Following the successful completion of the recent Connecting Communities project, Sandwell Partnership commissioned an evaluation exercise in order to capture best practice and the key lessons learned.

Carried out between January and May this year the Partnership acquired £300,000 of government funding and recruited local partners Friar Park Millennium Centre, Murray Hall Community Trust, Centrepoint and Oakham Church to develop and manage local activities which met with the aims of the Connecting Communities project and which aligned with Sandwell’s own priorities.

Other partners included West Midlands Fire Service, Sandwell Council Communities Unit, TOPPS Training, The Salvation Army, West Midlands Police, The Albion Foundation and local housing associations, Accord and Black Country Housing.

The evaluation exercise took the form of interviews with a range of project participants including key decision makers, local lead agents, project support workers and last, but by no means least, the young people themselves.

Featured below are the videos capturing the key points made by the participants during the interviews. Please have a look at the videos and if you have something to say, leave your comments below.

Interviews with Young People Who Took Part

Click here to view the embedded video.

Interviews with Project Support Workers

Click here to view the embedded video.

Interviews with Project Leads

Click here to view the embedded video.

Interviews with Decision Makers

Click here to view the embedded video.

Quotes From the Interviews

“Most of them have got or are going into jobs now and that was our main objective”
Nikki Halliday, Support Worker, Centrepoint Church

“I see a difference in myself because I’m now not just doing nothing. I’m doing something with myself now whereas before I wasn’t and I’m mixing with people here at Centrepoint”.
Kylie Fisher, Participant, Centrepoint Church and Ocker Hill resident

“We engaged with 27 young people in total and had various consultations with them and found out what they wanted to do, for example skills to get into employment…whatever they needed to be where they wanted to be. They all did different things. We consulted with young people and individually took each [young person] their own way”.
Sheree Anslow, Youth Worker, Tibbington/Murray Hall (and a Tibbington resident)

“I’ve always wanted to be a sports coach or a sports leader and the programme has given me a much better idea of what other qualifications I need to get to better myself to be a sports coach…I’ve now got two qualifications and loads of experience for instance coaching young kids and young adults”.
Shaun Pace, Participant, Friar Park Millennium Centre

“I think it was because we’ve worked towards what the young people wanted; it wasn’t our programme it was their programme. If it was work they were looking for that’s how we engaged them and tried to look for work for them.”
Mohammad Javaid, Project Lead, Tibbington/Murray Hall

“I took part in Connecting Communities] probably because of the staff. The highlight has been Bard [the Youth Worker] because I can talk to him about my personal issues. The visit to the Lighthouse [Media Centre in Wolverhampton] and the garden improvement…When Connecting Communities finished I could still come up here and he’d listen to me, so, like, it makes you feel a bit special doesn’t it”.
Paul Evans, Participant (and near-Tibbington resident)

“We said to the community organisations, look this is the challenge. What can you do and what partnerships could you create to respond to that challenge and gave them a degree of flexibility on it…I think there’s loads of possibilities for this kind of approach”
Gary Bowman, Sandwell Partnership Director

“We all had our own contribution, it wasn’t really a set course, it was what the group wanted to do…it was just finding a way of approaching a different person and bringing that person’s unique qualities out”. [Since the start of the programme] I’ve changed in so many different ways; I’ve done so many different new things that twelve months ago I wouldn’t have event dreamt of let alone thought of”.
Clinton Wilkes, Participant, Tividale/Oakham Church

“We got to choose what we wanted to do and they tried their best to get us on to them. I wanted to do something to do with fitness so they took me down to the job centre and went through the jobs with one of the advisors and they got me a life guarding job and that’s what I’m doing now”.
Matthew Tildesley, Participant, Tibbington resident

“There was an awful lot of young people who came to us who didn’t have confidence…but it was a bit like when the light bulb goes on and they suddenly realise they can do things and they can do a lot more than they believed they could and that happened with a lot of the young people.”
John Rennie, Project Lead, Friar Park Millennium Centre

“I’ve got the work experience as well as my qualifications so my job prospects have improved now”.
Luke Aston, Participant, Friar Park Millennium Centre

“I think Sandwell for a long time has had an understanding that a lot of people in the Sandwell borough suffer from a lack of skills, a lack of confidence and a lack of training. They have low perceptions of their abilities they really don’t know where to turn for help, and I think Sandwell recognised that this perhaps was a golden opportunity to engage in a programme that might make a difference.”
Councillor Ann Shackleton, Sandwell MBC

“I think the highlight of the programme was the community fun day. To see it all come together with all the young people’s hard work and all that they’d achieved was just fantastic. It was a complete success with over a 1,000 people turning up. It was something they can be proud of and it will be something they will remember and they can take that on and build on it.”
David and Denise Marsh, Project Leads, Centrepoint Church

“I’ve gained more confidence; my face has been splashed over the magazine and on the Internet, which I’ve had to get used to. It’s been about getting to know people and getting the contacts. If ever I need it in the future I’ve got the contacts for these people that could help me”.
Kaye Harvey, Participant, Friar Park Millennium Centre

“Everyday, every single day I enjoyed coming to work and working with the characters that are on the estate; there was never a dull moment.”
Bhadar Chopra Youth Worker, Tibbington/Murray Hall

