Walsgrave Rest and Play

Neighbourhood Management Case Study
Walsgrave Rest and Play (WRAP)

This case study describes the development of a local community facility in a neighbourhood in Coventry between 2005 and 2007. It provides a good example of partnership working between a local community, various voluntary organisations and the local authority to research need, plan, secure funding and implement a project.

The Neighbourhood

Walsgrave on Sowe is a predominantly residential neighbourhood in the North East of Coventry. It is a community of approximately 1000 dwellings and is abutted by the A4600 trunk road, Walsgrave Hospital and a Business Park. The area was historically an independent village outside the boundary of Coventry but was mainly built up in the 1960s and early 70s. It is a neighbourhood of private housing (some of which is of an unusual design) with a small estate of social housing in the centre built by the Midlands Housing Consortium and now managed by Orbit. The area was built up sporadically by a number of different builders. A number of small play areas were required as part of the development, but these were never submitted for adoption by the local authority and following resident complaints were removed and built upon by the developer. The overall result was that the development process did not ensure that the area had a full range of community and leisure services.
By 2000 there were no play facilities on the estate, no community centre and the small block of shops built in the middle of the estate had become derelict. There was a strip of open space through the centre of the neighbourhood which was owned by the Official Solicitor following the bankruptcy of one of the builders, and although this was maintained by the local authority it was not owned by them or adopted. At some point in the 1960s a piece of land adjoining the open space was adopted by the council as an official Village Green.

Social Capital

Walsgrave includes two main voluntary / faith organisations: Walsgrave St. Mary’s Church and Walsgrave Baptist Church. There is a local community forum, the Walsgrave Community Group, which was set up through the facilitation of the City Council’s Neighbourhood Management Team. There are three active local councillors who work in collaboration with the Community Forum and the local voluntary sector. There is one Housing Association active in the neighbourhood – Orbit.
Walsgrave Baptist Church had a history of undertaking street work with young people in the neighbourhood. As early as 2000 the Church had appointed a full time qualified youth worker to work with young people in the local community. The youth work focused on outreach and detached work, known as the “Streets” project in and around various areas within Walsgrave, complemented by projects in local secondary schools. The youth work grew through the commitment of many additional skilled volunteers, together with investment by the church in appointing further youth work staff. The “Streets” work continued to flourish and led directly to the project, in that it was developed in response to the issues raised by the young people and their parents.

The Origins of the Project – the Walsgrave on Sowe Neighbourhood Plan

In the late 1990s and early 2000s the Area Co-ordination service in Coventry had a programme of preparing neighbourhood plans in all of its 31 priority neighbourhoods. The idea of these plans was to bring together community aspirations and local service delivery organisations to try to improve living conditions in the neighbourhood. Walsgrave on Sowe was featured as a priority neighbourhood, mainly because of the Orbit Housing estate in its heart. Work on a Neighbourhood Plan for Walsgrave commenced in 2003, with a household survey of the people living there and a number of community events. The final plan for Walsgrave was written and adopted in 2004 and ran until 2007. The Plan highlighted the need for community facilities, including play provision, youth provision and indoor community provision.

Moving the Project Forward – the Feasibility Study

Following the production of the neighbourhood plan, the North East Area Co-ordination team seconded a member of staff to work with the Walsgrave Baptist Church for three months to do further research on community needs and develop a feasibility study for community provision. The feasibility study provided evidence of local need which helped move the project forward.
Following a period when the project did not move forward the local community met the Council’s Chief Executive and asked for further support. As a result of this the Education Service seconded an officer from the Adult Education Team to help apply for external funding. This was ultimately successful in securing the funding for the project.
A Steering Group was set up to develop the project and apply for funding. This was made up of representatives of the local community, people from the two churches, local councillors and the Neighbourhood Management team.

Leadership and Implementation

The sub group of the Walsgrave Community Forum took a decision to move the leadership of the project to the Walsgrave Baptist Church. The reason for this was that a partner was needed that had the financial track record and systems in place that would convince the Coventry Partnership that the project could be effectively implemented at least risk. Fortunately the application to NRF was successful (see below). Shortly afterwards the environmental charity, Groundwork (Coventry & Warwickshire), submitted a bid on behalf of the group to the National Lottery for £60,000 to complement the wider project to create a sensory garden and this was also successful.
Walsgrave Baptist Church then selected their Youth Team Manager to lead the project. The Project Manager took over responsibility for implementation of the scheme, making the NRF claims and facilitating the partnership meetings. Having a dedicated and effective Project Manager made all the difference in getting the project going.

The Project

The project included a number of different elements:

The creation of a Multi-use Games Area (MUGA)
Staffing to encourage young people to use the area
A play area for younger children
Creation of a community sensory garden

Partnerships

Key partners in the project included:

Walsgrave Community Forum
Walsgrave Baptist Church
Walsgrave St. Mary's Church
Groundwork Trust (Coventry and Warwickshire)
Coventry City Council

Neighbourhood Management North East
Culture and Leisure
Adult Education service

Coventry Partnership (Neighbourhood Renewal Team)

Finance

Funding for the project came from a number of different sources:

The Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) provided the bulk of money with a grant of £260,000 over two years between 2006-2008. The grant was made to Walsgrave Baptist Church on behalf of the partners and included £175,000 capital and £85,000 revenue.
Big Lottery provided £60,000 for 1 year in 2006-2007. This grant was made to the Coventry and Warwickshire Groundwork Trust as part of the GMTV sponsored Safe and Sound Project, picked by UK viewers from around the country.
Funding for maintenance (£75,000) was secured through a Section 106 Agreement with Hall Brothers, a local developer associated with the development of a nearby housing site.
The City Council (Neighbourhood Management and Education) paid for staff support for the original feasibility study and for support with making the bids.

Community Involvement

There was community involvement at every stage of the project. The Walsgrave Community Forum gave its blessing to the bids and supported every stage of the design work. There were displays and consultation at community events held during the project development. When the plans had been prepared, and before the planning application submitted, leaflets showing the plans for the site were delivered to every house in the neighbourhood and there was a comprehensive door knocking exercise with the views of all people living close to the development being sought. This proved useful as there were no objections to the planning application when the project was finally submitted.

Challenges

The project raised a number of challenges, most of which were overcome. One that wasn’t was the early decision to locate the MUGA within the site of the adjoining school. Several meetings were held with the school governing body and the Education Service but the added complexities of locating a public facility within school grounds in the end defeated us. An alternative location on the adjoining public open space was eventually chosen instead.
The challenge for the future is to try to make the facility sustainable in the long term. Whilst the facilities are open access and maintenance issues have been resolved, there is no resolution yet to the issue of staffing the MUGA. The partners believe that to achieve the full benefit from the facilities created it is necessary to have youth work support to encourage use of the site. Funding for this ended in March 2008 at the end of the NRF funded project.

Achievements

Securing funding from within the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund in 2005. This was the only local neighbourhood project to secure funding out of the programme.
The project was completed on time and within budget.
There was a very successful launch event held on 17th July 2007 which included a performance by dance group "Kombat Breakers" some of whom live on the estate.
Securing a high level of community engagement throughout the concept, design and implementation of the scheme.

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