St Pauls Neighbourhood Renewal by lunatrix

Since October 2001 Neighbourhood Renewal has been a catalyst and a local resource that has helped many things happen. The Neighbourhood Renewal Team is a small part of a huge team of very dedicated residents, community groups, service providers (City Council, Police, Primary Care Trust, etc) and businesses who make up St Pauls Unlimited Community Partnership.

This magazine is about how the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund has been spent. There is another, in many ways more interesting and much longer, story to tell about what has been achieved by service providers and local people talking together and residents demanding no less than they deserve. Above: Clean up team

Bristol Partnership is currently reviewing the future of the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and how it is used; there will be changes after March 2006. At this point in time we are not sure what this will mean. We will keep you posted through the St Pauls Unlimited Newsletter.

For me, Neighbourhood Renewal gave a community with a strong heart and mind some of its will back. It isn’t about money, projects or meetings, it’s about inspirational staff, not battered by years of negativity, recognising our potential and helping us realise it!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who have worked with us over the years.

Maryanne Kempf, Chair, St Pauls Unlimited Community Partnership

Ashley Neighbourhood Renewal Team: Michelle Gillespie, Admin Support Paul Williams, Communications Worker Lyn Sharry, Neighbourhood Facilitator Penny Germon, Project Manager

If you want to ﬁnd out more about Neighbourhood Renewal or St Pauls Unlimited Community Partnership you can contact us at:

St Agnes Lodge Thomas St. St Pauls BS2 9LJ Tel. 9039934 www.stpaulsunlimited.org.uk

Contents Introduction Priority - Safer Places to Live Community Links ................................... p5 Prison Buddying Project ........................ p6 St Agnes Lodge and Park Project ......... p7 St Pauls Gardening Project ................... p8 Additional police ..................................... p9 Drugs Problem Solving Event................ p9 Operation Cleansweep .......................... p9 Safer Streets Projects ............................ p9

Priority – Improving Access to Services, Information and Community Involvement

Priority – Improving the Quality of Life, Health and Opportunities of Children and Young People

Newsletter.............................................p10 Street Ambassadors Project................p10 Locally elected Resident Representatives....................................p10 Community Notice Boards ..................p10 Community Directory and Residents Welcome Pack .....................................p10 Scholarship Fund .................................p10 Residents Event and Activities Fund ..p10 Arts Calendar .......................................p10 Big Day Out ..........................................p10 Bi-Lingual Community Advocates Project ................................p11 Community Bus ...................................p11 Housing Investment Survey.................p11

Cabot School Playground ...................p12 Children’s Centre ..................................p13 St Pauls Learning and Family Centre..p14 Parenting Co-ordinator Project ...........p15 Youth Centre Development Project.....p16 Multi Agency Youth Partnership ..........p16 St Pauls Youth Promotion....................p16 Young Parents Project .........................p17 St Pauls Community Sports Initiative .p18 St Pauls Youth Arts Programme..........p19

Priority – Improving the Local Economy through Employment, Training, and Promoting Local Labour. The Black Construction Workers List..p20 Local Labour Development Project ....p21

Appendix 1 More about Neighbourhood Renewal p22

Introduction

If you spent a day walking around St Pauls you would, at some point, hear someone commenting on what should be done about the rubbish on the street or the state of the playground at school or any one of a number of things that could be improved in the local community. Everyone has different opinions about what should be done to deal with the poverty, poor education or any of the inequalities that we see around us. St Pauls is one of 10 areas in Bristol with extra resources from Neighbourhood Renewal to try to tackle these problems (for more details about Neighbourhood Renewal see Appendix 1). Residents and workers of St Pauls got together and worked out a long list of priorities that they wanted to address. This magazine has been split into chapters each headed with one of those priorities, each presenting projects that are working towards achieving that priority. Right: Residents survey (Mark simmons)

Priority - A Safer Place to Live Community Links Fact File Total NR funding: £250,000 (50% of total budget) Other Funders: SRB6, Objective 2, Knightstone Housing Association Number of staff: 4 full time, 2 part-time Local staff: 10 Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) staff: 5 Set up: February 2001 Finish Date: 31/03/05 Managed by: Knightstone Housing Association

The Community Links project ran from April 2002 and made a real impact on the local community. Highly visible in their bright yellow t-shirts they patrolled the street of St Pauls and St Agnes carrying out many tasks including: • Reporting environmental issues such as rubbish and dumped cars • Acting as a go between with the council /police and local residents • Organising the annual ‘Clean Sweep’ including St Pauls Park, Brunswick Cemetery and the basements in Argyle Road • Campaigning on community issues • Giving advice to local residents on issues of personal ﬁnance such as paying bills and putting people in touch with relevant agencies • Street patrols • School runs • Generally making the area a safer place

It was with great disappointment that the Community Links scheme closed on March 2005 along with all Warden Schemes across the city. Some of the work of Community Links has been taken up by Council Departments such as Cleansing Services and in time Police Community Support Ofﬁcers (expected to be on the Street of St Pauls in the Autumn of 2005). We would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make the Community Links project the success it was, particularly the staff.

