Community Power Podcast Series 3 Episode 2: Better together - reflecting on Villages Together’s Big Local journey

Episode 2: Better together – reflecting on Villages Together’s Big Local journey 

Chris Allen

Hello and welcome to this week’s community power podcast, a series brought to you in partnership with Local Trust. My name’s Chris Allen, and in this series of podcasts, we’re showcasing some incredible projects focusing in particular on what happens when you give local people the power, the resources and the assets to make a difference to their neighbourhoods. With me is the producer for our series, that is Kirsten Sinclair, so Kirsten, where are we off to this week? 

Kirsten Sinclair

Thank you, Chris. Today we are off to Villages Together Big Local, which is made up of – you guessed it – two villages: Woolavington and Puriton in Somerset. We will be hearing from community worker Jon Cousins, who will take us on Villages Together’s journey, and how these two communities learned from each other to tackle some of their area’s toughest challenges. 

Chris Allen

Indeed, Villages Together is one of the Big Locals nearing the end of their journey. So I asked Jon for his reflections on where the programme had reached.

Jon Cousins

It hasn’t been a very smooth journey at times, because of this difference between the two villages. But I’m very happy to report now we’re coming towards the end of the programme, that things have progressed, and people are now looking at some of the bigger issues. One of those bigger issues is something I would love to tell. 

Chris Allen

I’ll come back to that in a moment. But again, the learning journey here sounds like quite literally they had to be less parochial. People had to be less parochial. Had to look to each other, work together, and so that learning together, has that been a part of the legacy now that you’ve brought the villages together, you’ve found ways of working together, and you’ve got some important projects that will go forward? We’ll talk about the big one in a minute. But that was a learning experience too. 

Jon Cousins

It is. It is very much a learning experience. And I think it would be wrong for me to say that there still wasn’t a kind of sense of enclaves right within this situation. But yes, it has been an incredible learning journey, and it’s been interesting for the people of Woolavington to learn more about people in Puriton and vice versa. 

You know, there’s been maybe even myths about place that might have been dispelled through this. And what we’ve, I would say, we’ve really discovered – surprise – is that the communities are very similar in lots of ways. The issues that are facing people are very similar. Both of the villages are quite isolated. There’s a lot of older folk in both villages, and that has its own issues connected with it, especially as the public transport isn’t so brilliant. The last bus back from Bridgewater, where it goes to, leaves Bridgewater before five o’clock. 

Chris Allen

So you’re not gonna have a nice night out. 

Jon Cousins

And if you were working in Bridgewater and your job finished after five, you’re not going to be able to get the bus home. So it’s kind of like has an impact on lots of different things. Taxis are very expensive, there’s no rail. You’ve got to get over the motorway to get towards Bridgewater. So it’s not even a really easy way to walk the whole journey, if you could.

And that isolation isn’t just effecting the older people. There’s quite a lot of young families, particularly in Woolavington, who are families that may have some other issues related to deprivation and stuff like that. 

Chris Allen

Is one area would you say poorer than the other? Was that a bit of a difference? 

Jon Cousins

There is part of Woolavington that would feature on deprivation indices, I’m sure, if it was large enough to be a super output area. 

Chris Allen

So it’s very, very small pockets of [a] very small pocket of deprivation? 

Jon Cousins

A very small pocket of deprivation that relates really to a housing estate that was originally built there to facilitate the workers of an ROF factory, a Royal Ordnance Factory. And that is another interesting thing as well. Part of the myth, of course, between Puriton and Woolavington is that all of the people who did the real hard labouring work in the factory, they worked in Woolavington. And all of the bosses and all of the people who worked in the offices, they lived in Puriton. So that gives you kind of gist about the idea of the differences between these two communities, how they might be viewed. 

But it’s not quite that straightforward. As we know with communities, things are always more complex than they appear on the surface. But there is an area of Woolavington that I would say could easily be sort of the third decile of the deprivation indices, if not higher. But it’s so small, surrounded by relative wealth as well. So that’s an interesting thing. 

Chris Allen

Those people though, when they’re in those very small pockets of isolation, of deprivation, do they feel that poverty even more because of the people around them and the affluence that they see? 

Jon Cousins

Yeah, there’s definitely a them and us feeling. And it’s interesting, because the them and us feeling is very strong in what they call Upper Woolavington, or the south ward. And if you go down to the what is perceived as the posher part of Woolavington, the folk there don’t really understand why the people at the top feel that there’s an issue. Although everybody really rates that as an issue that needs to be addressed. How do you integrate people into communities when part of the issue is economic deprivation? That’s a really big conundrum, because no matter how much support or help you put in unless you gave everybody a million quid or something like that, you’re not going to address… 

Chris Allen

I was going to say, you’ve been trying that for 10 years. So, you know, we can’t sort of say, well, it’s easy to do. It may not be possible to do. And there are natural neighbourhoods, we have to accept those. 

