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Red Hall Community Activation Case Study
Authors: Ken Davies and Hilary Hall on behalf of Darlington Borough Council
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Contents
Aims 3 Timescales for the Project 6 Phases of the Community Development 7 Evaluation 25 Findings and Conclusions 27
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1. The Aims of this Initiative and Approach
This case study aims to provide an overview of the community activation work that has taken place in an area of Darlington: Red Hall ‐ that has been the focus within the HNT programme, and which is located in the centre of the eastern growth ‘development’ zone as shown in the map below – always acknowledging that lessons learned at Red Hall, would be helpful in developing future community development and neighbourhood renewal work more generally across the borough in the future.
Figure 1: Red Hall, in the Eastern Growth Zone of Darlington
1.1 Background and Context
improve their quality of life, health outcomes and reduce inequalities and alongside that ensure that Darlington is a thriving place where people will want to live, work and importantly, invest in to create economic growth, jobs and opportunities. It is the partnership strategy for the Borough of Darlington and to which all organisations contribute. Darlington saw the Healthy New Town programme as being entirely consistent with this partnership approach to tackling the wider determinants of health and it was therefore important that HNT was part of this wider approach and not seen as a separate initiative.
The Healthy New Town project’s intention was to be one of the delivery arms of the Darlington Sustainable Communities Strategyi because this is about supporting the people of Darlington to
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By way of context, a summary of the overall Community Strategy is given below – the strapline ‘One Darlington: Perfectly Placed’ reflects the overall objective of creating a sense of place/identity and reducing inequalities within the population. It was important that the HNT programme didn’t widen inequalities but could harness resources to these overall aims.
Figure 2: Darlington’s Sustainable Communities Strategy (2008‐2026)
Many aspects of the HNT work support the themes above and it can be seen that one of the key under‐pinning threads is the building of stronger communities. In resource constrained times, it will grow ever more important that statutory organisations and partners co‐ordinate their resources to the best effect and that communities are supported to help themselves.
Also, The Council’s Corporate Planii states:
“Each of the eight outcomes outlined in One Darlington Perfectly Placed relies upon the existence of significant, strong and resilient social capital in Darlington: both in terms of requiring local residents’ and community groups’ support, co‐operation and input, but also, in general, on people taking more personal responsibility for themselves, their families and neighbours and their environment. This is about investing in the social infrastructure of the borough. We want to work with residents, communities and the voluntary sector to establish self‐sustaining positive outcomes through supporting volunteering and building capacity in our communities.”
1.2 Why the focus on Red Hall within the HNT programme?
Whilst a lot of work within the wider Darlington HNT programme has gone into trying to influence future housing developments in Darlington as you would expect in a ‘healthy new town’ ‐ it hasn’t just been about this. The HNT submission focussed on an area of Darlington called the Eastern Growth Zone because here there were various factors coming together:
The identified need for regeneration of this community – starting from a very apathetic, disengaged baseline – coupled with
The opportunities that the development of the eastern growth zone would bring (both in terms of housing and also potential jobs) ‐ with Red Hall at its heart ‐ along with
The obvious need to address long standing health and social inequalities
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By way of examples regarding the health and social status of the local population:
Red Hall is in the bottom 2.5% of all English neighbourhoods in respect of deprivation and is placed in the bottom 1.5% most deprived areas nationally for the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index 2015, (meaning children aged 0‐15 living on Red Hall within a family receiving benefit, such as income support or job seekers allowance)
Red Hall Primary School has around 52% of pupils that received free school meals. ‘Holiday Hunger’ is an issue for many families
Both primary and secondary schools report that many pupils from Red Hall lack aspiration. Most do not see further education, especially University as something they can achieve.
Red Hall Residents report that they struggle to pay energy bills. Most households have seen bills rise from 13.8% to 16% of income. Older people are particularly worried about heating their homes.
Crime in Red Hall matches the pattern for the Darlington area. Violent crime and anti‐social behaviour accounts for 70% of all crimes.
Children achieving 5 GCSEs (grade A*‐C) is only 33.7% compared to 56.6% for the England average
Deaths from all causes in the under 65 years (SMR) at Red Hall is 134 compared with 100 for England
Emergency hospital admissions rate for heart attacks is 170 (SAR) compared to a rate of 100 for England
(Source: Red Hall Health Profile, Public Health England Local Health)iii
Appendix 1 gives a fuller snapshot of the local ward health profile for Red Hall.
1.3 The Red Hall Community
Red Hall is an isolated neighbourhood two miles from the town centre of Darlington. It is currently surrounded by industrial estates, farm land and open space. There are proposals for the development of about 2500 new homes on the adjacent land within an area known as the Eastern Growth Zone and in turn, this will be part of the extra 10,000 houses envisaged for Darlington over the next 20 years in the Local Plan (2018‐2036).
Built in the 1960’s using non‐traditional methods, Red Hall has a population of about 1600 living in about 640 properties, all originally built for social renting and owned by the Council although about a third are now in private ownership, as a result of ‘Right to Buy’. There are few facilities in Red Hall: A Community Centre A Primary School A Convenience shop.
The nearest supermarket is about 10 minutes’ walk away. However, Red Hall does have a frequent bus service to the town centre and has walking/cycling infrastructure running immediately adjacent to the estate providing access to the town centre.
Red Hall was ‘ripe for investment’ anyway (due to the issues outlined in the section above) and in need of regeneration. However, due to the potential for significant future housing developments immediately surrounding this existing community it became even more important that partners considered the likely impact and need for Red Hall to develop its own capacity, resilience and aspirations so it could play a full part in the development of the eastern side of the town. There’s always a potential for new developments to negatively impact on existing communities if not planned for properly and which needs to be mitigated against.
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2. Timescales for the Project
This case study aims to document the journey that has occurred from 2014 onwards, it’s important to see the work on a continuum and see how the work that started prior to HNT affected the latter’s plans. HNT as a national programme only lasts for 3 years, and whilst HNT has been very useful as a particular impetus, Darlington’s plans have all been about trying to build a sustainable and realisable change for the longer term for this community and from which we learn for wider application in the future.
Work began to regenerate Red Hall in 2015, a year before the wider “Eastern Fringe” of Darlington was awarded Healthy New Towns status. Those initial plans had already started to carve out a need and rationale for a particular focus around this area, on which the HNT submission was then created (submission in 2015). This included work to develop the role of the community in planning the future of Red Hall, especially important in the context of the wider development planned for the surrounding areas.
The story of this work with the community reflects the challenges the community has faced. There have been difficulties to overcome and the story is a long way from finished but it has uncovered a determination in the community to take the steps to make Red Hall a better and healthier place to live.
This community project sits within the framework of:
Fig. 3: Red Hall Project Strategic Framework
Set out in this case study is a description of the way the project has evolved under the overall umbrella of neighbourhood renewal including the development of a number of special projects. This reflects the way HNT wanted to harness the work and thinking that had already started. It’s important that the individual projects are seen as part of a whole agenda and approach as the elements start to cement a way of working and should not to be seen in isolation.
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3. Phases of Community Development
As outlined above, community development and community activation is not a ‘quick fix’ – it takes time in the preparation, delivery and evolution and must be ‘owned’ and co‐created with the community – allowing them to gradually build confidence, resilience and leadership to chart their own ongoing journey.
This case study seeks to show the chronological journey of this community to date – both the challenges and the successes before discussing the lessons learned.
The work translated into a number of phases of development that are illustrated in Figure 3. Work started in earnest in 2014 with the planning stages; followed by phases 1‐4 of implementation covering 2015‐2018. An evaluation will add to the case study in 2019.
Fig. 4: Red Hall Community Development Project, Phases of Development
3.1 Planning Regeneration
In 2014 consultation began on the regeneration of Red Hall. There were three main concerns:
1. The properties were poorly insulated and were expensive to heat. Fuel poverty was becoming an important issue particularly as energy costs were rising steeply. The external appearance of the prefabricated external walls also looked drab and seemed to counter‐balance the advantages of a semi‐rural location.
2. Red Hall had been designed using the “Radburn” layout which separated pedestrians and traffic. When Red Hall was being designed this was considered to be a way of building in a sense of community by creating spaces where people could interact. Unfortunately like many similar areas the layout proved to be problematic creating unused and sometimes hostile spaces.
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3. The community were demonstrating classic signs of the consequences of entrenched poverty with high levels of deprivation, poor health, poor educational attainment and little interest in their area. About 70% of the population was in receipt of benefits and the area also fell within the top 2.5% deprived communities in the country. Demand for housing in the area had fallen and house prices in the area were among the lowest in Darlington. It was an area that relied more heavily on public sector services and was beginning to feel the impact of the continuing period of austerity. There was little evidence of the essential resilience within the community that would help it to sustain itself through this difficult period.
Investment in the housing stock was required but alongside this it was recognised that investment in the community itself was an essential to give Red Hall a future. This was further emphasised by the proposed new surrounding developments that would influence the future of Red Hall. There was an opportunity for residents but also a threat that Red Hall could become further isolated.
The first attempts at engaging with the community by consulting on the plans for regeneration saw less than half the tenants whose properties had been identified for demolition attend consultation events or responded to consultation letters. There were very few resident‐led activities taking place and the Community Centre was under‐utilised. There were no informal or formal groups representing the views of residents. This all reflected the general apathy and demotivated state of the community. It was therefore recognised that the community would need support to make the most of the opportunities that regeneration and the proposed new housing developments would bring.