The service providers have assured us that they will be working to make sure local people continue to get a good service. If you have examples of where standards have deteriorated since the Community Links ﬁnished we want to hear from you - please contact Lyn on 9039934.

“All the hard work at Community Links is a great blessing to the people of the area. Step by step the area has been reclaimed from the wicked.” Local resident. Above: Community Links team

“Rethink, rebuild your attitude to everything!” George

“A solution that makes sense for all the community.”

Francis, project worker.

Maggie Telfer, Director, Bristol Drugs Project (BDP).

Prison Buddying Project (also known as the Corner Project) Fact File Total funding from NR: £72,200 (£30,000 Easton & Lawrence Hill) 2004 - 2006 Number of staff: 3 Local staff: 2 BME staff: 3 Managed by: Bristol Drugs Project (pilot project) Black Development Agency (stage 2) Contact number: Black Development Agency tel. 9396645

This project is about reducing the impact of drug dealers on communities by directly supporting individuals who deal drugs and want to change their lives. As far as we know it’s the ﬁrst project of its kind in the country and it looks set to lead the way. There have been two stages: Stage 1 a pilot project run by BDP Stage 2 which will run from June 2005 - March 2006 delivered by a partnership of black-led organisations - Black Development Agency, St Pauls Youth Promotion and Nilaari. This is a pioneering project whose target group is extremely hard to reach and who are often deeply suspicious of service

providers or projects offering support. In the same way that most people recognise that drug users need help, so too do drug dealers and this is a problem that needs to be addressed. The Project was set up to achieve three main aims: • Promoting education, training and employment for people inside and leaving prison • Working with young people to discourage involvement with drugs • Support to partners and family members - this is especially important as the effects of drug dealing can have a particularly devastating effect on family members who are often over looked

A really exciting outcome for the project was the production of a video with a music soundtrack looking at the issues of drug dealing from a community perspective. Described as a “challenging piece of work” the video has been shown in the Learning Centre and has also been used to inform professionals such as Probation Ofﬁcers. The project will grow to incorporate the areas of Easton and Lawrence Hill. In joining up with these areas the project will be better placed to tackle the issues of drug dealing. This is a long-term approach and the funding is, unfortunately, short term. The main aim is to try out a new way of working to see if it has potential.

“The main solution to drug dealing is enforcement and the police have an important role to play,

but we also need to look at the reasons why people get involved, especially why young people choose this as a career path.” Maggie Telfer, Director, Bristol Drugs Project (BDP).

St Agnes Lodge & Park Project Fact File Total NR Funding: £54,000 Other Funding: Bristol City Council Parks Department Number of staff: 1 Number of BME staff: 1 Number of local staff: 1 Managed by: IRIS (Involving Residents In Solutions) Contact number: 9039934

Funding was provided for lighting, a new kitchen for the community room and the salary of the Park Keeper, Constantine Blake. The Park Keeper was a top priority for local people who wanted the park to stay safe. When the Neighbourhood Renewal money came to an end the Parks Department chose to employ the Park Keeper who now has a permanent job looking after the parks and green spaces in St Pauls and the wider Ashley area - a great achievement.

Cons enjoys his work and sees his job as a miracle that allows him to do the things he cares about. The improved green spaces have impacted on local and external perceptions of St Paul’s as well as making the Park a more inviting place for local people.

Reclaiming the park from the drug dealers and bringing the Lodge back into use has been highlighted as good practice nationally. In 2003 the project won an Open Spaces Management Award.

