Derby Hill, Parr
Gary Weir and Paul Mangan have moved their community organising activities to the Derby Hill area of Parr
We have had a great time and made a lot of friends in our first six months of community organising on the Common Estate. In order to more fully explore the opportunities that Community Organising can bring to areas and to show that the process can be applied widely, we are taking the second six months to work with the community in Parr
We would hope that we maintain and continue to support where we can, those projects up and running in our previous area and we can still be contacted on the telephone and email contacts. In addition we have already started a round of listening to residents of Derby Hill and have a some projects in the pipeline.
Check back on our updates pages in the next weeks to see the work we have been undertaking in Derby Hill as well as a summary of the great things that have been achieved by individuals and groups who have put themselves forward and taken charge of projects to benefit their community
Gary Weir and Paul Mangan have moved their community organising activities to the Derby Hill area of Parr
We have had a great time and made a lot of friends in our first six months of community organising on the Common Estate. In order to more fully explore the opportunities that Community Organising can bring to areas and to show that the process can be applied widely, we are taking the second six months to work with the community in Parr
We would hope that we maintain and continue to support where we can, those projects up and running in our previous area and we can still be contacted on the telephone and email contacts. In addition we have already started a round of listening to residents of Derby Hill and have a some projects in the pipeline.
Check back on our updates pages in the next weeks to see the work we have been undertaking in Derby Hill as well as a summary of the great things that have been achieved by individuals and groups who have put themselves forward and taken charge of projects to benefit their community
Gary Weir Telephone: 07813543321 Email: [email protected] My name is Gary and just over 18 months ago as I was recovering from a pretty aggressive course of chemotherapy, when there was a knock at my door, when I answered there was an handsome young chap by the name of Kris who asked if he could have a chat with me about the things I loved about where I live, which was a nice surprise as no-one had actually knocked in 4 years and asked my opinion about anything. After listening to my opinions for about half an hour he asked if I would be interested in some voluntary work in the community, which at the time was the last thing on my agenda. But alas I decided to give it a try and found myself liking it, after working 18 months voluntary I have now got myself a full time job as a trainee Community Organiser, I work with some amazing people and at 51 years of age that young chap who is now a good friend of mine and work colleague lit up something inside me and gave me a new lease of life. I have been involved in numerous community projects ranging from a car wash with the local fire service to taking some kids of our estate to Knowsley safari park and now I am out knocking on doors myself and hopefully I can reach some isolated people in the community and inspire them into taking action and making our communities a safer place to live. |
Paul Mangan: Telephone: 07813543333 Email: [email protected] Hi my name is Paul, really looking forward to getting to know about the area. I’ve worked previously in a number of fairly strange jobs, ranging from journalism to stand up comedian. I’m interested in how we as a community can have a say in how things run. Sometimes it’s easy to think that we have no say and start to accept that things just have to be the way they are. Together we may be able to make positive changes where they are needed, and protect the things we actually care about. If you see me around, stop me to have a chat, it would be great to meet you. |
Community Organising on Skateboards
One of the groups who feel that they are simply ignored, or perhaps not understood, locally are younger people who meet up to skateboard.
They have been doing this on what they describe as 'the only place that we can do it' outside the Parish church. This has led to some tensions. So, in order to see what can be done, a series of listenings have been taking place . More on this as it develops.
PRESS INTEREST IN THE SKATEBOARD PROJECT
The issue of skateboarding , and perhaps scapegoating has been taken up but the local press as this cutting from the St Helens Star explains
One of the groups who feel that they are simply ignored, or perhaps not understood, locally are younger people who meet up to skateboard.
They have been doing this on what they describe as 'the only place that we can do it' outside the Parish church. This has led to some tensions. So, in order to see what can be done, a series of listenings have been taking place . More on this as it develops.
PRESS INTEREST IN THE SKATEBOARD PROJECT
The issue of skateboarding , and perhaps scapegoating has been taken up but the local press as this cutting from the St Helens Star explains
After a housemeeting, a local organisation has come into the project. Youth Aflame based nearby has offered meeting rooms and put on a buffet mean for those interested in finding out more, or putting points of view forward for and against the idea of boarding at the present location. The meeting was the first time some had been given a chance to have their say in anything like a formal setting. 'It was great suddenly to think that what we were saying was being listened to, I'm really made up that we got involved' was the reaction of one of the group.
The discussion allowed a lot of listening opportunities and rather than try to make it formal, the meeting was held in a sports centre.
The discussion allowed a lot of listening opportunities and rather than try to make it formal, the meeting was held in a sports centre.
