GROUNDWORK IN ACTION ANNUAL REVIEW 2017
Groundwork is a charity working to transform lives in the UK’s most disadvantaged communities. We’re passionate about creating a future where every neighbourhood is vibrant and green, every community is strong and able to shape its own destiny and no-one is held back by their background or circumstances. The change we deliver We know that many people face multiple challenges – living in isolation or with significant health issues in communities with few facilities and limited employment prospects. We work with partners to address these challenges in three ways: We improve people’s prospects by increasing the confidence, skills, wellbeing and employability of those struggling in education or out of work We create better places by making communities greener, safer and healthier and by enabling people to work together to bring about change in their local area We promote greener living and working to help people and businesses reduce their environmental impact, cut waste and save money
TRACKING OUR PROGRESS We set ourselves ambitious targets for the period 20152020 and are making solid progress towards our goals
Our strategy for 2020 commits us to finding new and more effective ways of creating better places, improving people’s prospects and promoting greener living and working in the communities that need it most. It also challenges us to look at the way we’re organised and led to ensure we’re helping as many people as possible and maximising the resources we invest in front line delivery. We’re half way through our strategic planning period and are making good progress towards our headline delivery targets. We pledged to improve 2,500 public spaces and have already exceeded this target, enabling us to be even more ambitious in the next two years. Our Green Doctors have made more than 100,000 home visits to advise people on conserving energy and water or helping them escape fuel poverty, meeting our target two years early.
TARGET 2020
100,000 Green Doctor home visits
ACHIEVED 2017
100%+
We have unlocked 565,000 days of voluntary community action since 2015, putting us on track to meet our 2020 target of 1 million days. More than 5,600 young people have benefited from the support of our youth workers and achievements coaches, over half way towards our 10,000 target. We have helped more than 5,000 people into training and work and will redouble our efforts as we aim to help 15,000 people improve their job prospects by 2020.
In the last twelve months we also: invested £84m in communities across the UK supported 7,000 local community organisations worked with 1,200 schools and supported 2,600 businesses improved 4.5 million m2 of land for the benefit of people and wildlife and planted 13,000 trees avoided 8,000 tonnes of CO2 and diverted 41,000 tonnes of waste from landfill
TARGET 2020
2,500
improved public spaces TARGET 2020
1million
days of voluntary action
ACHIEVED 2017
TARGET 2020
ACHIEVED 2017
100%+
10,000
56%+
ACHIEVED 2017
TARGET 2020
ACHIEVED 2017
56%
15,000
33%+
young people supported
people helped towards work
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FOCUSING ON PEOPLE & PLACE “The reality is that most people retain a hard-wired attachment to physical places, a pride in their background, origins or surroundings”
This report gives a flavour of the work we’re doing across the UK to help people improve the places that matter to them and, in the process, improve their lives. This work has never been needed more. The impact of spending cuts on neighbourhoods has been stark. Transport, planning, environment, culture and community have suffered disproportionately when compared to social care, health, education and housing. What’s more, the impact of cuts has led to greater social division with spending falling more than four times as much in the most deprived local authority areas as in the least deprived. In an age when the global market dictates how we produce and consume and the worldwide web facilitates instantaneous international communication, it’s not surprising that some people make the assumption that where we live and how we interact with our neighbours is becoming less important to our personal fulfilment and the way we contribute to society. The reality is that most people retain a hardwired attachment to physical places, a pride in their background, origins or surroundings mixed with acute insight into what needs to be done to improve them.
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Encouragingly, more people are beginning to recognise that investing in the physical and social fabric of communities is one of the best ways of ensuring we all benefit from a good quality of life. We know that place is important in addressing everything from heart disease to dementia and the NHS itself recognises that helping people take more control over what happens in their area and giving them the tools and support to make healthier lifestyle choices, is the best long-term approach to managing unsustainable demand for care.