“It was great going in and seeing local organisations using the Lodge very productively.” Pete Wilkinson, Bristol City Council

Above Left: St. Agnes Lodge, Constantine Blake Above: St. Agnes Lodge, park gathering (Mark simmons x2)

“I used to do the garden myself but I’m too ill to do it now. They gave me pots and plants and it looks lovely.” Cynthia, local resident. St Paul’s Gardening Project Fact File Total NR funding: £123,000 for 2003-06 Other Funders: Knightstone Housing Association and City Council Number of staff : 1 full time, 2 part time Local staff : 1 BME staff: 1 Managed by: Future West Oct 2003-4, Business West Nov 2004Contact number: 944 4414

The gardening project is all about transforming overgrown and neglected spaces into green and pleasant gardens for the local community. Offering free or low cost gardening services to local people, the project has transformed over 300 gardens in the area. As well as providing a gardening service, the project works with residents encouraging them to take control of their gardens through workshops aimed at young and old alike. The impact of pretty gardens beneﬁts everyone - lifting the spirits, encouraging others to be more careful and respecting the local environment, making an

important contribution to reducing crime and anti social behaviour. A real highlight of the project so far has been the Community Garden Competition in 2004. With over 100 participants and 26 gardens involved, there was a real buzz in the air when Olympic gold medallist, Linford Christie, awarded the prizes. High praise came from one of the competition judges, Eddie Mole, Curator of Horticulture, Bristol Zoo Gardens - “I’m extremely impressed with the standard of the gardening around St Paul’s and St Agnes!” The project has become well known throughout the local area, which has a lot

“This is one of the most successful projects in the area

Above Right: 21 Thomas Street Above Far Right: 191 Newfoundland Road Right: Linford Christie, prize awards

for a long time.” Pete Bullard, St Paul’s Residents Association.

to do with the brightly coloured sunﬂower van, but also the ﬂexible and friendly nature of the service. Just imagine St Pauls hits the headlines, not for drugs and crime, but for winning the Britain in Bloom competition! If you feel inspired contact Rob the Gardener - even if you are quite happy to work on your own garden but could do with a bit of help deciding what to do.

Additional Police

Total NR Funding: £30,000 One the earliest projects responded to the wish by residents to have dedicated ‘bobbies on the beat’. Since then the police presence in the area was stepped up, and moves to address the drug dealing ﬁnally got underway.

Drugs Problem Solving Event

Held in 2002, this event brought all the relevant agencies and individuals together, including the Leader of the Council and the District Commissioner of Police and local people, to discuss the problem of drugs in St Pauls. The event saw the start of local people talking directly to people with the power to make a difference, including Lord Faulkner, the then Minister for Department of Environment, Transport & the Regions.

Operation Cleansweep

First held in 2002 when about 60 residents, council workers (including the then Leader of the Council) and other agencies came together to clean up the streets. The drug dealers had no business that day. Members of the Council saw the state of the streets, gardens and basements for themselves. This has led to an improvement in the quality of the services to the area and initiatives like the Drugs and Sex Litter Team (you can phone any time and they will come and pick up needles, condoms etc tel.9039934) and the Community Gardening Project.

Safer Streets Projects funded by city-wide Neighbourhood Renewal Funding pots impacting on St Pauls: • St Pauls Park Fencing • Westmoreland House & carriage Works fencing/security • Sussex Place planters to address pavement parking • Street Lighting - Ashley Road, Brighton Street, Drummond Road, Gwyn Street, Hepburn Road, St Pauls Park, Argyle Street. • Support Against Racist Incidents (SARI) (NRF Equalities Fund) SARI has supported over 20 local people who have been affected by racist abuse. The project also works in schools to help tackle any racial harassment.

Above Left: Community policing Above: St. Pauls streets (Mark simmons x2)

Priority - Improving access to services, information and community involvement ‘Developing Partnerships’ is funded by Neighbourhood Renewal and Objective 2 with the aim of helping local people to get involved, have their say and take a lead in decision making. The project funds the day-to-day work of the Partnership and pays for things like residents’ childcare and telephone expenses. Highlights include:

Newsletter

St Pauls Unlimited Community Partnership Newsletter. 2200 are delivered bi-monthly to everybody’s door so if you don’t get one and you want one please contact Michelle on 903 9934. If you’ve got something to say why not write a letter or an article - tell it how you see it, contact Paul 9030265.

Above Right: Partnership noticeboard Above Far Right: Bilingual Advocates Launch (Paul Williams x2)

Street Ambassadors Project

Thirty local people were employed to talk to their neighbours to tell them about the partnership and ﬁnd out about the priority issues on their street. Known as the Street Ambassadors, they distributed the “I love St Pauls” stickers, balloons and draft Neighbourhood Action Plan. 700 households out of about 2500 households responded, which is a much higher response than usual.

Locally elected Resident Representatives

Following on from the Street Ambassadors, 8 local people were elected to the Coordinating Body of St Pauls Unlimited Community Partnership (the Board of Directors). 300 people voted for their representative at one of ﬁve ‘polling stations’. The ﬁve zone reps and three Black and Minority Ethnic Reps will serve for four years with elections held every two years.

Community Notice Boards Community Directory & Resident Welcome pack

For copies in English, Urdu and Somali please contact Michelle on 9039934.

