• Connecting Communities Shapes Young People’s Lives

    20 Dec 0 Comments

    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


    Interviews with Project Support Workers


    Interviews with Project Leads


    Interviews with Decision Makers


    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

  • Listening to the Community

    22 Sep 0 Comments

    To ensure that local people’s voices are heard, nine community reps are elected to the Sandwell Partnership Board each year. These are members of the public who may be involved in a local community group or organisation and who can bring local issues to the Board from a grass roots level.

    They are also on the steering group for the panel which is arranging the Be Proud events in each of the six town and are and helping decide what the programmes will be.

    This year, the community reps are:

    Steve Bavington
    Edna Barker
    Steve Karma
    Graham Price
    John Cash
    Benita Fernandes
    Harmohinder Bhatia
    Geoff Tranter
    Gurbachan Singh Dhinsa

    Edna Barker says: “As a rep I attend various meetings and events.  There was one at The Public a few weeks ago when I was invited to speak about what being a good neighbour means.

    “Being a rep is about putting forward the community’s point of view.

    “I’m a widow and on my own and have always been involved in the community.  I think it’s good if you can give something back to the community.  You have a chance to have your say as a rep and you know what’s going on.”

    Steve Karma says: “I recently moved to the area and I’m a church leader at the Ebenezer Church in Langley Village.  Langley is often referred to as the forgotten village of Sandwell so I became involved as a community rep to help people’s voices to be heard.

    “Community reps look at local issues which have been highlighted and any social issues which may become local problems in the future, such as the massive cuts in public spending and how this will affect local services.”

  • How to get involved

    22 Sep 0 Comments

    Sandwell’s 24 Neighbourhood Forums – quarterly meetings held in each of the 24 wards in Sandwell. All local residents are welcome to attend. See Sandwell Council’s website for details www.sandwell.gov.uk/getinvolved or call the Communities Unit on 0121 569 3152.

    Sandwell’s six partnership teams:

    Safer Sandwell Partnership – responsible for achieving safer, cleaner and stronger communities in Sandwell

    Children and Young People’s Partnership Trust – responsible for improving outcomes for children, young people and their parents in Sandwell.

    Health and Wellbeing Board – responsible for achieving improved physical and emotional health in the communities of Sandwell.

    Skills and Economic Regeneration Partnership– responsible for improving skill levels, raising the rate of employment, supporting businesses and modernising the Sandwell economy.

    Environment Partnership – responsible for achieving a more sustainable Sandwell.

    Strategic Housing Forum – responsible for providing high quality housing where people want to live, both now and in the future.

    To reach these partnership teams, and for further enquiries, please contact Sandwell Partnership as follows:

    Sandwell Partnership
    Oldbury Council House
    Freeth Street
    Oldbury B69 3DE

    Telephone
    0845 434 9140

    Fax
    0845 434 9141

    Email
    sandwell_partnership@sandwell.gov.uk

    Website
    www.sandwellpartnership.co.uk

  • Forums update

    22 Sep 0 Comments

    Residents can find out the latest about topical news events of local interest at Sandwell Partnership’s Forums.

    Held twice a year, usually at The Public in West Bromwich, the Forums are open to anyone in the community who’s interested.

    Tina Aston, who organises the Forums with the Admin Team, says: “The Forums are governed by what’s in the news and what information people in the borough need. Last year, the subject was managing debt because the recession was just beginning. If we’re dealing with a specific subject, we might target a certain audience to attend.

    “Sometimes there are workshops around the issues. We ran one on neighbourliness where lots of different organisations came and talked about how they can help the communities to be good neighbours.”

    This year 9 community reps were elected for one year to sit on the Sandwell Partnership Board and to use it as a vehicle to provide a community perspective to a very strategic board.

    Details of the next Forum will be posted on the Sandwell Partnership website.

  • Connecting Communities

    22 Sep 0 Comments

    Sandwell Partnership was instrumental in securing £300,000 of government funding for four voluntary sector led Connecting Communities programmes in Tibbington, Friar Park, Ocker Hill and the Rowley Regis/Tividale areas of Sandwell.

    Each programme is tailored to the needs of the individual areas but all have common elements which include teambuilding, work placements, training to develop the participants’ general employability and a “team challenge” that carries out some type of improvement to the area. In total, 80 young people aged 16-24 will take part in the programmes.

    The lead partners are Friar Park Millennium Centre, Murray Hall Community Trust, Centrepoint and Oakham Church – all community led organisations rooted in the neighbourhoods identified.

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

  • Backing Young Sandwell

    22 Sep 0 Comments

    Employers in Sandwell showed their support for our Backing Young Sandwell campaign at its launch in March. Guests heard Gary Bowman, Director of Sandwell Partnership, Stewart Towe, Managing Director of the Hadley Group and Laurence Bowbanks, Station Commander, Tipton Fire Station talk about their experience of working with young people.

    Since launching the campaign, Sandwell Partnership has continued to work with the likes of Shaw Trust, Jobcentre Plus and Connexions to find opportunities for young people. So far over 150 young people have been given the chance to get their start in the world of work, including two work experience trainees Andy Chan and Tom Ashcroft, based within Sandwell Partnership itself. Andy explained how getting the chance to break the ‘no experience, no job’ cycle has given him a whole new perspective on working and what he wants to do in the future.

    For details of how you and your organisation can join us in Backing Young Sandwell download the leaflet from our website.

  • Be Proud with Albion Legends

    22 Sep 0 Comments

    The Be Proud campaign kicked off with six fans forums during April and May, organised by The Abion Foundation and hosted by Tom Ross. Fans of all generations celebrated with great Albion stars from the past who have made us all proud. They included Brendon Batson, Cyrille Regis, Graham Williams, Bomber Brown, Ray Wilson, Joe Mayo and Graham Lovett.

    More than 600 people attended the events and filled in the Be Proud postcards. You can read their comments online at the Be Proud website.

  • Be Proud of Sandwell

    22 Sep 0 Comments

    The Be Proud campaign was launched this year to celebrate the people, places and prospects which make Sandwell a great place to live and work. We’re encouraging local people to tell us what they are proud of in Sandwell and stories are flooding in via our peacock-themed postcards and online at www.beproudofsandwell.co.uk

    Take a look and see what others have to say. Then make certain you tell us your story. You can also share your photos with us and get involved through facebook or twitter – the choice is yours.

    In addition to the six town events, the Be Proud team will be out and about over the summer and a final event is planned for September – look out for details.