It doesn’t stop there. We also need to recognise that a community-centred, placebased approach can also drive cohesion, social mobility and economic growth. As local communities become more exposed to the turbulence of trade deals and the ill winds of climate change, building resilience has got to be the answer. This means fashioning an economy in which we are more self-reliant and more supportive of social enterprise. It means building communities where people of all backgrounds and all ages have their say. It also means harnessing the pride people feel for ‘their place’ in a way that unlocks the time and talent needed to nurture vibrant community spaces and activities. At Groundwork we play our small part in addressing these big issues. Thank you to all those who have supported us in the last year. Without such strong partnerships our impact would be much reduced. If you want to help us transform more lives and communities please get in touch.
Graham Duxbury CEO, Groundwork
“Harnessing the pride people feel for ‘their place’ in a way that unlocks the time and talent needed to nurture vibrant community spaces and activities”
CREATING BETTER PLACES Improving the physical and social fabric of our communities has never been more crucial and ongoing budget cuts mean creativity is needed more than ever.
Groundwork helps people to organise and work together to protect, preserve, improve or create open spaces like parks, play areas, allotments and school grounds and to deliver a wide range of activities that build cohesion and celebrate the diversity of our communities. Each year more evidence shows how important good green spaces and good community facilities are to wellbeing, adaptation to climate change and local enterprise development. Despite this, funding for ‘neighbourhood services’ has been cut dramatically, with even greater reductions in the most disadvantaged local authority areas. We’re determined to demonstrate the huge social benefits to be gained from investing in parks and green spaces and we’ve been working with a network of partner organisations to influence policy and highlight best practice. We’re also thinking creatively to find innovative ways of reducing costs and of generating alternative revenue sources, especially through closer working with the private sector. Our national partnership with Tesco alone helped fund 2,000 local community projects to a value of over £28m during 2016/17.
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Some examples of the impact we’ve made this year We worked with healthcare company MSD to carry out a supersized makeover of ten alleyways in Trafford, Greater Manchester. 600 volunteers constructed 1328 planters, installed 142 bird and bug houses, created 59 seating areas and planted an incredible 3327 plants in the biggest corporate challenge day we’ve ever seen benefiting 300 households.
We completed a £1.2m ‘sympathetic restoration’ of Winckley Square Gardens in Preston – described as one of the finest examples of a Georgian Square in the north of England. Funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund enabled us to transform the space with new footpaths, trees and stunning night time lighting.
We won the Landscape Institute’s prestigious College of Fellow’s Award for Climate Change Adaptation for the LIFE+ Climate-Proofing Social Housing Landscapes project. The twoyear project saw low-cost green infrastructure climate change adaptation measures installed across three social housing estates in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.
We worked with social landlord Thirteen Group to carry out over £1 million of environmental improvements in four neighbourhoods in the Tees Valley. We have created a more welcoming and greener environment for local residents by installing new railings, paving, bespoke artwork and seating and planting new trees and shrubs.
Our Green Aiders service provided a free, oneoff garden clearance service for older people in Cambridgeshire funded by The Royal British Legion and powered by volunteers. 109 older people were helped to manage their gardens through over 1030 hours of hard work.
We administered over 900 grants to a value in excess of £4.3m for The Department of Communities and Local Government’s Community Rights programme which gives people a greater say in what happens to the buildings, services and land in their area. Grant recipients gave us a satisfaction rating of 95%.
Through our partnership with United Utilities we completed seven projects in areas disrupted by the company’s capital investment programme, benefiting 10,000 people. Facilities created include a community fishing area in Darwen and a play area in Ennerdale, Cumbria.
We created several new community gardens in Belfast including an accessible garden with a focus on wellbeing for the North Belfast Women’s Initiative Support Project and a dementia garden including unique features designed to rekindle memories.
“I’m 70 next year and I’m not looking to give up gardening yet!”