Scholarship Fund

Funding for local people to do short courses.

Resident Events and Activities Fund (2002 - 2004)

Supported Big Time, Jamaican Independence Anniversary Street Party and Cabot School Mural.

Arts Calendar 2005

The calendar was created to promote local heroes, showcase the work of some local artists and promote the work of the Arts & Culture Task Group. The 2006 Calendar is now being planned to be ready for November/early December 2005.

Big Day Out - May 2002

Four artists worked with four local community organisations - Kuumba, Full Circle, Humdard and the Ludlow Close Day Centre - to produce works of art. The groups came together at the Malcolm X Centre for the “Big Day Out” to display their work including live performances. Many local people came together to have a good time, learn about each other’s cultures and traditions and try their hand at a bit of art. “ It was a fantastic way of achieving a lot of goals at once, like raising community self esteem, feeling proud of where you live and seeing other parts of the community you didn’t know about.” Barbara Cook, Art goes Pop.

Bi-lingual Community Advocates Project Fact File Set up: December 2003 Total NR Funding: £115,500 for 2003-06 Number of Staff: 3 part time Local staff: 2 BME staff: 3 Managed by: St Pauls Advice Centre Contact number: 916 6583

The Bi-lingual Community Advocates Project supports Somali and Urdu speaking people living in the area to access services and get involved in community life. The service offers: • Translators and interpreters • Support for people who are new to Britain and need speciﬁc help accessing services. This might be registering with a doctor, accessing beneﬁts or housing and linking up with local community groups. • Translating information that is produced by St Pauls Unlimited. Currently the project provides drop in sessions for Somali and Urdu speakers with over 100 people using the service so far.

“I think they had me in mind when they designed the projectit’s tailor made for me.” Local resident.

The next steps for the project include: • Developing links with Cabot School • Training the staff in advocacy skills • Planning future funding for the project If you are interested in getting more involved, the project really wants more people on the Project Steering Group. Contact Wendy Went, Project Administrator on 9166583.

Housing Investment Survey

Total NR funding £50,000 This survey looked at what needed to be done and the cost of bringing all the homes in St Pauls up to the Government’s Decent Homes Standard. It also informs the Housing Plan which will be available for consultation in Summer 2005.

Community Bus

Total NR Funding £20,000 The issue of getting across the M32 has long been identiﬁed as a problem. A steering group of Malcolm X Elders, Full Circle, St Werburghs Neighbourhood Association and residents for St Pauls, Easton and St Werburghs formed to explore transport solutions. They then employed Transport and Travel Research to carry out a feasibility study. Key destinations include Charlotte Keele Health Centre, Easton swimming pool or the Showcase cinema. The study led to an application to the ‘Urban Bus Challenge’ that funded a three-year Community Bus Project - the UsBus.

Above Far Left: Abdul and Wendy, Bi-lingual Community Advocates Project Above Left: Jamila and Shehla, Bi-lingual Community Advocates Project

Priority - Improving the quality of life, health and opportunities of children and young people Cabot School Playground Fact File Total NR Funding: £5,000 (project cost £48,000) Managed by: Cabot Primary School Contact number: 3772630

The new playground is an exciting place to play and learn. It has proved that quality play improves behaviour in the classroom and helps pupils to learn. The Rotary Club worked with the school for three years to raise the funds and make the project a reality. The children in the school were involved in the planning and design of the playground, creating a magical space. Teachers are able to use the playground to teach inspiring creativity and discussion. Having the playground has helped to integrate pupils and reduce exclusion and bullying. It is part of a research project set up by the Education Action Zone to ﬁnd out how play impacts on behaviour and learning in the classroom.

Above Far Right & Right: Cabot School Playground

The highlight of this project, say the teachers, was seeing the huge smiles on the children’s faces as they played together and explored the space.

“At last it has brought everyone together with a common agenda to best meet the needs of St Paul’s families.” Lucy Driver, St James and St Agnes Nursery. Children’s Centre Fact File Total NR funding: £119,000 2003 - 2006 Other Funding: Parenting Fund Number of staff: 2 BME staff: 1 Local Staff: 2 Managed by: St Pauls Unlimited Children and Family Task Group & Full Circle Youth & Family Project Contact number: 914 5478

For some time now there has been a real need to create a space where everyone working with children and families can do so together and join up services. Set up to plan a one-stop shop for families, in the short time the project has been running it has: • Established the Parents Forum, which meets twice a month and gives families the chance to get involved in planning change for local families • Run accredited training in parenting skills which will allow participants to train other local parents • Secured funding for more parenting education and support from the Parenting Fund

• Brought together many different children and family services, which are now working together for the ﬁrst time in the local area

The future:

Not long after the local project was set up the Government announced the Children Centre’s initiative, managed by the early Years Service in the Council. The task now is to reconcile the needs and aspirations of the local community with the criteria for Children Centres. Whether or not this is possible remains to be seen. Decisions will have to be made over the coming months (Summer into Autumn 2005) about the way forward.