At the end of 2014 the Council set up an internal group of officers to co‐ordinate the regeneration including work on community development. This was intended to be an interim step to get things started.
The regeneration would see significant work to the Council stock. Work to demolish 56 properties started in early 2015 and a project to provide external wall insulation to 248 properties along with double glazed windows and doors to 383 started in the spring. Also, a programme of 40 new Council homes began in the spring. A pilot scheme to address the problems of the Radburn layout was also planned along with a range of environment works including a new play park. The aim was to make the homes much more energy efficient and the overall appearance of the
area much more attractive. A limiting factor in the overall impact of the improvement were the homes that had been subject to Right to Buy. There was no public funding available to invest in these properties and many of the owners were either unable or unwilling to fund improvements to their homes.
3.3 Initial Steps
As a first step and before work began, the Council sought a suitable organisation to work with the community to help them to develop a voice for themselves in decision making with a long term aim of the community co‐producing future plans for the area. A contract was tendered twice but no suitable tenders were received. The problem appeared to be the lack of organisations with community development skills. In the past the Council had used a number of organisations in this capacity but these either no longer existed or had changed their focus suggesting the market had changed in recent years. However, the Council took a lateral step and commissioned the development of a Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy iv to sharpen the focus on what was needed.
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The aim of the strategy was to set out a framework and action plan so that Red Hall became a ‘sustainable community’. This is usually defined as a neighbourhood where, firstly, people want to live and, secondly, it meets the diverse needs of existing and future residents. The Egan Reviewv lists seven individual elements that contribute to a sustainable community. There is also a unifying common theme. They provide a framework for the neighbourhood renewal strategy and formed its more detailed objectives. The common theme was ‘all provision and activities should be high quality, well‐designed and maintained, safe, accessible, adaptable and cost‐effectively provided’.
Developing the strategy also helped to re‐evaluate the type of contractor that would be needed to support the community and eventually Groundwork Trust, North East and Cumbria were appointed. They had a big advantage of already having links into the Red Hall community through a number of projects. Although they were not specialists in community development they had a strong background of working with communities.
First phase of work 2015/16
Consultation Using the Red Hall Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy as the basis for action Groundwork began to organise a broad range of events to engage the community in May 2015. There were a number of areas of action all set in the context of building a sustainable community. However, the initial aim was simply to create opportunities for residents to engage in different activities. A consultation event took place in September 2015 and attracted a total of 224 residents. This was the best attendance noted at any event for some years. It provided an opportunity for the residents to see and discuss the next stage of regeneration plans with Darlington Borough Council representatives. A variety of other organisations were also in attendance to provide advice, support and guidance on a range of matters such as budgeting, benefits, health and town‐ based initiatives.
Consultation events at the school and community centre
Consultation led to the creation of the Red Hall Masterplan containing various improvement projects that subsequently received Council approval and for which some funding was released, whilst acknowledging that not all the changes could happen quickly and some would be reliant on neighbouring developments occurring, thereby releasing funds to facilitate changes.
Consultation also established resident interest in a number of activities resulting in number of craft related workshops being run in the community centre which proved to be popular. The underlying aim was to build more of a sense of involvement and social interaction.
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Also, a course was run on affordable and healthy eating that ran for eight weeks. This was the genesis of an idea to do something to assist families of children receiving free school meals who were experiencing problems of affordability during school holidays (see more information in subsequent sections). Over 50% of the pupils at the Primary School were in receipt of free school meals and indeed it was clear that this was a real issue for parents at holiday times.
A number of skills courses were also developed with the Learning and Skills team including: Basic Maths and English Using Technology Cooking Household Budgeting
The intention was to offer residents opportunities to pick up skills that would increase their confidence and ultimately employability.
Developing Links with the School as a key asset Red Hall Primary School quickly became an important element of the work. Red Hall is a high performing school consistently getting ‘Good’ Ofsted reports and therefore was recognised as a key community asset and a good way to engage with both children and parents. The school has recognised its important role within that community. A number of projects were jointly developed including:
Motivational speakers for the school assembly‐ improving the pupils’ aspirations by organising guest speakers from a variety of occupations
Litter picks ‐ a number of litter picks took place and were seen by the pupils as “fun” activities but these are important in instilling that sense of pride in the community and citizenship.
Wild food walks‐ Project staff from Groundwork delivered a programme of Wild Food Walks with the whole school, taking pupils and teaching staff on educational walks around the Red Hall area looking at the wide range of wild food and abundance of woodland and green space
Partnerships with MITIE (a building contractor) who worked closely with the school throughout the regeneration work, invited children from the school to look at the new build Council properties during the build process. They also worked with parents of the school in a skills workshop style session as a team from MITIE and the parent volunteers painted the School Gym and some external areas. This is a project which the school had been trying to undertake for a number of years.
Regular liaison meetings with the parent/teacher group. This led to a number of activities that ranged from litter picks to the eventual establishment of a Bikeability project (see below).
A number of attempts were made to engage with the main secondary school that took children from Red Hall but the school always found it difficult to address the issues of children for one area when they were responsible for children from a much larger catchment area.
Coordination As activities began it quickly became obvious that there were a larger number of organisations working in Red Hall than had been thought. Most of these were voluntary organisations who were working on small projects or with groups of individuals but individual organisations weren’t necessarily aware of what others were doing. An informal liaison group was established to coordinate activities across
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agencies and this quickly became a conduit for cooperation and creative working as organisations began to look for solutions to some of the challenges of the area.
Meetings were formalised into monthly Liaison group meetings with an action based agenda. Between 12 and 20 organisations were involved in Red Hall at various times. Participants completed actions against the project log that helped to focus on priorities and importantly record the range of activities that were taking place.
It was understood that in this initial phase the Liaison group would be officer based but everyone agreed that as work developed this should transform in to a community forum that would be led by the community and would eventually help to form the basis for co‐producing future plans.
Communications A Bi‐monthly newsletter was introduced to publicise information to residents about activities that were taking place and as a means of providing information about progress of the regeneration work. This was delivered to every property in Red Hall. Also a Facebook page was opened that provided an interactive way of engaging with the community.
Emerging issues At an early stage Groundwork began to look for ways to ensure the sustainability of more popular activities by finding people who would volunteer to take on organising and participating in running these activities. Over a full year of activities a small number of people emerged as “assets” who were interested in building the future of Red Hall.
Second phase 2016
Having begun to build some momentum a number of significant events took place in 2016 that started to see a change in the approach to work with the community:
Healthy New Town A successful bid was made for Healthy New Town (HNT) Status. This fitted strategically with work in Red Hall as wellbeing and healthy living was firmly part of the agenda and improving the design within the existing area had links to the design of the new community that would emerge. It also added an additional dimension to the work with a greater emphasis on health related matters. Although a planning group was set up for this project a link was made directly in to the Liaison Group and funding to support some activities began to flow later in the year. Due to the earlier work this area of Darlington became the obvious focal point for the HNT submission. This area had an obvious health need for improvement due to the poor health outcomes compared to Darlington as a whole but also as compared with the regional and national position too.
Estate Regeneration Fund The Council had also made a bid to the Government’s Estate Regeneration Fund and in the summer of 2016; just after HNT status had been awarded, partners met Sir Michael Heseltine in Red Hall, when he also met some residents. As a consequence, £250,000 in funding was made available that included an element for community development that was intended to build the capacity of the community to take advantage of the new development that was planned in the surrounding area. It also funded a number of feasibility studies that would consider the physical linkages between Red Hall and the new communities which would comprise the wider Eastern Growth Zone, the focus for the Healthy New Town bid. Again, this was important in terms of keeping this community that has often felt isolated, connected into an emerging development zone.
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Early Activities included:
Holiday Hunger This key long term Borough‐wide initiative was started in Red Hall. As noted earlier Red Hall Primary School has one of the highest proportions of children receiving free school meals in Darlington and what happened to children during the school holidays was identified at an early stage as a challenge that needed to be addressed. Groundwork brought together a group of parents who would help to run the first summer project in Red Hall. The project ran across the whole summer holiday and cost approximately £60 per session. This included hire of the community centre, activities and food. Between 20 and 30 families were helped. A local supermarket donated food and parents helped with managing children to keep costs low. The sessions, unlike some similar projects, involved the parents. Along with being involved in the activities they helped to prepare the food. This was an opportunity to demonstrate how healthy meals could be prepared on a budget and for some it was a first‐time experience in preparing fresh food.
To enable the project to run Groundwork made a successful bid to the Council’s Community Fund for additional kitchen equipment. The Community Centre had a small domestic type kitchen and struggled with any larger scale catering. The money was used to purchase table top ovens together with other equipment.
It became clear from the emerging evidence of the project that it would need to extend beyond the summer to other holidays. As a consequence a group of about ten parents agreed to attend food handling training so that they could take up organising and running the project themselves. The aim was for this group to provide activities and food at each school holiday with the exception of Christmas. Unfortunately the group did not have the confidence to take the first step on their own and Groundwork subsequently continued to organise the project. The main difficulty was finding a sustainable model. Although the summer project was a success it relied very heavily on good will and Groundwork’s organisational skills. It was also underpinned by funding from the community development project so funding in the longer term was going to be an issue. In the short term energy was devoted to finding a solution for each holiday with different issues emerging such as the availability of the community centre and other social issues.
