Report on Asset Based Community Approaches
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Staffordshire Evaluation of Asset Based Community Approaches in Staffordshire May 2014 – July 2016 0 Acknowledgements Sitra would like to thank Asset Based Consulting, C2 and Nurture Development for sharing their learning and including us in much communication and many meetings, providing updates and honest opinion on progress. This has been a useful complement to our own research, signposting us to where to look and who to ask, and positively supporting Staffordshire County Council’s commitment to gather learning from these pilot sites to further the evolution of ABCD in the UK. We would also like to thank the people of Cannock, Fradley, Lichfield and Tamworth. Whilst not all residents may have been aware that something interesting was happening in their neighbourhoods, those that did engage were helpful, constructive and supportive. And we had the privilege to meet a number of committed people determined to help people around them and make their neighbourhoods more fulfilling places to live. Lastly, Staffordshire has diverse voluntary agencies and statutory bodies working together to improve communities. Without exception, all were welcoming and co-operative, providing views on what is happening now and what should happen in the future to help their work. Eddy McDowall, Pam Dixon and Burcu Borysik, August 2016 1 Contents Section Page 1. Introduction 4 2. Executive Summary 6 3. Evaluation Methods 9 3.1 Methodology Framework 9 3.2 Attendance at meetings 9 3.3 Interviews – first round 9 3.4 Interviews with agencies 10 3.5 Interviews – second round 10 3.6 Observation 10 3.7 Sitra Survey 10 4. C2 in Cannock 11 4.1 Introduction 11 4.2 Description of approach 11 4.3 The Area 12 4.4 Why the area was chosen 14 4.5 Key partners 14 4.6 What happened? 14 4.7 Findings 19 5. Nurture Development in Lichfield 24 5.1 Introduction 24 5.2 Description of approach 25 5.3 The Areas 25 5.4 Why the areas were chosen 28 5.5 Key partners 28 5.6 What happened? 28 5.7 Additional outcomes 31 2 6. Asset Based Consulting in Tamworth 34 6.1 Introduction 34 6.2 Description of approach 34 6.3 The Areas 36 6.4 Why the areas were chosen 37 6.5 Key partners 38 6.6 What happened? 38 6.7 Additional outcomes 41 7. Overall Findings and Recommendations 42 8. Legacy 48 9. Conclusion 50 9.1 People 50 9.2 Places 51 9.3 Resources 52 Appendices A. Sitra interviews and survey returns 55 B. Cannock and the Blake Programme (map) 56 C. Blake Programme background 57 D. Cannock, C2 timeline – Key Events 59 E. Lichfield, Nurture Development – Key Events 62 F. Lichfield – Key Agency Involvement 64 G. Generic Assets: Identified as part of the work on the Lichfield Asset Map 65 H. Tamworth, Asset Based Consulting – Key Events 66 I. The ‘Tamworth Ten’ 71 J. Sitra Interview Questions 73 K. Sitra Survey 75 L. Sitra Survey Analysis 81 3 Section 1 Introduction Over the last year, Sitra has evaluated three projects in Cannock, Lichfield and Tamworth in the county of Staffordshire. This work was commissioned by Staffordshire County Council Public Health Team to observe the mechanisms and assess the impact of asset based community approaches (we have used the acronym ABCA throughout for ease of reading). The evaluation took place across 12 months, whilst the projects themselves took place across an 18-month period. As indicated elsewhere in this report, this is not a long time in terms of the development of a community. This report is a summary of our observations, the views of the people we talked to and provides pointers for further discussion and debate. It also includes three local area reports with detail on the three separate approaches and the outcomes specific to each area. We use informal language to reinforce the need to place ABCA firmly outside statutory agencies. Whilst we recognise the importance of those services – local government, the NHS and other government bodies – ABCA is about people power and must not alienate its core audience. We have used common headings through the three Area Reports for consistency, but we have also allowed for local learning to be drawn through where appropriate. The Staffordshire Public Health team, initially established these sites as pilots, but as the work evolved they adopted them as ‘learning sites’. This changes the evaluation approach – shifting the focus from ‘effectiveness’ of each approach to a broader evaluation of the opportunities and legacy that the County could build on rather than viewing the exercise purely in terms of future commissioning. We saw this as a positive change in approach. Our report demonstrates that ABCA works when elements of ‘the magic triangle of people, places and funding’, come together (Scottish Development Council, 2008)1 echoed in comments from community agencies during our research about the magic triangle of people, places and resources. Mainly, however, this report is about how, with the right support, local communities can begin to express views that reflect community priorities, resolve local issues and create strong neighbourhoods. Though obvious, it should be said that all communities are different. There may be similarities and themes that weave through, but each community is made up of individual assets2 and aspirations, which combine to bring people together. That is both the opportunity and challenge for ABCA. 1 www.ABACDinstitute.org/docs/What%20isAssetBasedCommunityDevelopment(1).pdf 2 By assets we mean those skills, strengths and networks as well as the tangible physical assets that individuals and groups bring to every community and which, when allowed to flourish, bring strength, create cohesion and build resilience. 