“We hope it will house all children and families services for the area from early education and

The aim of the project is to move the project on from its starting point to create a centre that meets the needs of local people now and in the future, including: • Enough childcare for all age groups to meet the needs of working and non working parents/guardians • To secure the extra services such as family support, childfree space, health and nutrition, that other areas have developed through Sure Start programmes

How can you get involved?

If you are a parent, guardian or grandparent and you want to get involved, you want to ﬁnd out more about the Parents Forum or the Parents Courses or you have something to say about the proposed Children’s Centre please contact Erica McLuckie on 9145478.

health to play services. There has been an amazing amount of good will from local people and agencies to make the Centre a reality.” Erica McLuckie, Development Worker.

Above Far Left: Children’s Centre Parents Forum

Right: Barbara working on mosaic Centre: The Learning Centre Far Right: Learning Wall (Paul Williams x3)

“I think it’s fantastic to have such an excellent modern facility in the heart of an area long deprived of good public facilities.” Local resident. St Paul’s Learning and Family Centre Fact File Total NR Funding: £60,000 (feasibility work and contribution to building costs) Other Funders: SRB, Objective 2, Bristol City Council, Learning and Skills Council and Arts Council, £2 million was spent on construction of the building Number of Staff: 5 full time, 19 part time + tutors (around 40) Local Staff: 5 f/t and 10 p/t BME staff: 5 f/t and 17 p/t Number of local people employed on the construction: Varied from week to week, according to the type of work needed to be done: between 1- 12 people (9-33%) Number of Community Arts commissioned: 3 Managed by: Community Education Service, Bristol City Council Contact number: 914 5470

The St Pauls Learning and Family Centre has become a focal point for many local people and groups including young people since it opened in February 2004. The centre offers: • A wide range of courses, providing ﬁrst step learning for adults • A range of facilities - library, café, crèche, photography studio with dark room facilities, room hire, music and recording studio facilities, and free computer and internet access for the public • Employment advice • A place to meet The library has become a popular and well-used service. Opening for 30 hours a week, 785 local people have joined

with just under half under 14 years old (which is higher than most other libraries in Bristol). Both of the local primary schools use the library and there is now an increase in the number of pre school children through the door. Before the centre was built some people said it was in the wrong place because Grosvenor Road felt so unsafe. Instead it has been an important part of reclaiming the area from the drug dealers and is now well used by local people. Working in partnership with the Watershed, the Centre is the proud host of the only photographic studio in Bristol (and the South West!) with community access to colour and black and white processing facilities.

In recent months the remaining art works on the site have been completed. If you haven’t already done so take some time to read the messages in Barbara Disney’s mosaic and take in Valda Jackson’s amazing brick relief.

Future developments include:

• Developing the music studio • Extending the range of courses to include vocational and personal development courses such as languages, arts and cookery • Putting on more activities for children and young people • Outreach work to attract people who wouldn’t normally use this type of facility

How can you get involved?

If you would like to have a say in the way the centre is run and the course program you could always join the management committee - contact Stella, the Centre Manager, for more information.

“The Learning Centre is one of the best places in St Paul’s for integration, everybody feels a sense of ownership.” Khalif Noor, Amana Supplementary School.

Parenting Co-ordinator Project Fact File Total NR Funding: £136,000 (2001 - 2005) Number of Staff: 3 p/t (2001 - 2003) 1 part time (2004-2005) BME staff: 4 Local staff: 1 Contact number: Cabot School on 3772630

Pat Usherwood, the Parent Coordinator at Cabot School, encourages parents to use the school as a meeting place to exchange information and raise issues of concern in the area, as well as helping parents get involved with their children’s education. This has resulted in many shared enjoyable times including: • Parents attending school trips. For some parents the trip to Westonsuper-Mare was the ﬁrst time they had been to the seaside • Class visits, which support the curriculum or class topic • Social evenings where parents share their skills and talents • Family involvement in Eid and Diwali parties • Family learning

• Fourteen local parents completing the Learning Assistant training course. • Attendance on computer courses set up in the school • Monthly Parents’ Forum meetings where parents share ideas or concerns they have about the school or communityThe head teacher, Carmen Cadwgan, is really pleased with the positive impact the project has had on the school.