Groundwork and the Council began to explore alternative methods of funding the project for 2017 onwards and has led to this work gradually evolving as learning has been gathered and has also informed the latest plan in 2018 to support holiday hunger provision and ‘healthy eating’ (see Fourth Phase ‐ 2018).
Summer Fair A small group of residents helped plan and organise a “mini” community carnival on Red Hall in the summer of 2016, they were aware of previous Red Hall carnivals which traditionally took place every summer about 20 years previous. They decided to plan a small scale event for the community which included a small selection of children’s fairground rides, sports, stalls, food, tea dance, bingo and refreshments. Organisations at the event included Darlington Borough Council, Healthy New Towns, Local Motion, Slimming World, Alzheimer’s Society, residents, local businesses and the Red Hall Community Association. About 250 people attended the event.
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Although Officer led this was an important step as this was clear evidence of members of the community beginning to take an interest in their own community and how this could help grow community cohesion and involvement. The feedback from the community was positive.
Mutual Gain The mutual gain programme in Darlington helped the Police gain insight into the resident’s views and areas of concern and improvements. Red Hall was chosen partly because of the work that was now taking place with the community. An extensive engagement was planned through a house to house survey carried out by volunteers and this was followed up by a “World Café” consultation event that focused on the main issue that emerged from the survey, the problem of off‐road bikes. An action plan was developed at a very well attended event with about 70 residents.
Red Hall Spectacular To capitalise on this sense of community involvement, just before Christmas 2016 the Council and Groundwork organised a celebration event in the community centre. There were two purposes to this, the first was to say thank you to residents for their patience during the building work and the second was to consult on the design of a new play park. During the initial consultations for the regeneration the need for a new play park to create a separate play area for the younger age groups (away from the teenagers) emerged as a priority. The Christmas Spectacular event was an opportunity for residents to see the proposed plans for the new play area installation and to select their preferred choices of play equipment. Residents also had the chance to look at the developments across Red Hall including the new builds and the finalised external wall insulation proposals. Stall holders provided a selection of Christmas gifts and activities for the festive season. About 200 people attended this event
Other activities There was a continuing programme of craft and skills events that attracted small numbers of people. There were also programmes to offer employment related skills. As well, there were a number of sessions run by Healthy Darlington providing opportunities for physical activities. One area that came in to focus was the general need to increase physical activity in order to promote a healthier lifestyle. Discussions took place about developing a walking programme taking advantage of the history and natural landscape. This developed into a proposal to develop a walking route that would be supported by a number of artist designed benches. This proposal eventually gained support from the Council and the Healthy New Towns project and an artist was commissioned who designed street furniture (see Fourth phase ‐ 2018).
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Emerging issues Although people were engaging in activities it was proving difficult to identify residents who were interested in contributing more to the wellbeing of the area. There had been some residents who had come forward to work with Groundwork and other organisations but as yet no leaders were emerging. It was recognised that a key aspect of developing a healthier future for Red Hall was to support community leaders to emerge and be developed to help the community lead itself and be more resilient and feel more in control.
It was also noticeable that there had been comparatively little engagement with the youth of the area. Unfortunately the Youth Club that had run at the community centre had closed some time previous and the difficulties of working with the secondary schools continued. A second priority for 2017 was to find a way to engage with this group.
Third Phase 2017
It was recognised that this period would be an important stage in development. There had been some interest from members of the community in influencing what events took place but little in helping to shape the future of Red Hall. This was also the final year of Groundwork’s contract to work with the community. It would need to be determined what type of support would be the most appropriate for the next stage of community activation work. It was also an important point in terms of sustainability. The Council would need to begin to step back to allow the Community space to take control.
YMCA Youth Project The YMCA successfully obtained funding from the Big Lottery to establish a youth project in Darlington. The first area they identified, given the issues highlighted, was Red Hall and a representative joined the Red Hall Liaison Group as they began to scope out plans to establish a project. They spent some time consulting with young people, seeking their views on how they saw life in Red Hall, what they liked and what they hoped for, including extensive time within the primary school. This enabled the YMCA to establish a plan which included the development of a youth club based at the community centre that would offer both social activities but also opportunities to learn and develop. One of the longer term proposals was to develop a group of youth who would take an active interest in the future of Red Hall.
The second half of 2017 was spent first recruiting staff, then talking to young people and finally organising the setup of the youth club – which would begin in 2018.
Holiday Hunger The key issue for driving forward the project was identifying a sustainable funding model. Also the evidence from the earlier work clearly indicated that it would be beneficial if the project could be rolled out to other deprived areas of Darlington. The Council and Groundwork had begun to examine these issues when Children North East contacted the Council with an invitation to tender to participate in a summer programme being run across the North East called “a day out not a hand out” that offered food and activities through the summer holiday. The Bid was successful and Groundwork were contracted to run the programme in Darlington in 4 locations including Red Hall. Northumbria University evaluated the project and a full report can be found here: https://www.children‐ne.org.uk/a‐day‐out‐not‐a‐handout‐summer‐holiday‐clubs‐2017 covering all localities within this North‐east wide project.
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What became clear from the experience in this project was that needs extended beyond providing food and social activities. The workers had to deal with a range of significant issues as they worked with both children and parents. It became clear that underlying issues of poverty were apparent. It was also clear that it was not just financial hardship but also stress, particularly for parents, some of whom struggled to cope with managing bored children, while in some cases having to take time off work to look after them with the associated loss of income. There were a number of significant issues that needed to be addressed in a future programme. A working group was established to consider how this could be tackled.
Step Forward Teed Valley (SFTV) This is an umbrella group who focus on helping people back in to employment. They particularly target those over the age of 29 who are hard to reach, longer term unemployed. SFTV established a project in Red Hall during 2016. Using the Community Centre as a base, they tried a number of ways to attract interest. One of the partners was Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation who offer a “kick about” and a chat with the hope of encouraging people to take the next step and join the job programme. SFTV run, through a range of partners, a variety of courses ranging from basic skills to building confidence to access to vocational qualifications.
The numbers who have accessed services from Red Hall have been small but these are a group of people who were finding it difficult to engage. A group of 8 to 10 people have now been consistently following a development programme while two have moved in to full time employment. All have moved forward in terms of their personal confidence, skills and ability to engage with opportunities such as personal development/access to education.
Bikeability The promotion of cycling and sustainable transport methods is part of Darlington’s agenda and Darlington has an extensive cycle way network and a very good website that actively promotes sustainable transport movement, with a social media profile across the area. Working with the Primary school the issue of the very low number of children taking up the cycling proficiency test, Bikeability, emerged. The problem was that very few children at the school owned a bike. Discussions with the Parent/Teacher group confirmed that many parents simply could not afford to purchase a bike.
The school decided that it would be helpful if they could lend bikes to children to help them gain experience and skills. Consequently they sought funding and made successful bids to both the Council and the Healthy New Towns project to fund the purchase of 12 bikes and supporting safety equipment, storage and a maintenance contract with a local charity Bike Stop.
The school focused on the academic year 5 for the bikeability scheme although allowed children across
all years to have access to the bikes through also establishing an after‐school bike club through Wheel
Education. The school chose year five as this was a group who would not have the pressure of SATS
but were old enough to have a level of road safety awareness that would be useful in learning key
skills. All the year 5 pupils at Red Hall Primary School have successfully gained their cycling proficiency
in the 2017/18 academic year. Anecdotally, teachers think that attendance at school is better when
children have access to the bikes. What is clear is that the children really enjoy access to the bikes and
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the school wants to develop the idea further. It will continue to be the aim that all children leave the
primary school having acquired their cycling proficiency test as a key life skill, a healthy way of moving,
a fun and cheap activity to be able to enjoy safely and good for the local environment. This is a key
output that just was not possible to achieve previously; 2017‐18 has been the first year that Bikeability
has been offered and successfully attained by all the school children participating. A resident
commented: “my daughter did the Bikeability programme at school and gained so much confidence
she now rides her own bike to and from school”.
Friends of Red Hall (FOR) A priority for the year was to develop the role residents should play in planning for the future, moving the community on from attendance at events to playing more of an instrumental role in leadership and organisation.
There have been a number of challenges for Groundwork in creating a community led group. Despite a wide range of opportunities there was still a clear reluctance for residents to volunteer to help with planning and organising. Whilst most of these challenges were not unexpected in the early stages it had been difficult to build momentum with residents.
Groundwork targeted both residents who had engaged with previous community activities and other residents, however, in the end those who initially came forward were residents who had been less involved in previous Groundwork activities and events on Red Hall. This brought a different dynamic to the creation of the group and a change in direction. Understanding the priorities of the new members and building a vision became a critical first task. A significant amount of staff time was spent on promoting the new group, building their confidence and developing mutual trust and agreement with the three key community members who went on to become the key contacts within the Friends of Red Hall. (FOR)
The Friends of Red Hall (FOR) grew throughout 2017, with an initial 10 committee members and 11 wider members. Below are the achievements they have accomplished since April 2017:
Key committee members attended training to become a formal group; learning the basics of governance, helping them to decide what their purpose is as a group and what they need in place to achieve this.
A constitution was signed by a Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary.
They became a registered Residents Association with the Council.
Suitable policies, such as safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, equal opportunities and volunteer policies were written and adopted by the group.
The group begun creating an action plan which prioritises activities they want to deliver, anticipated time frames, resources required and relationships/contacts needed.