Jon Cousins

I think they’d have to give the whole 150 million to Upper Woolavington to equal out the way that people are feeling, maybe, but…No, it’s not easy, is it? And that I’m sure is reflected in a lot of Local Trust Big Local areas. Communities that want money have an idea about why they apply for funding, and that comes out of a local need that has been there for a long time. But as we know, these areas are chosen because they hadn’t applied for money. That, then, is a bit of a strange thing to do, I feel. 

Chris Allen

I think coming in from a Local Trust point of view, I’d probably say it’s one of the most innovative programmes, because it’s not been done that way. It’s not been directive. So there’s lots to learn in doing this. And so therefore it might be to say, well, actually, in this area, wasn’t the best way of doing it, but it is a part of the innovation of the programme to do something different. Otherwise we end up in this, you know, definition of insanity, don’t we? We do the same thing over and over and expect a different result! 

Jon Cousins

Yeah, well, no, that’s very true, and I can appreciate what you’re saying. If we’re learning lessons at the expense of vulnerable, deprived communities where they want support and help, and they need encouragement, and in a way and I’m sure that this has been the intent – I’ve been pondering this for a little while – that’s an ethical question, or, as Father Jack used to say, that’s an ecumenical matter. 

Chris Allen

Indeed, and it will vary from area to area. And certainly a lot of the people we’ve talked to on the podcast, and we have experience of, you know, then it has been a difficult journey at times. But it has been deliberately a long journey, you know, and then we’re getting to the end of that long journey now.

Now we talk about legacy of the programme. We talk about some learning points there, but you’ve got the pavilion. Let’s talk about that and that football pitch, and getting the drainage sorted out. I’ve been to see it, so I’m in a good position. 

Jon Cousins

Oh, well, Chris, you know, in Upper Woolavington, there’s an area there that is a sports field, and it’s a beautiful field. It’s the kind of field that a community would give their eye teeth to have. And next to the field is a pavilion. And it’s a lovely little building that you can get changed for football, maybe have a cup of coffee in. But the problem with the field is that it gets waterlogged. And when it gets waterlogged, it’s exactly the time of year when you should be playing football. And it’s really too dangerous to play football on the field. So a team of football enthusiasts used to play – Woolavington Wanderers – until it just got too ridiculous and too dangerous, and they left many moons ago. And so the pavilion fell into a bit of disrepair. 

The field gets used basically for people to walk their dogs, which is a great shame. And there’s a little local area of play, you know, with play equipment next door to the pavilion, and that’s very underused as well. And so myself and my colleague, Jenny, we’re walking around the estate one day, and I was sort of reflecting on why aren’t the kids playing in this local area of play? And how come no one comes here after dark? 

And so we, we were looking at ways that the Big Local could address the play park, basically. Get some parents into the play park. And so we, with the genius of our chair van der crow. She said, let’s make a little task and finish group. And I said, ​“What’s one of those?” She said, ​“it’s kind of like has an agenda to do something within a certain period of time, and you get people together and they sort it out for you”. And I said, ​“Let’s do it”. Above all, it doesn’t go on forever. It’s got a finished part of it, has a task it needs to finish. 

So the task and finish group was to look at what play equipment would improve the play park, and what could we do with the play park to make it more user friendly. And so we got the group of people together. They weren’t people necessarily on our Big Local partnership. They were actually members of the community from this area. 

Chris Allen

Which might be more important, because they’re the ones who possibly were going to use it. 

Jon Cousins

Absolutely. We got the leader of the little youth club and the person who runs the little nippers kind of play group, and we got the school teachers and school, you know, got lots of the right sort of people together to talk about how we consult with the families. They drew up a paper with questions on it. And we got loads printed off, and we gave them to every parent who had their kids at the playgroup, at the little nippers, at the school. 

All the parents were consulted, came back, and we had a bit on the end that said, any other issues? And so what we found out was exactly the sort of play equipment they were after. They all wanted under- fives play equipment. There was no under-five play equipment in this play area, because the majority of the kids in the estate that we’re talking about are under five, so that’s why they don’t use the play equipment. It’s too big for them all. 

The other issue, which we didn’t know about, why people weren’t going there was the drug dealing. And it transpires that that was county lines drug dealing. And there’s a big car park next to the pavilion and the play area, and it’s right next to the motorway where we are. So people would come off the motorway junction 23, come into this secluded car park and deal drugs as a county line down the line to other folk who came to pick the drugs up. And so we were thinking, My God, you know, no one’s going to use this area if it’s got this kind of energy and things going on around it. 