SOMETHING TO DO
A linking project between the concerns of younger and older people in our community to find active ways of passing their time Finding something to do is the problem' One of the outcomes of listening has been to get a group of local people to meet up in a local community centre to get themselves organised into a Bingo Club. Eyes down for a full house at our next meeting |
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'Planning to have a laugh'
'Planning to have a laugh'
The group of 'would be comedians' of the starfish project have now sorted out a regular stand up event at a local pub
This is one of the project planning meetings .
The group of 'would be comedians' of the starfish project have now sorted out a regular stand up event at a local pub
This is one of the project planning meetings .
Fourth Starfish Comedy Group performance!
Street Homeless Project
The voices of all members of the community are important. Perhaps the most side lined and neglected are those who have fallen through the various safety nets and are, either through choice or hardship, living rough. We have begun a series of meetings and enagements with street homeless people in the area. Due to the sensitive nature of the personal information, we publish only a couple of portraits of people who have expressed a desire to have themselves photographed.
The voices of all members of the community are important. Perhaps the most side lined and neglected are those who have fallen through the various safety nets and are, either through choice or hardship, living rough. We have begun a series of meetings and enagements with street homeless people in the area. Due to the sensitive nature of the personal information, we publish only a couple of portraits of people who have expressed a desire to have themselves photographed.
Active Citizenship Project
It became apparent during a number of listenings with members of the Homeless project that a significant number had not understood that they would still be able to register to vote in the General Election. The reasons varied to those who thought that there would be no point, to those who simply had not realised that they would be eligible to vote so long as they registered. Naturally for this group the problem of an address that they could be registered against caused some difficulties, but following a meeting of the group, hosted at a local cafe, it was agreed that two members of the group would find places or organisations willing to provide care of addresses. This has led to several people now registered to vote. We have also been having a number of 'whats the point' meetings to encourage a more active take up of the scheme. Registration for the General election closed in late April, but the scheme will remain active throughout the year, enabling this most disadvantaged of groups the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.
SPIN OFF PROJECT
As a result of the meetings a number of people have found also that they are able to get an email address that can help them n their applications for benefits but also as a way of engaging in other ways through the use of a technology that they thought they would not be able to access. Following on from out Digital organiser option. Gary and Paul have been able to help show people with an interest how to sign up for gmail addresses and how to access their accounts from public libraries.
It became apparent during a number of listenings with members of the Homeless project that a significant number had not understood that they would still be able to register to vote in the General Election. The reasons varied to those who thought that there would be no point, to those who simply had not realised that they would be eligible to vote so long as they registered. Naturally for this group the problem of an address that they could be registered against caused some difficulties, but following a meeting of the group, hosted at a local cafe, it was agreed that two members of the group would find places or organisations willing to provide care of addresses. This has led to several people now registered to vote. We have also been having a number of 'whats the point' meetings to encourage a more active take up of the scheme. Registration for the General election closed in late April, but the scheme will remain active throughout the year, enabling this most disadvantaged of groups the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.
SPIN OFF PROJECT
As a result of the meetings a number of people have found also that they are able to get an email address that can help them n their applications for benefits but also as a way of engaging in other ways through the use of a technology that they thought they would not be able to access. Following on from out Digital organiser option. Gary and Paul have been able to help show people with an interest how to sign up for gmail addresses and how to access their accounts from public libraries.
Paul
Ideas into action, overcoming apathy, some lessons from our projects
Our section of the presentation deals with what we have found to be one of the biggest potential blocks to practice as a community organiser, apathy.
There can be a danger in seeing door after door opened, or not opened by people who when being listened to, may well come up with a few things about where they live that they would like to see improved or changed, but that they themselves feel powerless to do anything about, or, that ‘they’ whoever they are should do ‘something’.
We wanted to show some results from three of our projects that have involved working with groups of individuals who we each have thought ‘this is going to go nowhere’ and that through learning some of the lessons brought up through the programme and our reflection on how to tackle issues in slightly different ways, have, we feel shown that it is possible to overcome apathy by tackling the barriers that people feel are preventing them from achieving the goals they actually want to set.
Gary
Some may remember this TED talk, video by Dave Maslin, which looked at whether apathy was real or a realistic response to almost deliberate blocks that are put in the way of individuals and communities to prevent change from taking place
“Intentional Exclusion” Maslin argued that far from being apathetic, people were in fact very interested in their circumstances but rarely had the chance to question whether things had to be the way they were until they were directly confronted with t being asked what could be changed for the better, why it would be of benefit and who had the ability (including themselves) to actually bring the change about. His point was that often all that was needed was a spark or catalyst to get the process going
Gary
Making a difference with individuals and groups
Making that difference
We looked for this presentation at three of our projects that centre on people who have been in the past described as powerless, apathetic, and literally disenfranchised
(slide 3)
· Socially Isolated people,
· young skateboarders who see themselves as being always ‘picked on and misunderstood’ and
· street homeless people
What have they in common?