The next step is to make sure that the Co-ordinator’s role is fully integrated into the long-term strategy of the school and doesn’t just ﬁnish when Neighbourhood Renewal funding ends. Parent Coordinators have been based in all schools in the Ashley ward since 2001. Over time the amount of money has been reduced to encourage the schools and the Department of Education and Lifelong Learning to take on funding the work.

The project has received wide spread support for its work. The last Ofsted report of Cabot School praised the work the school has done with parents, using it as a model for use in other areas. The project’s success has been shared with decision makers in education across the region.

Youth Centre Development project Fact File Total NR funding: £33,000 (2005 - 06) Local staff: Project manager to be appointed Managed by: Bristol City Council Young People’s Services Contact number: Lorraine Millard, the Senior Youth and Community Worker, on 942 0516.

For many years people in St Paul’s have known that a dedicated youth centre, somewhere for young people to go and do what they want to do in a safe place, was needed. There has been a really long wait for this need to be met, but now things are moving forward. Ashley Youth and Play Partnership, the task group of St Pauls Unlimited which focuses on young people and out of school activities, has got the funding to employ someone to help develop a new youth centre. The main task is to ﬁnd a local site for the club and then work with architects on a design. Funding for the building and for running the centre will also need to be raised. The job will be advertised in the summer - with all this work to do it will be a few years before the ﬁnished centre is ready for use by local young people.

Above: City Road Baptist Congregation Above Right: St. Pauls Youth Promotions

Multi Agency Youth Partnership Funded a feasibility study of City Road Baptist Church annex as a potential site for a local youth centre.

St Pauls Youth Promotion (NRF equalities fund)

Core funding was provided for project worker, admin support and running costs.

St Pauls Youth Promotion offers inspiration to young people of African descent. The project provides training and opportunities for the young people to achieve educationally. The work with young people focuses on raising selfesteem. This is achieved through activities such as football, poetry, drama and music.

“Best thing is the relationship with young people – we can’t solve everyone’s problems but have had some real success with individuals.” Simba Tongogara, project worker.

“One of our biggest achievements is that the young women are so keen to come along and take part in the project.” Sylvia Vincent, Project Manager Young Parents Project Fact File Total Funding: £65,000 for 2004-06 Numbers of staff: 3 P/T Number of BME staff: 3 Number of local staff: 3 Contact number: 9077164 Managed by: Fullcircle Youth and Family Project

The Young Parents project was set up to support young parents in the area because there were no youth or community work projects meeting their needs. The Project runs: • 1 session a week on Wednesdays at the Learning Centre: this session works with young people to develop their social skills, look at education and employment opportunities and get advise on housing. The session also helps by supporting young parents to tackle the sense of isolation that being a parent can bring

• One to one sessions: where workers can focus on individual needs. These take place anywhere from the mothers home or a café, where ever feels most comfortable. Here they can look at anything from job applications to advice around relationships • Strengthening Families, Strengthening Community course each Wednesday. This is funded by the Race Equalities Unit but attended mostly by the Young Mums Group • Residentials e.g. family holiday at Woodlands in Dartmouth and a half term trip to a safari park

• Bank Holiday open day where Mums use the garden at Full Circle to have stalls, BBQ, face painting The project is keen to get parents more involved in management of the project and form a steering group. Training in committee skills will be offered to support this process. Project workers will be developing tailor made training courses at the Learning Centre in whatever the mothers identify as their need. The young parents will also be working towards a peer education programme, so they can pass on their experiences to other people.

“We are really working to raise our mums’ aspirations. Before they might have sat at home thinking I can’t do it. The parenting courses have been really helpful as it encourages them to look at what they are doing. But mostly I think it’s just opened their eyes to opportunities that they might have assumed that they don’t have.” Sylvia Vincent, Project Manager

Above Left: Young Parents Project Above Centre: Full Circle Mosaic (Paul Williamss) Above: Young Parents Project

“70 kids of mixed ability took part in a football tournament in Brislington one weekend. Most other groups only brought along their best but with us everyone took part and it was a brilliant St Pauls Community Sports Initiative Fact File NR Funding: £118,000 for 2001-06 Also funded by: Bristol City Council Young People’s Services, Bristol Community Sport, and Sport England Number of Staff: 1 Number of BME staff: 1 Number of local staff: 1 Contact number: 9077164

experience.” David Mcleod, Sports Development Worker, Full Circle. St Pauls Community Sports Initiative uses sport to engage young people in the area, promote healthy lifestyles, and divert them away from activities such as crime or drugs. The project runs 7 sports sessions a week at St Pauls Sports Academy, for a range of different age groups. At the moment most of the sessions focus on football coaching and competition but they have been doing basketball and table tennis as well. About 110 young people attend each month.

