GROUNDWORK
CHANGING PLACES, CHANGING LIVES Big global issues like the economy and the environment have a big local impact. We work across the UK helping communities find practical solutions to the challenges they face. We provide training and create jobs, reduce energy use and waste, re-connect people with nature and transform whole neighbourhoods. Step by step we’ll go on changing places and changing lives until everywhere is vibrant and green, every community is strong enough to shape its own destiny and everyone can reach their potential.
WHY OUR WORK IS NEEDED The next five years will present huge challenges for society. As the economy recovers, continued reductions in public spending mean there is a risk of greater social inequality and greater geographic disparity. Some people in some parts of the country will feel more confident and aspirational while others will remain marginalised and vulnerable. Environmental impacts – from flooding to energy price rises – will impact disproportionately on those who have least. Universal services in many communities – from youth clubs to parks – will feel the brunt of spending reductions and require new ideas and approaches with communities and businesses more engaged in managing vital public services. Groundwork was established at a time of political, social and economic challenge as an experiment to help communities cope with change and work together to make their lives and neighbourhoods better. That experience and that spirit of enterprise and innovation have never been more needed. Our ambition is to build our visibility, our reputation and our resource base so that we can be a significant, radical, national force for driving change in attitudes, behaviours, places and prospects in the local communities that need it most.
Over the next five years we will:
Improve people’s prospects
Create better places
Promote greener living and working
By increasing the confidence, skills, well-being and employability of those furthest removed from the labour market, in particular young people.
By helping people work together to make their surroundings greener, safer and healthier and get involved in the way decisions are made about services in their area.
By helping people learn more about their environmental impact and act responsibly to reduce natural resource use.
GROUNDWORK
Coaching young people to make the most of their educational opportunities and make positive life choices.
CHLOE Chloe ‘didn’t go to school much’ and left without any GCSEs. Struggling to cope with a chaotic personal life, she shared a three bedroom house with her parents and 11 brothers and sisters until she left home to live with a local drug dealer, who was a much older man. When he abandoned her to go back to his family, Chloe was left depressed, suicidal and facing threats of violence from his new partner. Groundwork mentored her to get her life back on track.
I FEEL LIKE I AM FINALLY GETTING SOMEWHERE. Chloe
“I had weekly one-to-one sessions with my mentor, which helped me to look at ways of dealing with my personal life,” Chloe explains. “She supported me to make a complaint about the harassment I was suffering, get my sexual health tested, develop my confidence and ways of communicating with my family. “After working with her for four weeks, I felt ready to take part in training and began studying English, maths and functional skills courses. I feel like I am finally getting somewhere, but most of all I have someone who is there for me day and night when I have things on my mind.”
IT’S LIKE I’VE BEEN BORN AGAIN. Liam
Helping those out of work to gain confidence and skills and find jobs through working on practical schemes to improve local environments.
LIAM Liam was determined to succeed despite facing an uncertain future after leaving school. Told by one of his teachers that he wouldn’t amount to anything, Liam wanted to not only prove them wrong but also avoid the pitfalls some of his friends had fallen into. He joined a Groundwork Green Team where he gained practical horticulture skills as he worked to improve and maintain local green spaces for his community. He has now found a job and is building a career in grounds maintenance.
“School wasn’t my thing and I just messed about,” Liam says. “When I left school I just had nothing to do and didn’t want to wake up. I used to get into trouble and think I was nothing in life. “Where I am now compared to where I was a couple of years ago, it’s like I’ve been born again. Groundwork saw something in me and knew I could get somewhere in life and now I have. Helping people out in the community feels good. I’m a changed person, everyone can see that, the future is bright.”
Helping, mobilising and supporting people to grow together and take a more active role in managing and improving the spaces that matter to them.
CHRISTINE Christine lives in an area characterised by densely packed terraced streets divided by alleyways that can often become havens for anti-social behaviour. Christine and her neighbours got together to form a community association and with Groundwork’s help they consulted people in the area, drummed up volunteers and raised funds to turn their bleak alleyway into a secure and vibrant community garden.
PEOPLE COME OUT HERE NOW TO ENJOY THE SUNSHINE. IT’S SO MUCH BETTER. Christine
“Before, it was a right mess,” Christine says. “You couldn’t walk down here. It was full of weeds and dog dirt. Nobody seemed to care. Then one day this leaflet came round from Groundwork and we decided between us that we would get this place cleaned up. “People come out here now to enjoy the sunshine, it’s so much better. Kiddies can play here now. We know our neighbours. That’s the most important thing. Projects like this mean you have to knock on neighbours’ doors and say ‘please help’.”
Helping young people create the facilities they want in their neighbourhood and become the active citizens of tomorrow.
The encouragement and confidence that I got from Groundwork made me realise what I want to do. Danii
DANII 19 year-old Danii used to be quiet, introspective and struggled with her social skills. Although initially sceptical she was persuaded to attend one of Groundwork’s youth projects where she helped stage an eco-fashion show. She is now a regular volunteer at her local youth group, helping to run activities, mentor other young people and act as a youth ambassador – representing her peers at meetings and encouraging other young people to get involved in community projects. The experience is helping her to meet her ambition of a career in sports coaching. “I was just one of those kids that was always getting into trouble,” Danii says. “I didn’t have a plan; I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Groundwork asked me to take part in a volunteering event and at first I was like ‘no chance, why should I?’, but they asked me again and as soon as I started I realised I can help people. “The encouragement and confidence that I got from Groundwork made me realise what I want to do. Knowing what you want to do makes you focused, it makes you want to go out and improve. I’ve now got something to look forward to.”
Helping more people reap the financial and health benefits of more efficient use of resources by changing behaviours and improving homes.
MICHAEL Michael found a place in private rented accommodation after a period of sleeping rough. But he was struggling to keep his home warm and had fallen behind with his bills. A visit from a Groundwork Green Doctor helped him to take control of his fuel bills in order to keep warm and stay well.
The Green Doctor helped me to secure grants to repair the walls and get a rebate on my electricity bill. Michael
“My landlord had been slow to carry out repairs so I paid for improvements myself, which left me with financial difficulties and arrears on my energy bills,” Michael says. “I also had no control over my heating as the boiler and bills were shared with the flat downstairs. The Green Doctor helped me to secure grants to repair the walls and get a rebate on my electricity bill. They also helped to persuade my landlord to install a boiler in my flat, so I had control over the energy I use. “I was afraid that if I made a stand against the landlord I would lose my tenancy and be back on the street. But Groundwork were a godsend.”
WHAT WE WILL DELIVER Through our services and activities we will meet the following targets by 2020:
15,000
people progressing into training or employment.
10,000 young people
more motivated to learn and achieve.
2,500 open spaces
improved or looked after.
100,000
people helped
to reduce their energy and water use.
1,000,000 days of voluntary action to improve local communities.
Help us change places and change lives Over the next five years we will strengthen existing relationships and forge new ones to ensure we have the skills, networks and resources to address the challenges of the people we support. For more information about how you can support our work or benefit from our services visit:
www.groundwork.org.uk
www.groundwork.org.uk Groundwork UK is the operating name of the Federation of Groundwork Trusts, a company limited by guarantee. Company Registration No: 1900511. Charity Registration No: 291558