FOR have their own Facebook page for which the friends now have full administration rights and which can be used to promote events.
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Representatives from FOR (Chair and Treasurer) started attending the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy Red Hall Liaison meetings and then took a lead role in chairing this meeting.
This was a really important step in moving from being residents attending an officer led
meeting to empowering of residents to take on the role of chair and having a much more
directional role in the group ‐ whilst still supported by the input/attendance of other
organisations.
The FOR held three successful consultation events (two afternoon teas and one session speaking to parents at the school).
They held four community events (1940’s tea dance, Halloween trail, clothing and toy sale and a Christmas table top sale) providing free activities for residents and raising funds for the group itself and the School.
Volunteers distributed leaflets about the Friends group and their activities to each household on Red Hall.
With the support of Groundwork the group also raised funds through small applications to Darlington Council Community Fund and Groundwork Community Chest.
Transformation of the Courts Area The Council completed the transformation of the “Courts” area of Red Hall Including addressing some of the problems of the Radburn design and the building of 20 new properties. This area of Red Hall is now unrecognisable, offering a much more open and pleasant area but as important is the general impact on life in Red Hall. 75% of the new properties were let to people who were from outside of Red Hall and this pattern is also reflected in relets. In 2014 very few people from outside of Red Hall would consider applying for properties in the area so the change in letting patterns are indicative of the overall transformation of the area.
Play Park As a result of the original consultation on the Red Hall masterplan ‐ a new green space with Play Park (designed in consultation with residents) and outdoor gym has been created which have proven popular – the facility is well‐used and children fed back to YMCA that they liked and appreciated the new facilities. The outdoor gym is being used by adults as well as children. The design of the new play park is alongside the new houses to allow for natural surveillance of the area. Some
Some comments from the residents include:
“the new play park is fantastic, a real asset”
“I love the play park I have 5 grandchildren and can watch them play from my home”
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Emerging issues The FOR had developed significantly through the year, gradually growing members and a following through social media. However, at the end of the year they had a setback when a Christmas event that they had planned was cancelled by the then Chair without consultation with the rest of the group. This identified a number of development issues that would need to be addressed by the group. It is not untypical that newly forming and emerging groups go through ‘norming and storming’ and it revealed the lack of maturity of the group (and indeed individuals in community leadership work) and the need still for some tactful guidance for the group whilst allowing them still to develop. Unfortunately, however, it also damaged the group’s emerging reputation within the community.
With the Groundwork contract coming to an end it was now very important to evaluate the situation and consider what sort of support the FOR would need for future development.
3.7 Fourth Phase 2018
This year was likely to be the most challenging as it would see the transition to the community taking leadership in an increasing number of activities while the Healthy New Towns project hoped to see the opportunities for developing healthier lifestyles begin to get traction.
Introduction of Asset Based Consultancy (ABC) A key decision needed to be made about the future community development programme. With the Groundwork contract coming to an end and the Friends of Red Hall Group established, the focus had begun to change towards supporting the growth and development of the FOR group. Recognising that developing a community group to have the capacity for community leadership would require continuing support the Council agreed with the FOR that some funding could be found to provide a mentor to the group. Asset Based Consultancy were appointed to this role after they had met with the FOR and agreed that they could work together. ABC are offering a range of support from being a “critical friend” to organisational development and supporting funding bids. With this change, Groundwork’s contract came to an end although they are contracted to still specifically support the Liaison Group and particular activities.
Healthy Darlington programme of activities HNT has been at pains not to dictate to the community what it needs to do but it has been very keen to encourage the community to think about healthy lifestyle/activity issues and to facilitate access to services/resources. As part of the consultation on the original masterplan for the area, it was agreed that additional benches were required within the estate to act as resting points and to encourage exercise. It was agreed that because of HNT, the aim should be to make the benches of a more interesting design, building on the railway heritage of the area, incorporating designs by the primary school children with interesting information about the local area’s heritage, wildlife and history. They are as much interesting public art pieces as resting benches and have been made from ‘resilient’ materials. The locations of the benches have been consulted on and form a Red Hall loop which needs to be complemented by way finding and some investment in footpaths which will happen over the coming months. This street furniture was installed during July.
It is hoped that Keepmoat, the developer of the neighbouring new development, may be able to add another bench in time to the loop so that the walk can extend into that development, thereby again promoting connectivity. Groundwork have also been commissioned to lead walk leader training to ‘grow’ local community assets that can promote healthy walking in the area from within the community itself. This programme has commenced in the autumn 2018 and will be delivered through to next Spring/Summer and so far has been met positively by residents.
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New artist‐created heritage/history benches at Red Hall and youngsters enjoying pebble hunt
Work has also taken place with ‘Healthy Darlington’ (the Leisure arm of the council) and Groundwork, trying to identify the exercise needs of the residents and what their barriers are to accessing exercise opportunities. Groundwork has run a survey and the resulting programme is based on those findings – providing a varied programme during the week at different times of day to try and suit all needs, ages and abilities. The feedback received was they would particularly like family‐based activities and the barriers were cost, close access and cost/provision of childcare. One of the key parts of the offer is ‘family activities’ that the whole family can do together. This addresses two needs – the need to support good family interactions (as this was a key finding from the previous holiday hunger initiatives) and also the need to address childcare issues, adults often find it hard to exercise themselves as they don’t have childcare cover, this way the family can exercise together, and it’s cost effective.
HNT has agreed to sponsor a six‐month programme on the estate to give residents the opportunity to take part in exercise on their doorstep. We are interested in knowing whether ‘bringing activities to them’ makes a difference. If successful, we’d like to continue the provision but at a small nominal charge to cover coaching costs, however, we want to initially get people enthusiastic about the opportunity to exercise and be motivated to continue as engagement and apathy have been a problem previously. HNT is trying to make it easy to participate but numbers attending need to be sufficient if coaching is to be economically viable longer term. Multiple channels including leaflets to every household, posters, councillor newsletter, social media and taster sessions for the school children have been used to communicate this. This is specifically designed to promote inclusivity and we will need to evaluate the success or not of this approach.
Exercise classes at the Community Centre and at the Summer Fayre
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827 attendances have been achieved in the exercise/activity programme since May 2018 until the end of August; these are people who previously did not engage. However, it is yet to be determined if numbers attending individual classes can make ongoing provision viable at a very nominal cost. An survey is currently being undertaken by Groundwork to establish are the classes meeting local residents’ needs, are there still barriers to participation, would they be motivated to continue etc and the results of this will determine next steps.
Holiday Hunger Building on from previous attempts at addressing holiday hunger, Darlington was approached by Children North East again to work directly with Red Hall primary school to provide another holiday hunger scheme this summer with the explicit purpose of proving the link between holiday hunger and a dip in educational attainment – collecting evidence to help lobby government for national funding. Red Hall Primary school agreed to take part and between 20 and 30 children attended sessions on four days per week for a period of four weeks. The evaluation report from Children North East is awaited.
As part of the original aims of the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy to extend learning from Red Hall to other areas, efforts have been made to expand the holiday hunger programme to other challenged communities. A separate programme funded through the Council was run in three other areas of Darlington this summer which also proved to be very successful. There was a total of 939 attendances over the four week period, a total of 48 sessions were delivered to a total of 77 individual beneficiaries.
One aspect staff from all areas observed was the lack of variety of the food children said they ate at home; many spoke about sandwiches, and hotter meals were mainly chicken nuggets or fish fingers, and noodle or pasta pots. The majority of the children had never eaten cottage pie prior to the sessions and were unsure what to expect! In some instances children requested to take left over food home for their siblings.
The Groundwork report can be found at Appendix 2.
There is clearly much more that needs to be done and work continues to develop a coherent programme, however, the work done this year helps to develop an evidence base with the aim of securing future funding streams for this kind of work.
Primary School The school continues to be a key asset which HNT has used to engage with the community and inspire the children.
Through a Tees Valley Combined Authority bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund, funding has been secured for a ‘Great Places’ culture project to involve school children in the celebration of Darlington’s railway heritage on the run up to 2025 (the bi‐centenary year of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, the first passenger and commercial railway to use steam locomotives). Three communities have been chosen that run along the track bed of the original Stockton & Darlington Railway – including Red Hall, with the prime focus being around the school children. (The old track bed route runs directly along the outside edge of the Red Hall estate).
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Groundwork and Tees Valley Arts are co‐ordinating the initiative – called Heritage on Track ‐including the children in selecting local artists to work with the schools on projects that enable the school children to learn about the heritage that is on their doorstep, through creative means. Please follow the link to the video for the selection process for this initiative. https://vimeo.com/291198009 (password heritage)
Although this will be partly delivered beyond the timeframes of HNT it is another example of investment in the area, giving the children opportunities to learn about their local history and heritage in a fun and interactive way through drama and music, providing exposure to the arts. The chosen artists Locomotive Rhythm have already been involved in this summer’s Red Hall Carnival and in a Fun Run with music on the estate itself in September, the latter was in partnership with Darlington Harriers Athletics Club, bringing together culture and activity. Please follow the link to the video of this event. https://vimeo.com/291502212 (password heritage)
‘Let’s Go Tees Valley’ (the Sustainable Transport function hosted by Darlington Council on behalf of the Tees Valley) has also been working with various schools in the Tees Valley in recent months to promote healthy ways of getting to school. This initiative included children from Red Hall Primary School learning how to make radio adverts around the message of ‘walking to school’ and their voices/content have been used in a professional radio advert that has been broadcast from 14 May to 30 June across the Tees Valley promoting walking, cycling and scootering to school. The children were very happy to participate and it’s great that they have been involved in promoting these healthy messages. It is also hoped that their art work can be used in future animations/campaigns. Also, ‘Lets Go Tees Valley’ also plan to follow up within the Red Hall community during Q4 of 18/19 offering personal transport plans to residents to enable them to access information on how to use sustainable methods of transport to access services, education or employment.