One of the keys to the project’s success has been letting everyone participate in competitions whatever their skill level.

One of the projects biggest achievements is the sense of enthusiasm that the young people have.

Another important thing about the project is the idea that the sessions are regular, that young people know the time and the place to turn up.

There is a need to recruit other volunteer workers to run a wider range of sports activities in the future. This will include dance and netball sessions for girls and basketball sessions.

“In a way we use sport as a tool to encourage young people to get involved with something, to create a space which they control and where connections can be made with other young

people and informal conversations can be had with staff and volunteers about anything from Above: Teenage health and ﬁtness

personal stuff to education.” David Mcleod, Sports Development Worker, Full Circle.

“Having the opportunity to have the use of an ofﬁce, the equipment and a business card have meant people take me seriously. I’ve had experience working on real projects.” Young trainee. St. Pauls Youth Arts Programme Fact File Total NR Funding 04-06: £39,988 Other funders: Recycled Assets Project, Connexions, and Bristol City Council Young People’s Services Number of Staff: Part Time 1 + 3 regular workers/freelance Local staff: 3 BME staff: 1 Managed by: Young Bristol Phone number: 9441122

St. Pauls Youth Arts Programme, known as Fast Forward, is a project that encourages more young people to get involved with arts activities. One of the ways it does this is by promoting what’s going on in the area using well-designed and funky publicity. This includes a calendar of events and a web site. The project involves young people in decisionmaking and has set up a local youth forum. Fast Forward also offers support to arts organisations and youth events. Since it started, the project has achieved many things including:

“Fast Forward is a valuable and much needed resource that has been extremely helpful in signposting us towards appropriate artists for school projects.” Jackie Thomas from Education Action Zone.

• Launching a website for St. Pauls providing a space for young people’s art work to be displayed and also providing an information resource for youth workers in the area. Young people from the Gate Café helped design the youth section of the site. • Establishing regular workshops and tuition in computer design. • Setting up a traineeship for a local young person. The training offered is in graphic design, arts work and youth work. • Compiling a directory of youth arts activities in the area. • Running local events including Big Time 8, Journey of the MC, Mandela’s Hideaway and Open Space. The Project Co-ordinator, Chris Johnston, feels the project has delivered a lot in a short period of time and with limited funding. The traineeship has been particularly successful and serves as a pilot for further work of this kind.

Working in partnership with the City Council, Fast Forward have contributed to the Neighbourhood Arts Strategy and also represent the youth side of the St Pauls Arts and Culture Task Group. The project has proved successful in supporting other organisations. Fast Forward has many plans for the future. These include: • Securing funding to carry on with the project • Developing more workshop programmes • Developing a new media centre with young people • Continuing to develop Big Time

Above Far Left: Big time 9 Above Left & Above: Open Space Events (Mathew Smith x2)

Priority - Improving the local economy through employment, training and promoting local labour. The Black Construction Worker List (under £1,000)

Above: Construction worker Above Right: Building of Learning Centre Right: Black and White Cafe demolition

In order to make sure that there were local people employed on the construction of the Learning Centre, Simba Tongogara from St Pauls Youth Promotion compiled a list of local workers and identiﬁed barriers to their employment. As a result many positive steps have been taken: • The Bristol Multicultural Development Cooperative was set up to improve local people’s access to the Construction industry • Local companies, Windrush Securities and Smart Décor, won the contract for the construction of the Learning Centre • The Constructions Opportunities Group formed which has led to changes in mainstream service providers and more training for adults • The Bristol Multicultural Development Cooperat • The formation of the Local Labour Project • More local people accessing the approved contractors list

“We even persuaded two young men wanting to go into construction to go to university instead.” Eve Pritchard, Project Worker. Local Labour Development Project Fact File Total Funding from N.R: £90,000 for 2003-06 Number of Staff: 1 Number of BME staff: 1 Number of local staff: x Managed by: CEED Contact number: 9429555 ext 231

The Local Labour Development Project’s aim is to promote the employment of local people in local companies and services as well as promoting job opportunities generally: The project is about: • Promoting take-up of Positive Action Traineeships • Provision of good quality placements for young people by more organisations and businesses based in or serving St. Pauls • Assisting local construction subcontractors to jointly tender for large contracts • Helping unemployed workers obtain CSCS card which is what you need to work on a building site. • Encouraging Young People to consider apprenticeships • Working with local residents and City Council colleagues to carry out a local ‘Skills and Employment Aspirations Survey’

