Engaging residents and inspiring future regeneration in Blackpool

It’s a five-minute walk from my home to our Revoelution Community Hub, but it often takes me 45 because residents stop me to talk. They used to tell me about bad things happening in the area, like teenagers hanging around the street causing trouble, or fly-tipping. 

Now, eight years into our Big Local programme, they talk to me about more good things than bad ones. For example, a resident told me: ​‘I never thought I would be this important.’ More residents feel like they are being listened to and it means a lot to them. 

You see that you’ve made a difference to somebody’s life by being involved with Big Local. I see the community spirit and that there’s more optimism and pride in the area. 

I’ve learned that Big Local is about people. I didn’t understand this when I first joined the programme in 2018. I thought it was about creating a big shopping list of how we’d spend the £1m. But now I know it’s about local people getting invaluable support and guidance to come together as a community to change things for the better. 

Revoe is the area around Central Drive in Blackpool, a seaside resort where tourism has decreased over the years. There’s not been any investment here since the 1970s. 

When we first asked residents how to improve Revoe, a common response was ​‘knock it down and start again’. There are boarded-up shops, derelict properties and littering. Like other ​‘left behind’ neighbourhoods (places which face the double disadvantage of high deprivation and a lack of social infrastructure), we have problems. There’s very little green space, but there is crime, and anti-social behaviour. 

I have an overriding feeling of duty to volunteer for Revoelution. When I moved here 23 years ago, I’d retired from retail management but was bored, so I got a job in a local supermarket and got to know my neighbours. They would complain about the area, which inspired me to set up the New Revoe Residents’ Association with 12 residents. We won seven awards for projects like creating a choir to improve people’s mental health. 

After that, I got involved in Big Local. I am a straight-talking and transparent chair, and my role is to see what needs to be done in the best way possible. 

We have a partnership of eight residents who lead Revoelution, and a big focus of our work has been engaging residents and encouraging them to get involved with the local community. We employ four engagement officers who knock on doors. They have done outreach work with the NHS, asking residents questions to find out what activities and services would help to improve their health and wellbeing.

The engagement officers also get residents to come to our informal activity groups. These include everything from gardening to walking groups and they benefit around 100 people a week. We have an open-door policy, so people from around Blackpool can come. 

One of our engagement workers is a Romanian Muslim who speaks Arabic. She engages with diverse communities. We run advice sessions for the Romanian community and social activities for them, led by local residents. 

We also encourage younger members of the Romanian community to get involved. For example, around half of the eight- to 11-year-olds at our youth club for this age group are Romanian. The long-term aim is to build relationships between Romanian and British communities. 

One of our most successful groups for young people is our football one. We started running twice-weekly football sessions in Revoe Park. This helps to move street football away from residential areas and gives teenagers something to do. The group attracts over 40 people and is run by Football Association-qualified coaches. We’re also funding an all-weather football pitch in the park, with the local council and Football Foundation. 

Another way we have engaged local teenagers is through the Duke of Edinburgh award. Working with the charity Blackpool Open Access Group, we have supported four teenagers to complete their bronze award. The scheme offers them an opportunity to grow their confidence, to achieve and go on to bigger things. 

We look at ways to lift people’s spirits so that they can see change happening. For example, we are creating a stage on some derelict land where a pub used to be. We will use it as a community space in the summer to host events like a Caribbean-themed day. This will help to bring local people together. 

When you’re awake half the night worrying about something, you don’t want to have to wait for an appointment to get some support. That’s why you don’t need an appointment to come to our twice-weekly work club. 

There’s a lot of unemployment in Revoe, so we help with CVs and job searches to support people back into the workplace. But people come for all sorts of reasons. We help with anything from evictions to finding someone a shirt and tie to wear for a court appearance. 

We have a model where residents pay a small amount towards some of the groups. You might think that because it’s a deprived area, people want everything for free. But people have pride. 

Every week, around 40 people pay five pounds to a food pantry we support, and they receive a week’s groceries. At our weekly recipe club, around 10 residents learn to cook a different dish and pay a little towards doing so. And at our Memory Lane Café, which aims to reduce isolation, over 55s pay a pound to get a meal and as much tea and coffee as they can drink. 

We have broadened our impact by working with partners. We have hosted services such as benefits advice from the Blackpool Centre for the Unemployed and mental health support from Counselling in the Community. In the last three years, we have received £150,000 of external funding for different projects, including engaging the local community.

We encourage the NHS, the council and other large organisations to come into the area to provide services for residents. As part of this work, myself and other partnership members have represented Revoelution at national meetings. 

I attended an All-Party Parliamentary Group for ​‘left-behind’ neighbourhoods. I’ve realised that I am braver than what I think I am. You come up against really important people and think ​‘Who am I?’. So you have to bring yourself up. 

In March 2024, we found out that Revoe will receive £90million from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund to improve housing. I was so pleased and am now chairing the Revoe levelling up group. Like with Big Local, it’s getting residents’ opinions about how the money will be spent. When it boils down to it, people want a nice place to live and good neighbours. 

We have until 2025 to spend our remaining Big Local funds and have already created a charity to continue our work. Partnership members from Revoelution are the trustees. Because of what Big Local has taught us, we won’t just be finishing when the money is gone. We will continue to work with other organisations, as we know we can’t do everything on our own. I’ll still be involved. I don’t know how I could keep away. 

I hope the area will become a thriving one which residents can be proud of. I want people to be proud of the house that they’re living in, proud of the job that they do, but most of all, proud of themselves.”