjoy the fun that goes with it.
them come together, as well as encouraging and supporting residents to bring about the changes that they want to see
Some of the Over 55’s community are popping into the new
in their community. I am looking forward to watching the
drop-in sessions at the Chinese Centre and the local residents
St Oswald’s community flourish in the years ahead and am
are getting to know the Chinese elders and greeting them when
thankful that they have helped me learn the ropes as a central
they pass by. Mr Tung has been coming along on Tuesdays and
part of my training year as a Community Organiser.
teaching four year old Reece to play table tennis and Reece teaches Mr Tung Wii bowling in return. Reg, a veteran of the Royal Engineers, who is almost blind, popped in for his dinner last week. He enjoyed hearing the laughter and telling his stories. Nicky and her son Findlay, age 3, often join the Monday group for lunch; the elders have taught Findlay to eat with chop sticks and count to five in mandarin! Mr Kong teaches him to play dominoes and he helps Mrs Shaw to thread beads as her sight is not what it once was.