Boothtown Challenge

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• Headlines from the project
• About their approach
• Challenges
• What's changed?
• What's next?

"It has been a collection of little projects, but it has brought people together in a big way." (Ward Councillor)

"We've got people involved. Before Boothtown Challenge, we struggled to get a turnout to events or any kind of dialogue with more than a few people. The Challenge process has brought a change in people's perceptions and a willingness to get involved." (Halifax Central Initiative)

When Halifax Central Initiative, which is part of Calderdale Council, and local community group Boothtown Partnership, began their Neighbourhood Challenge project in 2011, they had a simple goal - to get more people involved in the life of the community. 

Boothtown lies to the north of Halifax town centre. While the area has many good local resources, it has often missed out on funding and regeneration in the past, creating a sense of apathy around the neighbourhood and a focus on problems, not solutions. The Neighbourhood Challenge provided the chance to change this and to encourage local people to come together, make connections, and discover strengths and reasons to be optimistic about their community.

Some headline messages from the project 

Creating change that can be seen and discussed by local people has motivated people to become involved in community action.

Concentrating on good news, potential and resources within Boothtown has changed the way people talk about their neighbourhood. They are more positive and forward looking. 

The right kind of 'offer' is needed to encourage and motivate people to become involved - one which is positive, practical, local and has some resources to make things happen.  

A willingness to take risks has boosted confidence, released energy and generated a commitment to change. 

The right support at the right time can be vital in enabling community action: a workshop where a social designer encouraged local people to believe they could create the Community Shop proved a turning point for the project. 

About their approach 

The project approach was a collection of smaller initiatives, all designed to encourage involvement and encourage people to think positively about Boothtown.  There were four main features of the Boothtown Neighbourhood Challenge: a 'Dragon's Den' style event to fund small community projects, a Community Shop, the employment of local people, demonstrating that local people could lead change, and a Community Budgeting event which offered local residents the choice of how funds were to be invested in the neighbourhood.  All four features of the project were visible and practical.This was important in sending out the message that change was possible and brought clear benefits for Boothtown and its people. Brought together, these four elements enabled the project to begin two crucial tasks: (1) they encouraged people to become involved and (2) they gave local people some control. 

1. Encouraging people to get involved

"One surprising thing was how many people got involved that we didn't know before. A ward councillor commented that he couldn't remember a time when he had last sat at a table with residents of the area that he didn't know." (Blog post, December 2011)

"We've never been without community spirit, but this has touched far more people, and in a real way, than we've ever involved before. It has gone way beyond my expectations." (Ward Councillor)

Over the course of the Neighbourhood Challenge, HCI and Boothtown Partnership needed to find ways that would encourage more local people to take up a role in working for the area.

Community activity in Boothtown was dependent on a small number of hard working people, and there was a concern that, without a lightening of the load for these individuals, community activity could grind to a halt.

The project wanted some quick wins to get people busy around the area, to show the commitment that existed and to get people talking about positive projects which were relevant to their day to day lives. A 'Dragon's Den' style event was promoted to attract simple, practical ideas for community action which local people could see, talk about and take part in. This created a flurry of visible activity, led by local residents, showing that there were people interested in change in Boothtown. Funded projects included a summer fayre, a clean up of the local cemetery, an inter-street football tournament and a photography exhibition.

To build on the impact of these small early projects, the project partners were keen to show that local people could be employed at the heart of leading change. Unemployment is a significant issue in Boothtown, and it was thought that local people gaining work through the project would send a very positive message into the community, especially as their work would be entirely focused on Boothtown.  The project worked hard to recruit 3 young people from Boothtown as Modern Apprentices working in the Council's Parks and Open Spaces service and the local Children's Centre. The young people became part of the life of the neighbourhood, connecting with many people over the life of the project. The project also attempted to create a Community Link Worker post for a local person, but this proved difficult to fill, leading HCI to invest more time themselves in and around the Boothtown area alongside volunteers from the Boothtown Partnership.