At first sight perhaps not a great deal
However, at our group meetings we realised that in fact there was a unifying link between these groups. Each felt that they had a problem or issue that no one else wither understood or cared about AND that basically all that they could do was to ‘put up’ with things as they were because no one else wanted to know.
Paul
From a series of listenings with people who identified themselves as being socially isolated, again we found that there was a common theme emerging One of being made to feel valueless, and in the words of one particular man ‘washed up’
A solution that came from a number of people who had identified as isolated was that they would like to have an opportunity to meet up with others in similar situations. Without going into the whole process of how this was brought about, a small group was formed which meant that a coffee morning group was formed by members who then invited others along to it
The group gave itself the name ‘Starfish’ on the basis of a poem that one of them had read, and this next slide became a motivation for us in a lot of other work we have since undertaken
The image of the starfish seemed to us to be a key to how to look at so called problem groups, to look beyond the mass of problems and focus on the individuals and their own aspirations
Gary
Another group formed that would have seemed difficult to see when we started was the St Helens Skateboarders
St Helens is an urban town long in decline, the centre of the town is mainly deserted apart from shops with little in the way of activity for younger people who don’t fit in to the more organised youth groups/
Gary one day decided to listen to a group of young people who he had seen being moved on from a rage open public space in the town centre
What we found from looking at the listenings was that this group of young people felt again that no one cared, no one understood and that all they were was a nuisance. Local shopkeepers and council officials basically wanted them not to be there, and this was leading to resentments, which in turn had the young people being labelled as ‘trouble makers’.
Through further listenings with what could be considered to be people on the other side of the issue, local church leaders, local shop keepers and shopping centre managers, we have been able to help start a dialogue that simply would not have happened.
The skateboarders group now meets in order to try to find suitable times for the young people to skate that is not disruptive of local business as well as working toward a longer term goal of trying to find suitable premises for a proper facility that the group can manage
The third example we wanted to share with you was a group that is still in its very early days and came about again as a result of listening to people who often feel themselves to be overlooked and in many ways don’t see themselves as being members of any particular group,
We were listening to a man who was sat in a shop doorway, who told us he was street homeless. When we asked the question about voting he told us categorically that he was not allowed to even though he would like to.
Listening to other people in a similar situation it became apparent that far from being apathetic, or uninterested, there was a problem of knowledge of how to go about actually registering to vote.
Through a discussion in a local shelter that caters for homeless people it was discovered that so long as people could provide a suitable address and register in time , that there was not actually any reason as to why people in this situation should not be entitled to a vote.
So as a result the St Helens Active Citizenship group was formed, made up of local street homeless people and some living in temporary accommodation, with the express view of letting others know that the vote was their right
This group has decided that it will continue to meet now beyond the registration date for this year’s general election so that as many people who need to are made aware of their rights in coming elections. The group meetings have proved at times lively but always seem to have left people with a sense of excitement that for the first time in a long time that their views and concerns might actually be listened to
Paul
To end our section of the presentation we wanted to share what we both feel to be a real encouragement that we have both gained from our involvement with the projects
The socially isolated group meetings have produced a sub group who are some of the wittiest best organised people either of us have ever met.
They went on from coffee mornings to form a stand-up comedy group that is now in its sixth month of active stand up in a local pub.
One of their reactions to hearing about the other groups we have been working with was to organise an evening where they invited people along to to have fun about how important it is for people to become involved with their local community despite the set backs
So to end rather than with the TED talk about how people are actively discouraged to engagement we would like to present the Starfish ‘get the vote out ‘evening
Ideas into action, overcoming apathy, some lessons from our projects
Our section of the presentation deals with what we have found to be one of the biggest potential blocks to practice as a community organiser, apathy.
There can be a danger in seeing door after door opened, or not opened by people who when being listened to, may well come up with a few things about where they live that they would like to see improved or changed, but that they themselves feel powerless to do anything about, or, that ‘they’ whoever they are should do ‘something’.
We wanted to show some results from three of our projects that have involved working with groups of individuals who we each have thought ‘this is going to go nowhere’ and that through learning some of the lessons brought up through the programme and our reflection on how to tackle issues in slightly different ways, have, we feel shown that it is possible to overcome apathy by tackling the barriers that people feel are preventing them from achieving the goals they actually want to set.
