On May 2nd a wonderful gaggle of folks with a strong local connection to Twerton and Whiteway came together to share stories and ideas about community activity in the local area.
The workshop was led by ‘social explorer’ Cormac Russell and together we got fired up about the strengths in our local community and the idea of power being held and nurtured within neighbourhoods.
Who was there? 36 people who live and/or work all across Twerton and Whiteway, including individuals from Time Bank Plus, Bath City Farm, Southside, Youth Connect SW, Creative Twerton, First Steps, Roundhill Pantry and other organisations. We talked about Twerton and Whiteway being a brilliant focus for collective action as there is already so much community activity. For example, the colourful Halloween and Christmas displays across Whiteway show the generosity and playfulness of the estate – drawing together people for shared joy and celebration, with no agenda or financial gain involved.
We began by sharing stories of times we saw neighbours joining together to make things better locally. We then explored what made those happen and what is needed for more to develop in future. This could be an after school club, community gardening project, a litter pick, a community newsletter or summer fayre. These shared gifts and resources are ‘assets’ making people powerful together and realising that they have things to offer one another.
It felt refreshing to reflect on challenging the narrative of someone external (however well meaning) coming in to ‘fix’ problems in a community, for example agencies taking control of local decisions and telling people how to be healthy and raise their children. This approach makes members of the community passive consumers instead of active and skilled participants. People need to feel needed, not needy. Instead of asking ‘What help do you need?’, the questions we ask one another could be more like:
• ‘What do you care about enough to act on?’
• ‘What do you do that you love?’
• ‘What local resources can you tap into?’
• ‘Who else can you invite in locally?’
• ‘What next?’
Cormac shared statistics about people’s risk of dying dropping by 50% in the year after they join a local group or association, emphasising how crucial it is to our health to feel part of our communities and be connected to others. Things might get in the way of this, such as lack of self-esteem, lack of trust, poor health, finances and general uncertainty, but bringing people together in a very local and/or informal way can make these barriers easier to overcome. Reinforcing again that the neighbourhood is a unit for change.
Some of the main thoughts that emerged were:
– Listening to understand each person’s gifts. What can people bring to the mix? Shift the narrative from people being passive and having needs to being engaged and having things to offer.
– Capture people’s stories. These are where the magic lies. Many people have lived in Twerton and Whiteway all their lives and are part of the fabric of the places – let’s celebrate their tales and what they have to offer.
– Who are our connectors in Twerton and Whiteway, doing the hidden work of weaving our neighbourhoods together? How can we thank them, support them and make their work visible?
– We don’t know what we need until we know what we have – take stock of what associations we have locally and what is already great in our community. Where do we feel safe and empowered?
– Consider when most appropriate to do things TO, FOR, WITH and BY communities. The latter being the most empowered! >>>>>>>>> 
So, what next? The workshop is part of the Twerton and Whiteway Community Research Network’s learning and development phase, funded by UKRI. It was just the start of many more conversations about how, where, when and why people unite. We finished with great energy by sharing some ideas for next steps that could be taken:
– A ‘walk the neighbourhood’ exercise to get a sense of who is using our local spaces, and shared community resources, such as green spaces for growing food, or play activities.
– A celebratory party with childcare, food etc. for and with local connectors. Celebrations are a much more powerful means to bring people together than meetings! Widening the principle of people bringing someone else in/along with them – encouraging this as a basis for all community gatherings and services where appropriate (come, but bring someone else who you think might enjoy it)
– Growing (fruit trees) and as part of this share skills and share what is grown. Use and enjoy our green spaces as part of this – we have the tools, we can ‘reclaim the commons’ and bring different generations and peoples together
– Collect stories of what has been joyful/mischievous/consequential in our neighbourhoods, perhaps via a memory cafe or a letterbox in community spaces like Rose Cottage
We spread the word about the workshop via word of mouth, posters in community hubs, email, Facebook/Instagram and our website. If you didn’t hear about it but would have liked to be there then please get in touch and we’ll make sure you know about future gatherings.
In the here and now, there are already plans afoot for a community ‘organising’ session in the coming months, primarily to bring together local residents. This will hopefully open new windows and ideas, as well as furthering the thoughts that have already emerged – watch this space!
And in the meantime, please send us your thoughts and suggestions – this Network is yours to shape and we need you.
Get in touch:
Email: hello@twertonandwhiteway.org
Phone: 07398 589680
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