SUE
“I live in sheltered housing and I don’t have a garden anymore. I have various plants in pots but I missed having a garden so having the three small plots at Groundwork’s Green Patch to look after really suits me. “To anyone thinking of getting involved with a community garden, I would say go for it! You can get some simple vegetable growing books cheaply in charity shops as everyone is throwing them out because it’s all online now. The books are my inspiration. I look at the illustrations and think - I can do this! “It’s great to get out in the fresh air. I always bring my lunch with me and sit under the tree on the little bench. Volunteering allows me to get exercise and you don’t realise how much until you go home and you’re aching – but you feel a lot better for it. “I’m 70 next year and I’m not looking to give up gardening yet!” The Green Patch in Kettering is a flagship Groundwork project that has been running since 2007. The Patch recently celebrated its 10th birthday and for the last ten years, the 2.5 acre site has been transformed from a bare plot of land to a thriving hub that is run by Groundwork staff and a variety of volunteers.
“If you’re helping one thing, you’re helping another.” “I’ll tell you what; I used to be a lot different. “When you’re just playing computer games, you don’t think about anything else. You forget about the past. It just doesn’t matter. I’d play for ten hours, twelve hours a day. I had a fit and passed out. I was in the hospital for two days but they couldn’t find anything wrong on the MRIs - they just told me to stop playing as much. “I didn’t think about the environment, I didn’t know anything about it. But I’ve got a reason to get out there now. Think of it this way – if you’re helping one thing, you’re helping another. The more insects means there is more food for the fish. The more fish means there is more food for otters. “I’m helping the river but it’s also helping me.” Jordan completed Groundwork’s River Restoration course in south Wales and is now set on a career path doing something that he loves.
JORDAN
IMPROVING PEOPLE’S PROSPECTS Whatever our economic future, many people will need support to gain the confidence, skills and opportunity to find rewarding work and enjoy healthy, independent lives.
Economic change as a result of austerity, Brexit and the development of new technologies will have big impacts on how we work, with some communities at risk of being more adversely affected than others. Groundwork has always believed that no-one should be disadvantaged because of where they live or because of their background. We aim to stop talent and lives from being wasted due to long-term unemployment, a lack of aspiration or opportunity or poor health. We provide a range of projects and services to help people improve their prospects and maintain their independence and these are constantly being adapted to new circumstances. We have a particular focus on inspiring young people who face challenging circumstances and disadvantage in order to raise their aspirations, build self-confidence and help them plan for their future.
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Some examples of the impact we’ve made this year Our Housing Refurbishment Team supported unemployed people in Oldham to gain construction skills while transforming 22 derelict houses into affordable homes. Trainees complete a multi-trades qualification, gain a CSCS card and get invaluable on-thejob experience. 66% of our trainees have progressed into employment. We piloted Enterprise Camps – one-to-one mentoring and residential experiences aimed at unlocking the entrepreneurial spirit within young people – in Sheffield, Lancashire and the Tees Valley. The programme, supported by the government’s Careers and Enterprise Company, worked with over 100 young people not in education or employment and 50% of those who completed the camps are now back in work or education or have set up their own business. We’ve given support to older people and boosted social interaction through our innovative Silver Linings volunteering clubs in Hackney. Through the clubs, around 90 people aged over 50 have given small slices of time, supporting on average three other older people, totalling 280 people and 2,000 hours of volunteer time.
Sprouting Out taught a range of invaluable life skills to homeless people in Watford including food growing, cooking, budgeting and nutrition. Delivered in partnership with New Hope Community Market Garden, the Big Lottery funded 27 week course aimed to encourage healthy, sustainable independent living. Our Green Team in Barnsley provided work experience to 18 young people not in education or employment maintaining 69 allotment sites across the borough as well as improving local green spaces and delivering community projects. We designed the ReSPECTful Relationships toolkit for schools and youth groups in Tameside and beyond so they can help young people who may be living with domestic abuse. Young people learned how to spot the warning signs, where to go for help and how to support others. It has been piloted with over 3000 children in 13 of Tameside’s schools. We improved the healthy eating habits of people in Coventry through our Cook and Eat Well programme. Participants consuming five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day increased by 247% and the project led to a reduction of 68% in those who are regularly consuming crisps, sweets and sugary drinks.