Gary
Some may remember this TED talk, video by Dave Maslin, which looked at whether apathy was real or a realistic response to almost deliberate blocks that are put in the way of individuals and communities to prevent change from taking place
“Intentional Exclusion” Maslin argued that far from being apathetic, people were in fact very interested in their circumstances but rarely had the chance to question whether things had to be the way they were until they were directly confronted with t being asked what could be changed for the better, why it would be of benefit and who had the ability (including themselves) to actually bring the change about. His point was that often all that was needed was a spark or catalyst to get the process going
Gary
Making a difference with individuals and groups
Making that difference
We looked for this presentation at three of our projects that centre on people who have been in the past described as powerless, apathetic, and literally disenfranchised
(slide 3)
· Socially Isolated people,
· young skateboarders who see themselves as being always ‘picked on and misunderstood’ and
· street homeless people
What have they in common?
At first sight perhaps not a great deal
However, at our group meetings we realised that in fact there was a unifying link between these groups. Each felt that they had a problem or issue that no one else wither understood or cared about AND that basically all that they could do was to ‘put up’ with things as they were because no one else wanted to know.
Paul
From a series of listenings with people who identified themselves as being socially isolated, again we found that there was a common theme emerging One of being made to feel valueless, and in the words of one particular man ‘washed up’
A solution that came from a number of people who had identified as isolated was that they would like to have an opportunity to meet up with others in similar situations. Without going into the whole process of how this was brought about, a small group was formed which meant that a coffee morning group was formed by members who then invited others along to it
The group gave itself the name ‘Starfish’ on the basis of a poem that one of them had read, and this next slide became a motivation for us in a lot of other work we have since undertaken
The image of the starfish seemed to us to be a key to how to look at so called problem groups, to look beyond the mass of problems and focus on the individuals and their own aspirations
Gary
Another group formed that would have seemed difficult to see when we started was the St Helens Skateboarders
St Helens is an urban town long in decline, the centre of the town is mainly deserted apart from shops with little in the way of activity for younger people who don’t fit in to the more organised youth groups/
Gary one day decided to listen to a group of young people who he had seen being moved on from a rage open public space in the town centre
What we found from looking at the listenings was that this group of young people felt again that no one cared, no one understood and that all they were was a nuisance. Local shopkeepers and council officials basically wanted them not to be there, and this was leading to resentments, which in turn had the young people being labelled as ‘trouble makers’.
Through further listenings with what could be considered to be people on the other side of the issue, local church leaders, local shop keepers and shopping centre managers, we have been able to help start a dialogue that simply would not have happened.
The skateboarders group now meets in order to try to find suitable times for the young people to skate that is not disruptive of local business as well as working toward a longer term goal of trying to find suitable premises for a proper facility that the group can manage
The third example we wanted to share with you was a group that is still in its very early days and came about again as a result of listening to people who often feel themselves to be overlooked and in many ways don’t see themselves as being members of any particular group,
We were listening to a man who was sat in a shop doorway, who told us he was street homeless. When we asked the question about voting he told us categorically that he was not allowed to even though he would like to.
Listening to other people in a similar situation it became apparent that far from being apathetic, or uninterested, there was a problem of knowledge of how to go about actually registering to vote.
Through a discussion in a local shelter that caters for homeless people it was discovered that so long as people could provide a suitable address and register in time , that there was not actually any reason as to why people in this situation should not be entitled to a vote.
So as a result the St Helens Active Citizenship group was formed, made up of local street homeless people and some living in temporary accommodation, with the express view of letting others know that the vote was their right
This group has decided that it will continue to meet now beyond the registration date for this year’s general election so that as many people who need to are made aware of their rights in coming elections. The group meetings have proved at times lively but always seem to have left people with a sense of excitement that for the first time in a long time that their views and concerns might actually be listened to
Paul
To end our section of the presentation we wanted to share what we both feel to be a real encouragement that we have both gained from our involvement with the projects
The socially isolated group meetings have produced a sub group who are some of the wittiest best organised people either of us have ever met.
They went on from coffee mornings to form a stand-up comedy group that is now in its sixth month of active stand up in a local pub.
One of their reactions to hearing about the other groups we have been working with was to organise an evening where they invited people along to to have fun about how important it is for people to become involved with their local community despite the set backs
So to end rather than with the TED talk about how people are actively discouraged to engagement we would like to present the Starfish ‘get the vote out ‘evening