As part of Locality’s London Spotlight programme, and linked to the London Recovery mission of Building Stronger Communities, we convened a round table for community organisations to examine the issues around running community hubs. We had contributions from several speakers from organisations that are led and for racialised communities such as Camberwell After School Project, Ubele and Stifford Community Centre. At the heart of the workshop was building in justice and equity into the community work we do.
What does building strong communities mean to you and why is that important?
Enable communities to come together to tackle the big issues like climate challenge”.
- “Give a sense of belonging to ensure that people are not left by the wayside – give a sense of purpose to people from different cultures and sub cultures to feel they are not alone”
- “Enabling, providing a space”
- “Give people a sense of ownership so they can influence in a fast-paced world on issues such as the planet & workspace and practice community leadership”.
- “People belong to multiple communities”
- “A need for women only spaces (and other minoritised communities)”
Community Spaces at Risk – how can marginalised community organisations ‘buck the trend’?
We’ve seen lots of important community and cultural spaces in the Capital being lost over recent years. The GLA’s Community Spaces at Risk Programme has run over the last two years with the focus very much on how marginalised community organisations can buck the trend and better secure community and cultural buildings and spaces.
David Moynihan from Locality, who were a lead partner, outlined the programme which combined grants, providing 121 business support, producing resources and running one-to-many webinars. Around 80 organisations in all were supported reflecting a wide variety of activities…
Reviewing work alongside the GLA “to protect grassroots cultural centres, social clubs, youth, education and other spaces that are locally rooted and critical for supporting vulnerable groups”
A research project ran alongside the practical support. With its centre piece being 20 in depth case studies the research examined the barriers for more marginalised groups in acquiring and keeping hold of important cultural and community spaces
Barriers highlighted include:
- External factors - High land values / threat of development / low Community Asset Transfer opportunities
- Policy - Planning barriers / regeneration having unequal outcomes / Local Authority lack of support/clarity of approach
- Internal factors - Capacity / business models / expertise
- Relationships – with landlords/Local Authorities, landlords, strategic partners, funders
- Discrimination – cross cutting the four areas (above)
A Place Called Home – part 2
In 2015 The Ubele Initiative (Ubele), with support from Locality, published 'A Place to Call Home: Community asset ownership Initiative in the African diaspora community'. This publication sought to provide an important overview of community asset ownership within the African Diaspora community in England and was significant in being the first major attempt to capture stories from around the UK where African diaspora communities are to be found. It also sought to address topical community conversations around sustainability, presence and identity. Today, seven years on, the conversation is still raging.
Karl Murray from Ubele explained that they are in the process of reviewing the research and keen to ascertain what has changed since 2015. He urged people to respond to the latest survey at
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5WNNM9L by the deadline of deadline by 21st January 2023
The original report can be found here
Stuck in Limbo - community ownership or not ?
We heard the stories of two people running community assets: Ruhel Ahmed from Stifford Centre, in Stepney Green and Carmen Lindsay MBE from Camberwell After School Project (CASP) in Southwark.
The Stifford Centre
The Stifford Centre was established in 1987. Originally converted from three abandoned shops the Centre has been consistently successful over the years in raising substantial funds from the local community. £140k to establish the Centre, then a further £110k in 2007 to enable them to extend. When they wanted to rebuild and a four-story building secured planning permission, pledges were raised for £2.5m.
A major housing scheme is now being planned for the site.
CASP
CASP was set up by a group of black single parents to elevate single parents out of poverty by providing childcare services that enabled them to work or study with peace of mind knowing that their children are safe.
Since moving into the building in March 1991, the building has been used to launch the 1989 Children’s Act, entertain ministerial visits, promote good practice and is held up as a model of what a childcare centre should be like.
The Centre was largely funded by the Government’s Inner Area Programme.
Both Centres seem to have had a complicated relationship with the Local Authority. There is a great deal of support from local communities who have raised funds and co-designed facilities. New community spaces have been built or converted that would not have existed without these efforts and often at little cost to the Local Authority. Yet there is a lack of progressive thinking about ownership and lease arrangements, in some cases exacerbated by change of political regime or by a lack of communication which can go on for years.
Locality has talked about ‘power partnerships’ in some local authority areas where there is effective work between communities and the council. It seems that more work needs to be done to make this normal.
In the words of our We Were Built for This report:
The committed and agile way communities have responded to the coronavirus crisis points the way to a new future that’s built around community power. But to be truly transformative, policymakers need to catch up with the innovation that’s happening locally - and help embed it as the “new normal” as we emerge from the crisis. So, this report sets out three practical ways the government can create the conditions for community power to flourish at a local level and make this the foundation of a fairer society after the crisis
Building justice and equity into strong community hubs/ non-traditional spaces
Liba Ravindran, Locality’s London Project Support Officer, reflected on a number of points:
- History of fighting for spaces for black & brown people in London
- Systemic and institutional racism have created barriers to entry
- Lack of funding and resource to support groups to own community assets as shown by CSAR research
- A diverse and inclusive space is important to reflect local community needs and create justice
- Non-traditional spaces such as barbershops, faith spaces and market stalls are acting as essential community hubs for some marginalised communities.