“There’s a real need around here; we’ve been neglected really in terms of funding streams and in terms of facilities and assistance for that age range. It was a chance for us to say to the wider world really, well here we are, we can actually do a real good job and we’re worth it so that was my main thought.”
Craig Williams, Project Lead, Oakham Church, Tividale

Images From the Project

Summary of Achievements

Participating Organisations

Tibbington Estate: Murray Hall Community Trust
Friar Park: Friar Park Millennium Centre
Tividale: Oakham Church, Tividale
Ocker Hill: Centrepoint Church

For more information about the Connecting Communities project in Sandwell please contact Katherine Hewitt, the Project Manager, on 0121 505 4230 or katherine_hewitt@sandwell.gov.uk

A selection of clips from the Be Proud of Sandwell events held in June & July 2010 are now available in our Audio Player.

When this happens, they move out of the temporary accommodation provided by the UK Border Agency, and can then be completely alone. New Communities aims to set them on a safe route to a secure future here by putting together a package of support services.

The Welfare Benefits Team at the Council is the first point of contact in sorting out their benefits, then they are found somewhere to live with the help of either Sandwell Homes or private sector housing providers. New Commmunities also works with the Primary Care Trust to make sure the newcomers are registered with a GP practice, and people are given support with ESOL classes if necessary, and in getting to know Sandwell.

A special website, www.welcometosandwell.org.uk has been set up as an offshoot of the original WelcometoBirmingham site to help new residents find out more about the area and about services such as education, health, transport, working here and ‘understanding the UK’.

As the enterprises all seem to be sustainable, the project has attracted Future Jobs Fund money which has led to the employment of 20 young people for six months.

The Friar Park group hosted a visit by former Communities and Local Government Minister John Denham, who chatted to young people from Friar Park and Tipton.

Sparks were ignited in three of the young people who attended and they decided then and there to take their training further. They’re now going to embark on an Understanding Fire Fighting – BTEC Level 2 award in the hope of gaining employment with the Fire Service.

The programme has also enthused other young people who are undertaking extra tuition in their own time with TOPPS Training. They hope to gain a CSCS card which will allow them to work in construction.

It currently provides 40 apprenticeship opportunities every year, across a range of work areas. These include business administration, finance and customer care as well as housing management and community care, in addition to the more traditional trade apprenticeships in bricklaying, carpentry, plastering, painting and decorating.

In addition it also offers more than 200 work placements for Year 10 and 11 students and encourages its partner organisations and suppliers to provide apprenticeships for local people. Since the Sandwell Decent Homes Partnership was set up in 2005, more than 200 apprenticeship opportunities have been provided.

The competition was run for children as part of the borough-wide ‘Be Proud of Sandwell’ campaign. The Fresh School Meals service promotes a series of themed school meal days aimed at encouraging children to take part in a range of fun learning activities. Pupils were asked to design a poster to show how proud they were of Sandwell and its heritage.

Mia is a pupil at Park Hill Primary school in Coronation Road and her artistic talents won her a Wii console and Wii fit. Her headteacher Caroline Logan said: “Mia has included mining, canals and The Public in her drawing – as well as a colourful map of the borough. We are very proud of what she has achieved.”

Gary Bowman, Sandwell Partnership Director, said: “The Be Proud poster competition has been fantastic.  We’ve been so impressed with the imagination and real sense of pride in their area that’s been expressed in all of the entries.

“Choosing one winner was very difficult, but Mia clearly put so much thought into her poster and managed to include some of the things so many of us are proud of about Sandwell, from our heritage to our future, that she’s a worthy winner.”

To see more of the picture competition entries, visit the Be Proud website and click on the flickr feed link.

The project aims to not only boost the appearance of Queen’s Square by providing a number of colourful and attractive displays, but also bring in more visitors and appeal to businesses looking to move into the shopping centre.

The project has been set up to support economic growth and aims to attract new customers and business to Queen’s Square Shopping Centre while promoting local artists and encouraging everyone to get involved in the arts.

Keep an eye out for the changing displays in shop windows from local artists and community groups and watch out for opportunities to get involved in some of the free arts activities that will be happening in Queen’s Square.

Come along to Full of Life and find out more, including:

• an Information Zone where you can find out about local services
• a 70’s tribute band – ‘70teez’
• a vintage film showing – Casablanca
• tea dancing
• exercise with Extend, tai chi and a health walk
• hits from the musicals and classics from the 50’s to present day, played by ‘Encore’
• local poetry from Sue Hulse
• West Bromwich African-Caribbean Day Centre choir.

Older people will be given the opportunity to contribute to Living Well in Later Life, the revised strategy for older people in Sandwell.

This will be a positive, productive and enjoyable experience for members of the public of all ages (including children) and staff.

Full of Life will take place on 1st October, from 12noon until late at The Public in West Bromwich. To get more information you can call 0121 569 2366.

So come along – get full of life!

This month’s edition includes a spotlight on Warley Woods, reports on local events and information on forthcoming ones. If you have any feedback, or if you have events/organisations you would like featured then please email simon_ware@sandwell.gov.uk or call 0121 558 5555.