4 For this reason, this evaluation does not advocate one particular approach to ABCA, or specify how long it should take, as, to flourish and achieve its objective of stronger communities, ABCA needs to develop organically and be shaped by the local community. We do, however, provide insight into what works, for whom and under what conditions, and, importantly, indicate the role public services have in facilitating rather than delivering. In other words, we describe an emerging role for statutory agencies of supporting what people and communities can do themselves and for themselves, where public services can ‘do with’ and not ‘do for’. This is a role that will require some change in the way public services think and operate and how they evaluate themselves and others. There are also clear roles for agencies already working in Staffordshire. During the period of this evaluation, Staffordshire County Council has re-commissioned the voluntary sector infrastructure contract, and makes specific reference to asset based community development. We very much recommend that in the spirit of the sea change needed, this is fostered and supported and not ‘contract monitored’. The report also highlights the importance of ‘bumping places’ to create interaction. We noted that progress in ABCA was mostly apparent when there were opportunities to bring people together physically, although social media also played a key and complimentary role. This finding was reinforced by the responses we had to the Sitra Survey [Appendices K & L], which indicated that ‘helping out’ enhanced people’s own feeling of wellbeing. It is this interaction that steered the direction of ABCA in all three focus areas, even if outcomes were not always immediately apparent. Each of the three providers used a variation of bumping places to create interaction. Interestingly, we have seen the effective use of digital technologies, where social media is used to link people together to create interest and momentum, in addition to the physical and geographical spaces. Through all of these something ‘happened’, but it appears that that the more informal the tool, the more likely something positive happened; when formality began to take over, creativity stopped. It is not enough to just bring people together, or to make a list of assets; the crucial ingredient is a common agenda or interest and that is when social movement happens. In some instances what happened took a roundabout route, apparently away from the initial focus. This is one of the major challenges for ABCA and raises a number of questions for statutory agencies. Does the statutory sector have the patience and vision to allow communities to find their own solutions? How do statutory services satisfy themselves of what is happening? And if they do have the patience, will communities find their way? At what stage do public services step in to support or stimulate? There are no clear answers to these questions, but the message is clear. As a prominent member of the Diocese of Lichfield put it; “It [ABCA] may take longer, but you will get a richer weave”. Getting that balance right will be challenging and open to regular discussion. 5 Section 2 Executive Summary In September 2014, Staffordshire County Council commissioned three providers of asset based community approaches (ABCA) to pilot new ways of working in Cannock, Lichfield and Tamworth. This report is the evaluation of their work bringing together themes and learning, and providing pointers for further discussions and future commissioning. It includes three local area reports with detail on the three separate approaches and individual outcomes. The evaluation took place from June 2015 to June 2016, whilst the three pieces of work took 18 months; neither timescale is long. The overall context was how to engage more with the community and enable them to do more for themselves, rely less on public services and as a result of this autonomy improve their physical and mental health and wellbeing, in both personal terms and in community resilience. ABCA aims to establish networks and cooperation amongst local residents and through C2’s approach, build a parallel ‘community’ amongst front-line workers3; the evaluation aimed to seek the views of all those involved.