Youth work During 2018, work has proceeded on the Red Hall estate with the YMCA and has included joint work with Groundwork on the #I will Campaign. This is a UK‐wide campaign funded by National Lottery and the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) working to support young people aged 11‐16 to complete social action projects to make a positive difference to their community. The three projects young people at Red Hall became involved in were: reducing litter on the estate; supporting the local food bank and raising money for Stand up to Cancer campaign. These all help with developing a sense of citizenship.
The youth club launched in February with around 20 children/ young people in attendance. YMCA are running two sessions, to ensure age appropriate access and plan to go back into both the local primary and secondary schools to promote what the youth club can offer to local youngsters.
Working with Local Developer A key aim of the work at Red Hall has been to raise the community’s resilience and confidence levels and strengthen its sense of identity. Given the image and history of the area this was always going to be an important goal however, in the context of the development of the eastern side of the town, this task has become even more important. It has therefore been very welcome that Keepmoat have approached both the council and the Red Hall community direct to understand how it can help the existing community, through its corporate social responsibility arm, whilst it is on site building the neighbouring development (immediately adjacent to Red Hall and the first development to go live in the area).
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The programme of assistance Keepmoat have devised which is being implemented from this Autumn includes:
Members of the Keepmoat team will be going into the school and asking them to design health and safety posters that will be used around the building site to get this message clearly over to children in the existing estate, which they will feel ownership for as they have been involved in it. It also helps to build a relationship with local people and the school.
Keepmoat have also delivered an assembly for ‘World of Work Day’ at Redhall Primary School where two local Keepmoat Homes apprentices taught the children bricklaying and joinery skills ‐so they could get some hands‐on, fun experience. They also delivered information about the various careers open to young people across the building sector which encompasses many different trades and professions. Keepmoat are also making links with the local secondary school with a view to agreeing visits/project work which is entirely in keeping with the desire for HNT to help towards economic growth, links to local business and employability.
Keepmoat apprentices showing Red Hall Primary School children building skills first hand
The developer Keepmoat is currently devising a programme of support / activities that they can deliver into to the area and will include:
Provision of materials for the community garden which FOR hope to create in 2019; Sponsoring the strip of the local junior football team that the Friends of Red Hall want to develop
Funding towards the community’s Christmas fair event Funding of ‘Food for Thought’ cooking skills course for residents to build confidence in healthy cooking and meal making from fresh ingredients including developing links with local supermarkets in respect of their ‘waste food’ such that the local community can benefit at no/low cost. It is hoped to generate a core group of residents who will feel confident in healthy meal preparation that can start to spread their skills to others and be a key asset for future community events requiring food, possibly extending to holiday hunger provision and with a means of gaining access to good quality / low cost food.
Keepmoat are looking to engage with the YMCA to deliver construction‐based talks and presentations to young people and offer work placements to appropriate individuals. This will also create a link with Darlington College who can offer information, advice and guidance on construction courses available.
Keepmoat are developing a ‘local offer’ that will be available to support health and wellbeing in their new homes at Red Hall – working with local businesses, services and educational
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facilities – again influenced by being a member of the HNT Board and exploring if this can be extended to the wider community.
Future plans of the Friends of Red Hall As outlined above, 2018 was always going to be a critical year in the community group’s development and as is typical with an immature, newly created group, there is both a desire to progress quickly whilst sometimes not acknowledging the capacity and capability issues involved, the time/resource it takes to organise events and the need for good communications. As a mark of their growing ambition, the FOR had a desire to plan and deliver their own Summer Carnival completely on their own and this year other organisations like the council stepped back to allow them freedom to develop in line with their wishes. However, it demonstrated that big ambitions required a level of maturity, communications and experience that just was not there leading to some disaffection amongst some in the group. This took its toll on the group at a critical time and the summer carnival was scaled back somewhat to a more do‐able level within the resources and means of the group.
Despite this being a slighter smaller scale celebration than originally planned and affected by the very adverse weather on the day, it was still a very successful event with about 250 attendees and of these, 150 people stayed for the full day. Feedback from attendees was very positive, and people wanted to see more of these events bringing the community together.
All Ages enjoying the circus at the Summer Carnival
It represented the first community festival to be organised and delivered entirely by the residents on their own without external parties providing support and co‐ordination. This is a major milestone for the community on their journey to self‐determination and some important lessons have been learned from this process. In the course of the development of the carnival they developed a relationship with Stockton International Riverside Festival (SIRF) that has the potential to offer a number of longer‐term benefits including access to expertise and resources.
The group is now revisiting their priorities and timetable as well as introducing more flexibility in to their structure so that responsibility is not focused in such a small number of “officer positions”. They have recognised that they need to take more time on planning and not to over commit and equally that growing their base of volunteers and sharing responsibility/tasks is important so that more people feel involved and individuals do not become over‐burdened. These are important steps in the group’s evolution and learning.
The FOR are now planning for a Christmas event and have other projects they wish to take forward but perhaps in a more reaslistic timescale. For example:
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Community Garden One of the concerns of HNT working in the Red Hall area of town has been the ability of residents to access healthy food. A key constraint for the community in accessing healthy food options is the lack of local good quality food shops in the estate itself. A better retail offer is unlikely until further development happens in the Eastern Growth Zone that provides a bigger footfall to attract a better quality provider. In the meantime, the council is to liaise with the current single provider (McColls) to improve its very limited offer.
In addition however, the residents also wish to pursue a Community Garden idea to grow some fresh food for themselves. A small group of residents have already established a small community garden taking over an area running along the gable end of a house that offers free herbs and flowers. It is in a prominent place and visible to anyone traveling on the main route through Red Hall. To assist the thinking, HNT was pleased to sponsor a trip of a group of residents to one of the original community garden projects – Incredible Edible Todmorden, which really inspired local residents to have a go.
They have now identified a plot they would like to adopt for this purpose and have compiled a design. It is hoped that this will gain momentum and will be a project that contributes towards exercise, the environment, community connectedness and the delivery of fresh, healthy food to the community. There are a few key advocates and enthusiasts currently, so the next stage is to ensure that there is sufficient support for such a scheme within the wider community. It is important that this consultation is seen by the residents as a community led initiative for the benefit of the community. The group have begun to visit tenants in the immediate vicinity of the site to build support. Discussions have also opened with Keepmoat, a house builder and partner in the Healthy New Towns project, who will provide materials from their development next to Red Hall to help form raised beds within the Community Garden. The development timetable is now aimed at work beginning in the spring of 2019.
Library The FOR identified a need for a library service. The plan is to make use of books donated by residents to test out the viability of the idea and to use the Community Centre to trial a library. It is also hoped that an information point may be added and use can be made of the free Wi‐Fi service in the Community Centre to offer access to other forms of advice which would begin to create a community hub.
Football Club Members of the FOR are keen to establish a football club aimed at all ages with a hope that a number of teams for different age groups can be established. Currently, Red Hall has no football team but there is a football pitch however, this is of poor quality. Red Hall has had a football team in the past that played in a Sunday League and was one of the best supported, regularly attracting 40 to 50 spectators. Unfortunately, the poor quality of the pitch resulted in complaints from other teams and a reluctance on behalf of players to continue to use the pitch. A temporary move to another pitch outside of Red Hall while a solution was found coincided with the team folding. The new plan is to start with a couple of mixed children’s teams and build up interest leading to the establishment of an adult team. There has already
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been encouraging interest in this from residents. In the meantime, negotiations have begun with the Football Association about the provision of a 3G football pitch.
Creative Civic Change Funding Building on relationships developed through the summer fair, particularly with the Stockton
International Riverside Festival, the FOR has been encouraged to pursue a bid for funding for
a three year programme of arts and cultural activities that they see as an opportunity to
further build a sense of pride within the community. The competition will be fierce with only
10 places available on the programme and with a likelihood of these being skewed towards
‘Big Local’ sites. However, the FOR consider the bidding process to be a worthwhile learning
process in itself, acknowledging that even if not successful (i) the FOR will have learnt valuable
skills in bid preparation and (ii) will have a bid as a starting point for any other funding
opportunities that may come along in the future. The following link shows some of the
ambition now of the community. https://vimeo.com/292107685/8744c2dbe9
4. Evaluation ‐ Where has community activation got to?
In three years a great deal has happened. The level of activities taking place in Red Hall has surprised everyone considering that there was virtually nothing going on in 2014. However, the activities are really intended to fulfil a desire to see the community develop a resilience that would lead to a sustainable and healthy future. The development has at times been slow and challenging. The difficulties the community face are significant but there are now signs of the community taking the first steps towards playing a key role in its own future. A start has been made but there is much more still to do.
It is not a straightforward process to build community capacity and resilience and it should not be under‐estimated how long this process takes – taking an apathetic disengaged community with very little involvement in its own development, firstly through to consultation and participation and now starting to develop community assets in the form of residents who can plan, organise, develop and realise their own community plans does take time. Partners are convinced though that an asset‐based approach is the way to go.