So we had a bit of a think, and it wasn’t too long before somebody said, Well, one of the things we could do is put up some CCTV and then at least we’d see the number plates of the cars and stuff like that. So we looked into Big Local supporting the installation of CCTV cameras. And we went with the police and the county district council and county council, looking at the appropriate ways to do that, all the rules and regulations. Because you just can’t do it on your own. And we did all of that, and we made a big fuss about the CCTV cameras going in, and overnight, the county lines drug dealing just stopped, right? There’s a great result. We put in the play equipment, so the parents started coming to use the play area with the kids. And we then had a look at the pavilion building itself, because we had the CCTV. 

Chris Allen

So on your CCTV, because people talk about that a bit. So what you’re saying there, is actually almost putting on the grapevine ​“CCTV is here”, that stopped it without the cameras. You put the cameras in later anyway. 

Jon Cousins

We put the signs up and the cameras later. 

Chris Allen

But the rumour of them… 

Jon Cousins

The jungle telegraph, as it were. You know, you can’t beat about the bush about these things. You know, drug taking is everywhere in communities. So to try and pretend it’s not there…county lines is quite a different kettle of fish, isn’t it? So it soon got word, got out that they were being observed, and that was going straight to police. So it just, what a great thing to change. The vandalism stops, because the kids realise the cameras were there as well. 

But we also put money into this building, the pavilion building, which is very run down. And we put a new kitchen in there, and we put a cafe area, a drinks machine. It’s one of the few places in the village where if the door’s open, there’s like a public toilet. And so the kids realise that this is something going on here. And the people who had been involved in the task and finish group, some of them decided that they wanted to sort out this football pitch once and for all. 

Chris Allen

Right.

Jon Cousins

So we got approached as the Big Local – can we buy or get this asset of this pitch for the community in perpetuity? 

Chris Allen

And the size of it, you know. 

Jon Cousins

It’s massive.

Chris Allen

I’ve got to say, it’s not just one pitch you get on there, is it? It’s a massive area that’d be great for public use. 

Jon Cousins

Absolutely. And of course, the danger is, if you’ve got a council that’s got a sports field that’s completely underused, and it’s a big piece of land next to development with an access for cars, and you also need more social housing, or more housing, yeah, what might you do to that sports field in the future? So this was all the kind of thoughts that were coming out. Get the field. 

Chris Allen

Use it or lose it. 

Jon Cousins

Yep. And if we can get the field, we can put in the appropriate drainage, because it’s never had the right drainage put in. So we were doing…because we be put money into the pavilion, one of the groups that started taking an interest was Bridgewater United, the local football team, one of the best teams, ladies and gentlemen. They have a community sports trust. And they said, ​“This is great. What you’re doing, Big Local. Can we come and over the summer holidays, do sports provision in the field with the kids?” So they started to do football training for school holidays with a free meal every day. Absolutely brilliant, wonderful. Bridgewatch United, perfect, they’re a community sports trust. Can’t praise them enough. 

So that got all the kids who had previously been vandalising stuff and breaking stuff and all that, they started to turn up in their kit, you know, and playing. And that inspired the parents who’ve been involved in task and finish group to set up the new Woolavington Wanderers, which had just started. There are three youth teams that have just started from the pavilion building. 

The local Big Local money has also sponsored their football kits. So you know, like, it doesn’t say Emirates across the front of their shirts. It says Villages Together Big Local. So those young people, they have got something in their community now they can be proud of. And on the back of the new football club going in, we also have a little boxing gym inside the pavilion, and we’re looking at putting a parkrun there as well. So it’s really changed the whole thing. 

That’s down to local residents getting, you know, taking back their sort of responsibility or control, or whatever, over a site that had basically been forgotten, vandalised, drug dealing, a whole thing. It’s now come really back into community ownership. And they literally own the field now, and they’re making it such an amazing project. That is the power of Big Local, isn’t it? That’s what this money can do to support and help folk, you know. 

Chris Allen

Right. And what a legacy. 

Jon Cousins

What a legacy. 

Chris Allen

That was community worker Jon Cousins of Villages Together down near Taunton. What were your thoughts on where they’ve got to on the journey then, Kirsten? 

Kirsten Sinclair

Yeah, it was fantastic to hear about how the community were able to make substantial change to really complex issues. From the football pitch pavilion, children’s play area and anti social behaviour. It goes to show what happens when you get the community to come together, to really sit down and listen to what they really need. 

Chris Allen

And I had the privilege of actually visiting them down there, so I had a bit of a better vision of what they had in their mind there, and it will be really exciting for them. If they want more information, where do they go to? 

Kirsten Sinclair

We will put everything in the show notes. 

Chris Allen

Thanks Kirsten, indeed. And we look forward to you joining us next time on the community power podcast, brought to you by Local Trust, discovering what happens when you give local people the power, the money and the assets to make a difference to their neighbourhoods.