KEITH
“I’m doing this for my family and I’m making them proud.” “When you’re dealing with severe depression you don’t think of your future, you don’t think you have a future at that point. You think ‘What’s happening to me, why am I changing?’ It affects everything. You’re drowning, but everyone around you is swimming. It’s painful when no one understands you. “This course was where it all changed. My relationship with my Progress Coach is great because she doesn’t judge me, I trust her. We’ve had mentoring sessions so we would discuss daily life problems, how to manage stuff, how to manage situations, dealing with my emotions and how to understand them. We did a lot of motivational work and learned how to build resilience.
“It’s important to keep the brain ticking over and not just sit in and watch television.” “I joined Groundwork’s Men in Sheds around four years ago. My wife saw a feature about it on television and persuaded me to go. I was a bit apprehensive at first but I’m one of the old-timers now! “The Shed is great because it gives me an excuse to show off! I like teaching people and I get to do that too. You’re never too old to learn new things – it’s great to be able to learn something and then pass it on. “I definitely think more men could benefit from joining Men in Sheds – especially retired men. It’s important to keep the brain ticking over and not just sit in and watch television. When you’ve been working all your life the routine suddenly stops. You are at a loss and it takes a lot of time to adjust. It’s quite important to keep busy.
“It helped me to come up with a plan for my future and has changed my life dramatically in a really good way. There have been a lot of times when I’ve generally felt that I was pretty useless but when you realise how far you’ve come it gives you hope and faith that you can do anything that you want to do. I’m doing this for my family and I’m making them proud.” Megan took part in Groundwork’s ‘Progress’ programme in Coventry & Warwickshire, a ‘Building Better Opportunities’ programme funded by the European Social Fund and the Big Lottery Fund.
MEGAN
GREENER LIVING & WORKING As the impact of climate change begins to be felt and global agreements falter, the need for bottom-up action to create healthier, more sustainable communities is growing. Climate-related events such as flooding and poor air quality tend to impact first and worst on those who have least in our society. People living in more disadvantaged communities or more deprived circumstances are also more likely to be trapped in cold, damp homes or live in neighbourhoods with less access to fresh, healthy food. Through our projects we help individuals, households and whole organisations think and act differently to reduce waste, conserve natural resources and cut carbon emissions. Those actions can pay a green dividend, cutting costs and boosting health, wellbeing and living standards. Our Green Doctors tackle fuel poverty in targeted areas and our sustainable business consultants help firms manage their environmental impact. We know that creating a more sustainable world means inspiring the next generation of decision makers. This year saw the development and launch of our new national campaign to inspire, motivate and train a generation of green leaders – Groundwork Youth – who we hope will be the activists, advocates and enablers of practical action we need in the years ahead. We have an ambitious target of reaching 100,000 young people and motivating 10,000 to demonstrate a commitment to their local environment.
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Some examples of the impact we’ve made this year Our Green Doctors – professional advisers on energy and water efficiency – delivered 2,400 consultations in nine target communities in northern England and Wales thanks to funding from the British Gas Energy Trust. On average nine practical energy saving measures were installed in each household including energy monitors, power downs, draught excluders and personal warmth items such as blankets, hats and gloves. We inspected pubs and restaurants in north east Cheshire to check for risk of pollution from private sewage systems such as septic tanks. Working on behalf of the Environment Agency we’ve developed a new methodology for tackling this potential water quality issue – increasing as more pubs provide food without upgrading sewage arrangements. Our Green Leaders programme helped 347 young people to lead projects that better prepare their neighbourhoods for environmental change, potentially benefiting 25,000 people. Funded by the Big Lottery Fund as part of their national Our Bright Future initiative, the programme includes a social enterprise to sell ‘upcycled’ materials in Manchester.