4.1 What has been achieved?
It is impossible to separate the impact of the investment in the infrastructure and the investment in the community and people but we can see clear evidence that the perception of Red Hall has changed. In 2014 it was usual to have one or two applicants for each property that became available while in the last year on average there were eight applicants for each property and the numbers were higher for new properties. What was also significant was that more than half the applications were from outside of Red Hall, something that was rare in 2014, due to its reputation and image.
We have seen large sections of the community take part in one or more activities over the past three years and this has created the opportunity for residents to see what might be possible in the future. We have seen a group of resident’s form who now have their own plans for Red Hall and are starting to organise and plan to deliver on those objectives. The most encouraging aspect to this is that despite teething problems they are moving forward and continue to come up with new ideas.
4.2 Funding
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The amount of funding used to support the community development work at Red Hall has been relatively limited (£78k) but this has been supplemented by resources in kind/contributions/co‐ordination of multiple stakeholders’ inputs. This has been important as the key to sustainability is that the community has to be capable of taking forward the work itself without huge resources and equally if lessons are being transferred to other areas of Darlington, they will not benefit from ongoing HNT or other funding sources necessarily. The key very much has been around involving the residents, growing community assets and essentially co‐ordinating resources that already exist in Darlington (local partners/third sector etc) and through this collaboration identifying other funding streams that can be accessed/applied for.
4.3 What have been the barriers and challenges?
As borne out in the information above, the main barriers for the community work to date have been:
Getting people to do more than just ‘participate’ – unlike experiences elsewhere in the borough it has proved hard to identify any natural leaders or people willing to take on any level of responsibility. To try and address this the council invested firstly, through Groundwork and more latterly through ABC Consulting, to provide support and mentorship, seeking to identify and then ‘grow’ and develop these vital community assets. It was established early on that it wasn’t appropriate (even if it was possible) for the council to provide that kind of support, it was imperative that this was provided through a third party that could be seen as much more objective and independent, genuinely developing the community.
In retrospect, it is felt that the development of the residents group occurred too late; the agreed approach had been to get interest and involvement going through activities and from which keen individuals would appear. It is now felt the move towards identifying a residents’ group should have occurred in late 2016 and not in 2017 and then in a desire to build momentum the pace of establishing the residents group was perhaps too quick especially in formalising organisational arrangements, before the group was mature enough to deal with this. The process of developing, evolving, norming and storming tends to be different with every group and it’s often difficult to get that pace and style right. What has become clear is that the process has to be capable of adapting and evolving which has been the case at Red Hall.
One challenge has been moving a group of activists to a place where they can learn to build a consensus, work as a team and formulate realistic plans which they can then be confident in talking to the community about, bringing people with them – part of the issue was identifying the right kind of support, now a mentoring organisational development support mechanism has been put in place with the right skills to steer this next phase of development.
One of the key issues has been how to create effective communications – there weren’t enough natural opportunities for people to meet each other and although multiple communication methods have been used to try and overcome this such as leaflets, posters, door knocking, school bags, newsletters and social media – this only creates a superficial level of engagement. The bigger events such as Christmas Fairs or Summer Carnivals have been effective ways of creating a greater feeling of community and this needs to be reflected on going forward.
Funding hasn’t been a barrier to date in so far as a variety of funding sources have been used, with stakeholders contributing in different ways but it is a foreseeable challenge for the future. However, the HNT work has all been about trying to build up sustainability and by
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putting the Friends of Red Hall on a firmer footing – it will give them the best possible chance of bidding for their own funding opportunities, based on more realistic plans that they have created themselves
An ongoing challenge has been the pace of developments around the Red Hall community; as discussed above, part of the master‐planning exercise and community regeneration has been based out of the anticipated growth within the eastern area of town e.g. Burdon Hill to the north east of Red Hall. Along with these new developments would come associated investment in infrastructure which stands to offer advantages such as better retail offer, more jobs, better bus service, investment in the school, expanded recreational spaces but uncertainties about the timing of those wider developments means it is difficult to provide certainty for residents. So in the short term community activation will continue to largely focus on the existing community.
4.4 Is there anything we would do differently?
With the benefit of hindsight – these would be some lessons learned:
Establish a broader base of community assets before the Friends of Red Hall was formed
Once established there perhaps should have been longer time allowed for the evolution of the group, the storming and norming phases, before the group structures were formalised
Whilst one of the support mechanisms used was ideal for supporting residents run activities and gaining participation, it probably wasn’t the right type of support for organisational development of the group once established. A reflection session organised through the HNT Board identified the right expertise and this has now been put in place and is leading to the group prioritising activities and events at a more realistic pace
The key lesson learned is that, particularly in a deprived community, this process of community development just cannot be rushed, it is very iterative and sometimes people naturally want to run before they can walk. The council was keen to allow space for the residents group to find their voice and take more control over their community’s development and so, for example, welcomed the Friends of Red Hall Chair taking over the role of chair of the Liaison Group. However, on reflection, the Friends had their own development path to follow and whilst well intended, it was probably too early in the group’s genesis for this to be as successful as we might have hoped.
5. Findings and Conclusions
A key finding has been that you can only move at the pace a community is willing to go – this is a long term process and success is unlikely if the natural process of a community developing is rushed. Whilst support from statutory organisations, third sector etc. is important and often critical especially at the early stages, there also needs to be time and space for individuals and groups to develop and grow in confidence, skills and experience. In the case of Red Hall, moving a community that was apathetic and disengaged to one that is increasingly involved in deciding its own priorities and delivering them has been a fundamental first step on the ongoing process to much greater levels of empowerment and activation.
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Fig 5: Red Hall Challenge
Current position • Apathy is a key issue‐reluctance to engage • High levels of deprivation • Entrenched child poverty • Poor health • Poor educational attainment • Under used Community Centre • Only two active community groups • No sense of direction • Stakeholders working in isolation
Desired position • A place people want to live • Community are joint architects in future development planning • Take responsibility • Benefit from new communities • Integration with new communities • Healthier life styles • A resilient and sustainable community
Another key issue is that HNT Darlington has tried to promote and try out initiatives that are capable
of being sustainable – recognising that the HNT funding is time‐limited and it needs to understand
what works that can be continued both at Red Hall and elsewhere in the town. The Council will have
a very limited pot of funding for Neighbourhood Renewal across the town over the next 3‐4 years and
it needs to understand both what has worked and what hasn’t.
5.1 Impact/Benefit/Return on Investment
With cuts to public funding there is an incentive to build more resilient communities. There is a wealth
of evidence to suggest that this is the right thing to do, in terms of building a sense of community,
ownership and the resultant improvement in health and wellbeing associated with belonging to and
participating in a community and all the social interaction, reduced isolation and involvement that
brings. However, it also makes economic sense i.e. communities that help themselves do not make as
much call on stretched public resources and also look after facilities/resources and each other better
because they identify them as being part of their community.
It is too soon in this process (only a couple of years in) to determine to what degree this has been
successful in terms of any economic assessment. This stage of the journey has been about creating
the environment and opportunities for community cohesion and involvement ‐ bringing about the
conditions for this community to learn to be reliant on itself and design its own future. The activities
that HNT has supported have been designed to foster that culture and create a better environment
for inclusion but the challenge now is will the community respond and increasingly take the lead.
There are some early indicators that the community is moving in the right direction. For example, the
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Creative Civic Change bid is something that just would not have seemed possible a couple of years
ago.
Likewise, the views of local ward Councillor Ian Haszeldine also reflect this gradual shift within the
community too:
“As ward councillor I have seen some significant changes over the last couple of years. The regeneration programme on Redhall has brought its own challenges, not only for the residents but also our partners. We all know that change doesn’t happen overnight. Only by working closely with residents and the community has this enabled all concerned to identify people, groups and resources from within the community. Real enthusiasm from both sides of the fence so to speak has led to support for residents and the community allowing them to grow and develop, a pleasure to see but also a real challenge. This journey is ongoing and is developing into a progressive move for the community. I have noticed in recent months that residents are embracing the changes and opportunities for them and the wider community, they are noticing differences, both in some of the physical changes within the estate but also the way the community is coming together more and benefitting from and taking part in activities. For example, Street Champions who have a real pride in Redhall and surrounding area, greater confidence in getting help and support from outside agencies, a feel‐good factor that Redhall matters and the ability to see change to the community. The summer carnival is a good example, despite the rain, it was a really good day. It is really good to see the community developing in this way. Long may it continue”.
HNT Darlington is undertaking its own ‘system’ evaluation which involves an evaluator from Newcastle
University, working on behalf of FUSE (the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health)
interviewing/running focus groups with key community groups and this is taking place currently. By
March 2019 that piece of work will report and will be able to show an objective evaluation of how far
this work has progressed and whether there are indications that work to date has been successful at
moving this community towards community activation, building resilience and confidence and to what
degree this contributes towards health and wellbeing.
This case study offers a lot of qualitative information on what has happened at Red Hall but it is difficult
at this stage to be able to quantitatively state what the impact has been of work to date. However,
within the recent Community Survey – residents at Red Hall showed an increase in the percentage
who would very strongly agree that they belong to their local area rising from 14.4% in 2013 before
the work commenced to 31.9% in 2018. Interestingly, there was a corresponding decrease in the
percentage of residents who said they do not belong to their local area ‐ reducing from 13.9% in 2013
to 4.3% in 2018. This is probably the most objective evidence we have and is the perception of the
residents themselves.