The project also used money constructively to drive change and encourage involvement. A Community Budgeting process was designed. Local people were invited to events to choose themes for investment, and then vote on proposals from local groups created to deliver projects within those themes. The Community Budgeting process was visible and practical, offering people the chance to get involved in a number of ways: deciding the themes around which funds would be spent, creating a project idea to pitch for part of the budget or simply voting at an event, or online, for the ideas which would bring the greatest benefit to Boothtown.

2.  Giving local people control

"The Community Budgeting day was lovely. We had queues out of the door - this is unheard of in Boothtown. People really engaged with the process and with the people who were pitching their projects. "  (HCI)

"The shop group wasn't going well. We were meeting, and meeting, and struggling, and people were losing heart. The workshop was a turning point - we were encouraged to look at the benefits of taking a risk. We went for it and it's taken off!" (Voluntary Action Calderdale)

Part of encouraging change at a local level is offering ownership and control, at the right time, and providing good support when needed. In Boothtown, levels of confidence among local people were not high, and aspects of the work felt daunting at times. HCI and Voluntary Action Calderdale provided day-to-day support, and the project also accessed specialist support. An example of this was a workshop delivered by a social designer who works with communities to understand change. Her involvement unblocked the thinking of the group working on developing the Community Shop, encouraging them to take a leap of faith and to believe in the potential of the idea. A thriving community enterprise, run and staffed by a rota of committed volunteers has been the result.

Within the Community Budgeting work, it was also important to offer influence and control over decisions about how the budget would be used within the neighbourhood. The Community Budgeting event was preceded by two evenings of debate and conversation about how the process would work and what themes were most important for Boothtown. The opportunity to have a genuine influence over local investments attracted good numbers to the planning events (although they were not called planning events) and to the Budget event itself.  Around 300 people chose five projects to be funded, with a strong focus on young people, employment and training. One of the projects will be delivered by a group of local women who came together in the early stages of the Neighbourhood Challenge with a project for the Dragon's Den. Their confidence grew to a level where they felt able to deliver a more substantial community project.

What's been challenging?

Boothtown Neighbourhood Challenge started from a low base of engagement. Although there were a number of committed individuals dedicated to community life, the levels of involvement from local people were generally low, attitudes were characterised by negativity and apathy and connections between people, community groups and the organisations working in the area were limited.

As a result, the process of change was slow and difficult at times, with a number of setbacks (such as not being able to fill the local Community Link post) and a number of blockages (struggles with finding a site for the Community Shop and red tape in securing the lease).  Persistence and visibility have been the keys to working through these challenges.

What's changed?

Local assets have been unlocked

• More people have become involved in community activity.
• New local projects have been initiated, and will attract more local people to become involved.
• A thriving Community Shop has been created and is being staffed by local volunteers, many of whom are becoming involved in community action for the first time. The shop is becoming a hub for community life and a place where people gather and talk.

New networks, connections and collaborations have been created

• Local organisations and agencies are working together better, and are communicating actively with one another.
• Local people and groups are better connected than they were before Neighbourhood Challenge. People have come together to create the projects funded by the Community Budget and are working with each other to take them forward.

Conditions and ambitions for change have been created

• There has been a shift in attitude within the community. The tone of dialogue is now about potential and about change and what can be done to bring it about.
• The Local Authority Halifax Central Initiative team is seen by local people as a positive and active contributor to the community.

What next?

"There has been a shift in attitude - a definite movement from negativity to optimism, and people are really beginning to see the benefits of getting involved. It's only a start, and in many ways we are now at the point we'd want to start the Neighbourhood Challenge, but it's a significant step." (HCI)

Neighbourhood Challenge has sparked the beginnings of community led change in Boothtown. There were low numbers of people involved in community life at the start of the process. Increased involvement and engagement means that those involved in leading the work can see significant progress, but are also aware that much still needs to happen to build on this and grow the involvement gained. 

Halifax Central Initiative, Voluntary Action Calderdale and Boothtown Partnership remain committed to the area, to the process of change and to supporting local people. The five Community Budgeting projects will provide a focus for ongoing involvement, as will the presence of the Community Shop, offering confidence that the change begun over the Neighbourhood Challenge period has a momentum, and can be a meaningful start for Boothtown.

Read the Boothtown Challenge blog

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