We supported residents on five housing estates across London to transform redundant spaces into community reuse hubs for the collection, refurbishment and redistribution of household items which would otherwise have gone to waste. The Repurpose project equips people with the skills and resources to recycle and reuse more and tackles the root causes of fly tipping through community engagement. In three years the project saved 111 tonnes of CO2, supplied 3650 items of furniture to low income families, created 19 jobs and was calculated to have provided £650K in social value to local neighbourhoods. We enabled 462 households in Oldham to be warmer, healthier and better off through our Energyworks programme. We helped residents switch energy suppliers and save £25K, distributed 300 warmer home packs and installed 400 energy saving measures. 60% of those asked felt their health had improved through living in a warmer home.
SUBHAN
“I feel very optimistic about what my life holds for me.” “I didn’t have any hope, any aspirations. “Someone lost control of a car and hit me and I ended up being trapped underneath. I was very seriously ill as a result. “I woke up one day and realised that if I wasn’t going to change my life, no-one else was going to do it for me. And the only thing I could do was walk. At first I couldn’t walk further than 50 metres, but I persevered with it and just kept going. Eventually, I managed to walk further and further until I could walk 10 kilometres.
“This is our community; we need to clean stuff up.” “All my life I’ve had that sense of being an activist, but I went through that stage where things were very difficult. I was alone a lot; I didn’t have a lot of friends. Trying to look for a job and not getting anything. Constantly thinking until it hurts your head. I hit rock bottom. To be honest, I just needed some help.
“Now I’m a walk leader on Groundwork’s Active Neighbourhoods programme. There are so many benefits from exercising outside. You could walk for miles and not really notice you’re getting your heart rate up and burning calories and getting healthier and losing weight. “There’s no stopping me really. I do cycling, mountain biking, Muay-Thai and rock climbing. I’m just happy to be alive. I know that the right thing will come along at the right time and I just feel very optimistic about what my life holds for me. I’m very happy with life and very hopeful about the future.” Active Neighbourhoods is series of projects aimed at empowering social housing tenants to run outdoor activities that improve physical and mental wellbeing, combat social isolation and create community cohesion.
“I found out there was a youth centre nearby. I started to get to know the other young people there and started going all the time. “This is our community; we need to clean stuff up. That’s why we’ve got the youth centre and why we have green leaders. Green Leaders is a Groundwork project where the young stand up and clean their communities and show that they can start taking control. “I can’t predict the future, but I really want our community to get better. It’s about turning up on the day and doing it: it’s about keeping your word. So one day when we grow up and come back we can feel we’ve made this place better. That’s the kind of future I want to see – I see a big bright future.” Subhan trained as an environmental advocate with Groundwork’s Green Leaders project, which is part of the Our Bright Future programme.
DANNI
PARTNERSHIPS FOR ACTION We work in partnership with public bodies, other charities and private businesses to deliver programmes that deliver local change and national impact.
Partnership working is in our DNA. It Partnership can take many forms, from was a founding enabling a company’s staff to volunteer their skills, working together to manage public principle of service contracts or using our considerable our work over environmental knowledge to deliver advice and consultancy. 35 years ago and it’s still How our partnerships have made an fundamental impact this year to the way we Groundwork is contracted by Thames Water to work now. engage their domestic and business customers
in a variety of water saving programmes in London and the Thames Valley area. Our team of water efficiency advisers have supported over 75,000 households and businesses annually through Smarter Homes and Smarter Business water efficiency visits, educating water users to reduce water consumption and save money on water bills. Our advisers also install a range of water saving devices. 2016/17 was the first full year of running for the Tesco Bags of Help programme, which enables Tesco customers to decide which community projects should benefit from the funds raised through the sale of carrier bags.