5.2 Critical Success Factors
At this stage – and this is not the end point of this community’s journey by any means, these appear
to be the critical success factors for moving towards more community involvement and a desire for
residents to activate themselves to build a stronger community for themselves. These are borne out
of the experiences at Red Hall.
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Community Engagement Critical Success Factors
Senior political and organisational alignment – from the council and other partners, aligning resources Planning and engagement process based on local needs – listening to residents, what they like and what they want to change – building that into the plan and feeding back on delivery
Measurable community focussed objectives Careful planning and preparation Adequate resourcing and pulling in additional resources through bids/grants Involvement from the beginning – and gradual evolution so that the community feels ready to start to take steps itself whilst knowing support is there
Widespread information sharing, constantly working on communications New skills developed and supported in communities Building a critical mass of key influence support Learning from previous change initiatives and from mistakes! Early demonstrable wins as early small steps to build confidence and trust Accepting that this takes time, you can only go as fast as the community is ready to go
5.4 Conclusion
The HNT project has sought to act as a driver and impetus for change – building on the strategy that
was already evolving for the Red Hall community and facilitating partners working effectively together
but always with the intention that a community asset‐based approach, whilst time consuming, must
be the best way to support a community to develop and ‘help itself’. The aim has been to develop
community leadership, activation and resilience to allow it to develop its own voice and therefore
have a healthier future in participating within the eastern growth zone as it develops out. The HNT
project has helped to sow the seeds and it is now for the people of Red Hall to continue their journey,
in partnership with wider stakeholders and partners, to realise their full potential.
30
REFERENCES
i Darlington’s Sustainable Communities Strategy – One Darlington: Perfectly Placed 2008-2026
ii Darlington Borough Council Draft Corporate Plan 2017-2018 iii Red Hall Health Profile, Public Health England, Local Health iv Red Hall Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy 2015-2017:
https://www.darlington.gov.uk/media/2728/red-hall-nrs-september-15-final.pdf v Egan, J. (2004) Skills for Sustainable Communities – The Egan Review, London
31
Appendix 1
Red Hall Health Profile
Indicators Red Hall
England Indicators Red Hall
England Indicators Red Hall
England
Low Birth
Weight Births
(%)
5.9 7.4 Emergency
admissions in
under 5s (Crude
rate per 1000)
317.7 147.3 Elective hospital
admissions for hip
replacement
(SAR)
102.7 100
Child
Development at
age 5 (%)
45.2 60.4 A&E
attendances in
under 5s (Crude
rate per 1000)
840.2 533.6 Elective hospital
admissions for
knee replacement
(SAR)
116 100
GCSE
Achievement
(5A*‐C inc. Eng
& Maths) (%)
33.7 56.6 Admissions for
injuries in under
5s (Crude rate
per 10,000)
248.3 140.8 Life expectancy at
birth for males,
2010‐2014 (years)
80.4 79.3
Unemployment
(%)
4 1.8 Admissions for
injuries in under
15s (Crude rate
per 10,000)
200.6 111.7 Life expectancy at
birth for females,
2010‐2014 (years)
79.9 83
Long Term
Unemployment
(Rate/1,000
working age
population)
9.5 4.3 Admissions for
injuries in 15 ‐
24 year olds
(Crude rate per
10,000)
195.1 139.5 Deaths from all
causes, all ages
(SMR)
110 100
General Health
‐ bad or very
bad (%)
7.1 5.5 Obese adults
(%)
31.1 24.1 Deaths from all
causes, under 65
years (SMR)
134.4 100
General Health
‐ very bad (%)
1.2 1.2 Binge drinking
adults (%)
25.4 20 Deaths from all
causes, under 75
years (SMR)
116.5 100
Limiting long
term illness or
disability (%)
21.7 17.6 Healthy eating
adults (%)
19.1 28.7 Deaths from all
cancer, all ages
(SMR)
130.8 100
Households
with central
heating (%)
99.3 97.3 Emergency
hospital
admissions for
all causes (SAR)
130.9 100 Deaths from all
cancer, under 75
years (SMR)
128.4 100
Overcrowding
(%)
5.7 8.7 Emergency
hospital
admissions for
CHD (SAR)
124.8 100 Deaths from
circulatory
disease, all ages
(SMR)
94.7 100
Provision of 1
hour or more
unpaid care per
week (%)
12 10.2 Emergency
hospital
admissions for
stroke (SAR)
116.2 100 Deaths from
circulatory
disease, under 75
years (SMR)
75.3 100
32
Indicators Red Hall
England Indicators Red Hall
England Indicators Red Hall
England
Provision of 50
hours or more
unpaid care per
week (%)
3.9 2.4 Emergency
hospital
admissions for
Myocardial
Infarction
(heart attack)
(SAR)
170 100 Deaths from
coronary heart
disease, all ages
(SMR)
92.6 100
Pensioners
living alone (%)
35.6 31.5 Emergency
hospital
admissions for
Chronic
Obstructive
Pulmonary
Disease (COPD)
(SAR)
161.9 100 Deaths from
coronary heart
disease, under 75
years (SMR)
61.1 100
Obese Children
(Reception
Year) (%)
11.9 9.3 Incidence of all
cancer (SIR)
105.2 100 Deaths from
stroke, all ages
(SMR)
71.8 100
Children with
excess weight
(Reception
Year) (%)
25.5 22.2 Incidence of
breast cancer
(SIR)
103.7 100 Deaths from
respiratory
diseases, all ages
(SMR)
107.9 100
Obese Children
(Year 6) (%)
19.4 19 Incidence of
colorectal
cancer (SIR)
92.2 100 Deaths from
circulatory
disease, all ages
(SMR)
94.7 100
Children with
excess weight
(Year 6) (%)
36.7 33.4 Incidence of
lung cancer
(SIR)
123.1 100 Deliveries to
teenage mothers
(%)
2.7 1.2
Occasional
smoker
(modelled
prevalence, age
11‐15) (%)
1.5 Incidence of
prostate cancer
(SIR)
83.7 100 Emergency
hospital
admissions for hip
fracture in 65+
(SAR)
88.6 100
Regular smoker
(modelled
prevalence, age
11‐15) (%)
3.1 Hospital stays
for self harm
(SAR)
176.4 100
Regular smoker
(modelled
prevalence, age
16‐17) (%)
14.8 Hospital stays
for alcohol
related harm
(SAR)
125.7 100
33
Appendix 2
Holiday Enrichment Programme
Neighbourhood Renewal Budget
Delivered by Groundwork North East & Cumbria
34
Holiday Enrichment Programme
Contents
Background …………………………..………………………………………Page 4
The Programme ………………….………………………………………..Page 5
Reflection ………….…………………………………………………………Page 6
Parents Feedback …………………………………………………………Page 7
Children’s Feedback ……………………………………………………..Page 9
Menu …………………………………………………………………………….Page 11
Activity Plans …………………………………………………………………Page 12
35
Holiday Enrichment Programme Summer 2018
Background
Last year Children North East secured Reaching Communities funding to provide a four week
programme of activities and nutritious meals for children across of the most deprived areas
in Darlington. This year they secured additional funding from the Department of Education to
deliver a similar programme which included delivery within Darlington, however the selection
process was much different and meant some areas of need would not receive the provision.
In partnership Darlington Borough Council worked with Groundwork NE to access the
Neighbourhood renewal budget to provide a Holiday Enrichment Programme in three areas
of the town, Cockerton, Firthmoor and Skerne Park.
The sessions were delivered during the first four weeks of the six week summer holiday
period, four days per week. There was a maximum of 24 places available in each area, working
with the local primary schools they helped to identify children who would benefit from
accessing the provision.
The sessions were delivered by two Groundwork members of staff and two sports coaches
from the Martin Gray Academy. The children engaged in a variety of activities such as arts and
crafts, cooking, games, physical activity and trips to the local parks and green spaces and
received a range of healthy snacks and a nutritious lunchtime meal. An additional activity of
Bird Box Making was provided by one of the DBC Park Rangers, who attended all three areas
and the children built a bird box each to take home.
Throughout the four week programme Groundwork staff maintained attendance records,
completed daily evaluations, recorded any observations and carried out feedback sessions
with the children attending and requested feedback from their parents/carers.
36
The Programme
Attendance throughout the four weeks was excellent, the retention of the children was well maintained and the children looked forward to the sessions. Many of them
were arriving early each day.
There was a total of 939 attendances over the four week period, a total of 48 sessions were delivered to a total of 77 individual beneficiaries.
It was noted by staff in all areas that the majority of children had not had breakfast before attending the sessions, so they were grateful of the morning snacks.
All of the children attending engaged in a physical activity at the beginning of every session this was in the forms of games, obstacle courses or team challenges. The
children then had the option to try a variety of different sporting activities such as
badminton, basketball, football, tennis, tag rugby and volleyball throughout the
remainder of the session. Many of the children talked openly about not enjoying PE at
school but they enjoyed the games and chance to try different sports.
The meals which were prepared and delivered by Firthmoor Community Centre Café, were very well received by the children. We used feedback from the meals provided
last year to ensure the menu included meals the children liked and would more
importantly eat and enjoy. Many of the children asked to take additional fruit home
to eat later in the day, and staff encouraged this.
