Warwick Ahead

Bringing the community together through social and leisure activities

Throughout the programme, Warwick Ahead partnership organised social and support activities that brought the community together. These included family sports days in partnership with The Addy adventure playground, seaside trips, fitness activities, IT sessions, and large-scale ​‘Christmas spectaculars’ that in one early instance attracted up to 800 residents. For the Christmas 2023 event towards the end of Big Local, residents were involved in planning and delivery, creating their own Santa’s grotto and leading craft activities. Attended by around 200 residents, this free day out included rides for children and a live snake encounter.

Creating an essential community hub that drove engagement 

At the beginning of the programme, Warwick Ahead Big Local partnership supported community organisations to become more sustainable. This included The Addy, who ran the Old Quarry Adventure Playground, and the Warwick Community Group who worked mostly with older people in the area. The partnership supported refurbishment and caretaker costs, worked collaboratively to deliver activities, and rented space from both organisations to coordinate and deliver Big Local activities. 

After a few years, the partnership secured the use of a shop owned by the local housing association. They wanted to increase the capacity and space available for Big Local-led activities and to extend services to the entire community. The shop was transformed into an open space for residents called The Local Hub. 

When faced with delays in obtaining necessary permits, members drew on their relationship with their MP who provided support to expedite the process. The premises required substantial development, including fitting an accessible toilet and kitchen area and complete redecoration and re-fitting. Opening in 2020, the centre offered a safe, warm space that drew the whole community together, even encouraging previously reluctant residents to join in social activities, use advice services, and access one-off support such as food bank referrals.

Tackling isolation through a resident-led craft group

Warwick Ahead partnership regularly tried out different approaches to improving mental wellbeing. After formal training sessions for coping with anxiety and loneliness proved unpopular, the partnership responded with a more informal approach in the form of a weekly arts and crafts group at The Local Hub. This resident-led initiative offered a safe and friendly space for local people to try out creative techniques while sharing concerns, gaining support, and finding a sense of purpose.

After two years of delivery, the partnership secured an additional £5,000 in council funding for a facilitator. This new role enabled the craft group to offer monthly sessions for residents to learn new skills, including stitching, weaving, and paper-craft, as well as designing and selling mugs. Over 100 artworks created during these sessions were displayed in an exhibition and celebratory event at The Local Hub – the first time most participants had shown any creative work in public.

Making it easy to enjoy nutritious meals

In 2021, a £5,000 grant from the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Targeted Prevention Fund allowed the partnership to offer a weekly ingredients-and-recipe pack, helping 70 families cook delicious, low-cost meals. Residents enthusiastically shared tips and photographs of their culinary creations on social media, including the popular ​’cowboy pie’. The project built upon the partnership’s close links with the local food bank, allowing them to signpost residents to additional support when needed.

Helping residents take control of their money 

When early consultations identified struggles in the community with debt and doorstep lending, the Warwick Ahead partnership invited Leeds Credit Union to deliver regular sessions on budgeting and accessing loans. 

Within a two-year period, Leeds Credit Union loaned £62,409 to 106 residents, who paid a total of £47,000 less interest than if they had relied on a prominent doorstep lender. The friendly, non-judgemental nature of the sessions played a key role in engaging residents more broadly about their finances, helping many gain control of their money.

Supporting residents to maximise their income

Alongside offering support with money management, the partnership wanted to help residents receive welfare benefits to which they were entitled. Through hosting weekly Citizens Advice sessions throughout the programme, they helped local people navigate a range of issues, from housing to disability benefits. Around 150 residents of ages ranging from 20 to 80 securing more than £200,000 in benefits payments over a three-and-a-half-year period. One resident facing particularly difficult circumstances said the back-dated benefits payment they successfully accessed through the service, totalling £16,000, could not have come at a better time.

Using motorcross to engage and empower young people 

Through consultations and various other sources, partnership members were aware of high levels of antisocial behaviour and dangerous off-road motorbiking on the estate. They commissioned Enabling Youth and Motorcross (EYAM) to reach out to young people involved in these activities. 

EYAM connected with young people on the estate through detached street work – a method of youth work focused on reaching young people not being engaged by mainstream services in the spaces they gather in, at times that suit them, and starting from their interests. 

EYAM used motorcross as an engagement tool to draw young residents into wider personal development activities. Over the next six years, they held motorcross sessions, organised roller-skating and waterpark outings, facilitated a youth forum, and delivered informal education workshops on developing healthy relationships, drug awareness and managing stress and anger. These workshops acted as spaces where young people could access specialist support where needed.

As a result of EYAM’s work, some young residents who had previously felt disengaged from their community felt able to speak in local Neighbourhood Watch and partnership meetings. Others shared their experience of organising sports activities with another Big Local area (St Matthews Big Local in Leicester). Feedback indicated that the impact on antisocial behaviour was substantial, with residents reporting that motorbiking on the estate had reduced considerably, and police reporting fewer anti-social behaviour incident reports in 2020 compared to 2017, when the project began (EYAM, 2021).

Partnering with a local school to develop aspirations

Following discussions with the local school, Warwick Ahead Big Local partnership launched ​‘Project W’ to create a range of opportunities for and boost aspirations among children in the area. 

Partnering with Grow Wakefield, Project W identified children’s strengths and needs before helping them work together to transform disused local land into a sensory garden and site for growing fruit and vegetables. During and after development of the calming new space, children learned from one another and talked openly with adults. 

With many children never having left the estate, Project W widened horizons through outings to the theatre, museums and a pantomime, as well as a residential trip to London. It gave local young people a taste of several potential career paths, including a hands-on stay at a farm that inspired several young people to consider working in the sector, and workshops with organisations such as Network Rail and the local police force.

Families and local organisations quickly got behind the project, with around 200 children opting in and several teachers volunteering their time. A well-attended open evening introducing Project W to parents and carers was felt to be a key moment for the project’s success.