The project works in partnership with many agencies including the Construction Industries Training Board (CITB). Commenting on the partnership focused on this issue Hugh Pollock from CITB said “ it provided a platform for players to share knowledge, experience and information about the client group.” The project has successfully worked with 30 local people, supporting them into quality training. A particular success has been the doubling of the number of applications for construction skills training from Black and Minority Ethnic people exceeding expectations. Apart from the individual success of trainees the project has also enabled CITB and Onsite to put more pressure on construction companies to take on more apprentices in the future. One of the highlights of the project was seeing so many young people and training providers at the information events at the Learning

Centre. There were however problems trying to get employers to come and meet prospective employees. The project plans to: • Encourage more local people into training particularly linking with schools to give young people work placements • Work will continue to ﬁnd training places for local residents • Work with those people who, through the skills and employment survey, said they wanted support to achieve their goals

Above Left: Workers on City Road

More about Neighbourhood Renewal In 2000 the Government launched the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal which set out how the Government proposed to tackle unemployment, poverty, low achievement and many of the other problems faced by disadvantaged communities. To address these problems 88 cities across England and Wales were allocated Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. Three of the main things the government hopes to achieve: • Local residents have a leading role in deciding what needs to happen and how it happens • We change the way ‘mainstream’ organizations, like the Council, Police, and Health, work in the area so that additional funding is no longer needed (this is called ‘mainstreaming’).

Three of the main things the government hopes to achieve: • No one will be disadvantaged by where they live To measure the success of Neighbourhood Renewal the Government has introduced ‘Floor Targets’ - they are basic targets that each city has to achieve. In Bristol, education and crime are particular challenges The ﬂoor targets are: • Education - raising educational achievement for 14 year olds and GCSE students • Health - improving life expectancy and reducing teenage pregnancy • Road Safety - reducing the number of road accidents

• Jobs - support for businesses and increase employment opportunities, particularly for parents, black and minority ethnic groups, people over 50 and people with low qualifications • Housing - all housing to meet the ‘Decent Homes Standard’ by 2010 • Crime - reducing burglary All of these floor targets have dates by when they should be achieved and specific targets. Neighbourhood Renewal money came to Bristol in April 2001, some of the money was given to projects and organisations who work city wide and the rest was divided between ten of the most deprived areas in the city, one of which is St Pauls. The Ashley Neighbourhood Renewal team started with one member of staff in October 2001.

The Neighbourhood Renewal team had three main tasks: • Set up local structures for working together. In St Pauls a partnership group already existed (called the St Pauls Assessment Steering Group) which was the foundation of St Pauls Unlimited Community Partnership. • To work with local people to identify the problems and work out the solutions. • To improve the standard of services provided by the Council, Police, Health, Housing so that the services you get in St Pauls are of the same standard and quality as other parts of the city that are not Neighbourhood Renewal areas.

From the beginning, the aim for residents and other partners locally was to build a Community Partnership that would last beyond the life of Neighbourhood Renewal - St Pauls Unlimited Community Partnership. As Lyn Sharry, Neighbourhood Renewal Facilitator says “Ashley Neighbourhood Renewal acts as the scaffolding that supports the St Pauls Unlimited Community Partnership. The Partnership is the structure that is being built beneath the scaffolding. Once Neighbourhood Renewal is gone the scaffolding will come down and the Partnership will be a solid structure able to fully support itself.”

The Partnership agreed the following local priorities for the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund: • Making the neighbourhood a safer place to live by tackling the effects of drug dealing and drug use, improving the general environment and reclaiming the streets • Improving access to services, information and community involvement • Improving the quality of life and opportunities of children, young people and families. • Improving the local economy through employment, training and promoting local labour.

Some important principles have informed all of the work: • Services have to meet the needs of everyone • Projects are accountable to local people • Buying local - supporting local businesses • Celebrating the talents, creativity and cultural heritage of local people • Challenging the negative reputation and stereotypes of the area

St. Pauls

Neighbourhood Renewal St Agnes Lodge Thomas St. St Pauls BS2 9LJ Tel. 9039934 www.stpaulsunlimited.org.uk Picture credits on cover, left to right: St Pauls Streets, 191 Newfoundland Road, Fhirelle Gayle - Carnival Queen (Paul Williams), Asam Karim and Ummar Usman, Constantine Blake, St. Pauls Youth Promotions, City Road Baptist Church, Bi-Lingual Advocates, St Pauls streets, Build your own community (Paul Williams), Brigstocke Road, Lynford Christie and Simba Tongogara, Teenage Health and Fitness. Produced by: Imayla (carolinepringle@yahoo.com) Designed by: Fast Forward