The activities were thoroughly enjoyed, the children were fully engaged in the
activities throughout each session and enjoyed the opportunity to choose the
activities they wanted to undertake, whether this was arts and crafts or sports or
simply free play. Many enjoyed taking something they had made home every day to
show their parents/carers, in particular the bird boxes.
37
Reflection
Staff felt that the whole programme went extremely well, the children benefitted equally
from both the activities and food provision. The children enjoyed trying new activities and
new foods, especially the fruit and vegetables. They were fully engaged throughout and often
talked about what they would be doing if they were at home, this would mainly be watching
television, playing on games consoles or riding their bikes.
One aspect staff from all areas observed was the lack in variety of the food children said they
ate at home, many spoke about sandwiches, and hotter meals were mainly chicken nuggets
or fish fingers, and noodle or pasta pots. The majority of the children had never eaten cottage
pie prior to the sessions and were unsure what to expect! In some instances children
requested to take left over food home for their siblings.
All staff including the sports coaches all felt they had made a real difference and that the
children who attended genuinely needed and benefitted greatly from the provision. The
children were asking for the programme to be extended after wondering what they would do
with their time for the last two weeks of the holiday period.
Many of the children attending were cared for by their grandparents or other family
members, so the provision provided some much needed respite for them during the longest
holiday period. They spoke about what a difference the sessions had made to the children
and their behaviour in the home, stating it was much more positive. They were grateful for
the food provision during the sessions and were pleased to hear the children were trying and
more importantly enjoying foods they had never had or wouldn’t normally eat at home.
38
Parents Comment’s
What a brilliant idea this holiday club has been. My girls thoroughly enjoyed it and looked forward to it on a daily basis. It provided some welcome relief for me and broke the day and helped the holidays be more enjoyable, I’d love to see this happen again. Thank you!!
(Parent of three children aged 5, and twins aged 6 years)
All 3 loved coming and Finnlee was devastated for it ending and came home crying. He will miss it very much and would love to come again more often even as an after school club. He loved being able to play the sports and Skye loved all the arty activities.
(Parent of three children aged 5, 10 and 11 years )
All the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves, you and your team have delivered an excellent programme, the children and myself would like to see more programmes like this, a big thank you!
(Parent of six children aged 5,6,8,8,10 and 10 years)
Joey loved the kids club he enjoyed doing the arts and crafts and kept him busy as he is always on the go children were great, staff were great and lovely food, thank you very much for having him
(Parent of one child aged 5 years)
As a single parent it helped me a lot in the summer holidays, my kids really enjoyed themselves and the staff were really helpful.
(Parent of two children aged 7 and 8 years)
Joshua loved the holiday club, gained confidence and some independence. I would definitely recommend this club to other parents.
(Parent of one aged 8 years)
The programme has been brilliant for my daughter. The crafts the children have made have been
brilliant and Joanie is sad it has now come to an end. There is only me and my daughter at home so
being able to go to the group has been really good for Joanie to be able to play and learn in the
holidays.
(Parent of one aged 7 years)
It has been very good for our children we don’t have a lot of family so don’t have much support. They
have done things we may not have being able to do. They loved Eastbourne park and we took them
again with friends because we didn’t know much about it. They enjoyed having dinner there it keeps
them in a routine. It’s hard finding something for everyday.
(Parent of two aged 5 and 9 years)
39
Children’s Comments
What did you like best about the summer programme?
The arts and crafts “I love it here” Going to the park Hoola hooping Eating the food, I like the jacket potatoes Making clay models – loved the messy bit! Bird Boxes Making balloon people Football “All of it” Being able to play with other kids Friends I know from school are here Lots of laughing – “made my belly hurt” Everything The staff Baking Mask making
Do you think you learnt anything?
To play sports more Learned to have more fun Always help others To be nicer and kinder How to make things To share Not to go outside when no adults are with me if someone hurts themselves you should always help To use a hammer safe I am good at badminton To pass to my team mates To be nice to my brother That my brother and sisters look after me (walking together to the sessions) To be a better goal keeper To basketball shoot To play new games To socialise more – being more confident To be a role model to the younger children here
40
What difference do you think attending the summer programme made to you?
Made new friends (from other schools) Slept better at night – more tired I know I can help others with things I am good at Helped me to socialise with other people (talked about sitting in her bedroom watching Netflix on days the sessions weren’t on)
Doing more sport, I hardly do sport I can be creative I am better at doing craft stuff Tired new food
Was there anything you didn’t like?
Nothing Nothing at all! “I have enjoyed everything so there is nothing I haven’t” “I have enjoyed everything so I will pass on that!” Not all the food Playing colours Not being able to come on a Wednesday (Firthmoor – not on a Wednesday)
41
Menu
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
WEEK 1 Spaghetti Cheese & Jacket PACKED LUNCH Fish Fingers
W/C bolognaise Tomato pizza potatoes Sandwich – Boiled potatoes
23.07.18 Garlic bread Wedges Mixed salad
Cheese/Tuna /Beans Mixed salad
cheese, Egg or Ham, savoury snack, frube, fruit, drink
Peas/sweetcorn Parsley sauce
WEEK 2 Ham pizza Cottage pie Jacket PACKED LUNCH Chicken
W/C Wedges Seasonal potatoes Sandwich– Nuggets 100%
30.07.18 Peas vegetables Cheese/Tuna /Beans Mixed salad
cheese, Egg or Ham, savoury snack, frube, fruit, drink
Chicken
Cheesy mash Beans
WEEK 3 Cheese & Spaghetti Jacket PACKED LUNCH Fish Fingers
W/C Tomato pizza bolognaise potatoes Sandwich – Boiled potatoes
06.08.18 Wedges Mixed salad
Garlic bread Cheese/Tuna /Beans Mixed salad
cheese, Egg or Ham, savoury snack, frube, fruit, drink
Peas/sweetcorn Parsley sauce
WEEK 4 Ham pizza Cottage pie Jacket PACKED LUNCH Chicken
W/C Wedges Seasonal potatoes Sandwich – Nuggets 100%
13.08.18 Peas vegetables Cheese/Tuna /Beans Mixed salad
cheese, Egg or Ham, savoury snack, frube, fruit, drink
Chicken
Cheesy mash Beans
All Desserts will be an option of a piece of fruit, fruit salad or yogurt, a wide range of fruits & flavours will be available.
42
Holiday Enrichment Programme
Session Plan – Week One
Day Activity Equipment
Day 1 Ice Breaker Game Rules Paper
Pens
Grass Heads Tights Saw Dust Grass Seed Elastic Bands
Bird Feeders Lolly Sticks Bird Seed String Cheerios Wire / pipe cleaners
Day 2 Kite Making Kite Templates String Tissue Felt Tips to decorate
Cork Coasters Cork Coasters Foam Mosaic Squares
Day 3 Sunflower Pots Plant pots Compost Sunflower Seeds Marker Pens Foam Stickers
Crispy Cakes Chocolate Crispies Cake Cases Check Bowls, etc at Venues
Day 4 Outdoor Activities Choose from list
43
Holiday Enrichment Programme
Session Plan – Week Two
Day Activity Equipment
Day 1 Rock Painting Rocks Acrylic Paint Paintbrushes Paint Pots Newspaper / Table Cloth
Clay Modelling Clay Table Cloth
Day 2 Mirror Decorating Mirrors Sequins Gems Glue Glue Sticks
Pom Pom Making Wool Pom pom Pom pom reels Scissors
Day 3 Clay Model Painting Acrylic Paint Paintbrushes Paint Pots Newspaper / Table Cloth
Glass Painting Glasses Glass Pens
Cake Decorating Cakes Icing Decorating Items
Day 4 Outdoor Activities Choose from list
44
Holiday Enrichment Programme
Session Plan – Week Three
Day Activity Equipment
Day 1 Sock Caterpillars Socks Stuffing Pipe Cleaners Elastic Bands Eyes
Plaques Clay Shells, beads, sequins Cutters Rolling Pins
Day 2 Treasure Chests Small Boxes Gems
Frames Gems, sequins, beads Frames Glue Glue Sticks
Gem Animals Glass Nuggets Wobbly Eyes Glue Glue Sticks
Day 3 Hawaiian Garland String Straws Paper Scissors Pencils Stencil
Ice Cream Sundaes Ice Cream – Various flavours Sauce Sprinkles Cream
Jelly Fish Plastic Bowls Tissue String Glue Glue Sticks
Day 4 Outdoor Activities Choose from list
45
Holiday Enrichment Programme
Session Plan – Week Four
Day Activity Equipment
1 Noughts & Crosses Lolly Sticks Glue Glue Sticks Small Stones Permanent Markers
Collage Making Card Scissors Pencils Collage Materials Glue Glue Sticks
Day 2 Dream Catchers Hoops – Paper plates Wool Scissors Feathers
Mask Making Mask Elastic Pens Feathers Gems Glue Glue Sticks
Day 3 Wind Chimes Sticks Wool / Thread Beads Shells Bells Scissors
Cress Heads Cress Seed Plastic Cups Cotton wool Eyes Felt Glue Glue Sticks Scissors
Biscuit Decorating Biscuits Icing Items to Decorate
Day 4 Outdoor Activities Choose from list
46
Sarah Small Groundwork NE & Cumbria
Play Co‐ordinator
South Park Clock Tower Parkside Darlington DL1 5TG
Tel: 01325 464270 Email: sarah.small@groudwork.org.uk
47
Recommended