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During the year, 5,273 project applications were assessed, of which we were able to fund over 2,000 to a value of over £28M. 350 projects have already been completed, benefiting more than 1.5 million people. We also celebrated the first anniversary of the One Stop Carriers for Causes programme. During the year we have given out £500K in grants to a range of projects from Scout groups to schools and hospices. Clarion is the largest housing group in the country and Groundwork manages its Community Grants Programme, awarding funds of up to £5,000 to support projects which primarily benefit its residents. Last year nearly £125K was awarded to 34 projects ranging from children’s craft sessions and family fun days to community orchards and healthy eating and gardening clubs. Skanska volunteers are supporting Groundwork projects as part of Lend a Hand – Skanska UK’s volunteering programme, which provides all employees with an extra day of leave to volunteer with a charity of their choice or at an event organised by the company. Last year, Skanska employees volunteered the equivalent of over 500 hours to support Groundwork projects.
Our longstanding partnership with M&S saw volunteers helping to improve open spaces as part of the company’s Spark Something Good initiative. This included working alongside Groundwork’s community gardener on Mobile Garden City, a temporary ‘meanwhile garden’ created on a plot of land in the Queen Elizabeth Park. Staff from GVA have been giving their time to help create dementia-friendly gardens as part of our national partnership with Learning Through Landscapes. Meanwhile, graduates from Deutsche Bank and civil service fast-streamers helped us launch our first national Go Green for Groundwork day. We have benefitted from the support of PwC, whose staff undertook challenges to fundraise for Groundwork Green Teams via the PwC Foundation’s Race to £2 Million. Thanks to these efforts £40K was awarded to eight projects across the country, allowing us to offer bursaries to young people to improve their employment prospects and supporting the achievement of more than 130 qualifications.
Julia goes energy gardening TV presenter Julia Bradbury helps launch a new partnership between Groundwork and Honest to create energy gardens on and around the London Overground network.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT As a charity, we rely on the support of a huge range of individuals and organisations to achieve the change set out in this report.
If you share our vision of a society of sustainable communities, we want to hear from you. There are lots of ways you can help.
DONATE YOUR TIME
Volunteer with us Your time and skills could be of huge value to our work. We can help you undertake team challenges to improve a community allotment or children’s play area or help you become a mentor to young people to help them succeed in life.
SUPPORT US FINANCIALLY
Make a regular donation
We want to provide long-term support to people and communities in need. Regular donations can help our Green Teams improve more green spaces or our Green Doctors help more people struggling to cope with their bills. You could also help Groundwork Youth have a greater impact in communities across the UK.
Become an ambassador
Organise an event or join one of our challenges Perhaps you’re a school party or a group of work colleagues looking for an exciting challenge. We can help you have fun while you make a difference by organising your own fundraising activities or signing up to run a marathon or complete a cycle ride.
Work in partnership with us
Pledge a gift to us in your will
We are focused on bringing about as much change as possible in the places that need it most. We can’t do it alone. We can work with you to improve lives in a particular neighbourhood or city or collaborate on a programme that has UK-wide impact.
We know that people’s first priority when making a will is to provide for their loved ones, but many people also want to leave a legacy that benefits many more people in the future. Become a business member Get your company to support Groundwork or sponsor a project and get access to fundraising support and volunteering opportunities.
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LEND US YOUR VOICE
We are building a network of business and community ambassadors providing strategic support to our mission. If you feel you can put something back into the place where you live or where you grew up or can help us reach out to more supporters we would love to hear from you. Become a Friend of Groundwork. Have you benefited from our work? Were you once part of the Groundwork family? If you have a story about our organisation we would love to hear it so that we can use it to inspire others. Spread the word on social media You can find Groundwork on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn. Give us a like and share our content to your networks so we can reach more people online.
There are lots of ways you can support the valuable work we do to change places and change lives...
Please help us continue to make a difference.
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Groundwork UK is the operating name of the Federation of Groundwork Trusts, a company limited by guarantee. Company Registration Number: 1900511. Charity Registration No: 291558