The power of collaboration: community engagement done well
Our engagement team – Melissa Lacide and Ed Gritten – recently took a trip to Friary Park in West London to see an example of community engagement in action on a regeneration site. As an organisation, we’re always keen to learn and to share examples of good practice, and here Melissa and Ed share their thoughts on what they saw.
Collaboration is at the heart of our work at the Foundation. This stems from our belief that positive change is achievable through collective efforts and teamwork, as well as by building respect and trust. Solving problems holistically, means spreading out and knowing you can’t do it alone.
At a local level, the power of community comes about through different people coming together, having a chat, laughing, getting angry, sharing opinions, discussing local issues and making time for others. If given the space, you can’t stop it – humanity happens.
Creating community throughout a project
Whilst visiting a community project at Friary Park in Acton, West London this is precisely what we saw – a range of stakeholders working together to overcome local challenges, create innovative ideas in their context, and achieving positive impact in the process.
Our recent trip to Acton came about through wanting to know more about the exemplar projects initiated by Sustrans London – in this context with Peabody, Mount Anvil, local partners and residents.
We were invited to an event for the opening of a ‘meanwhile’ community hub – an example of how stakeholders can come together to create a sense of community before a development is complete. The area is undergoing significant regeneration over the next 20 years, including new housing, the provision of a new community hub, and opportunities to access sustainable transport options. We even managed to get one of our bikes fixed from Dr Bike – a free service offered by the development partnership encouraging people to stay active
Seeking positive health and wellbeing outcomes
Everyone we spoke to was passionate about quality of life and ensuring this regeneration delivers positive health and wellbeing outcomes for all residents. The partners are genuinely keen to understand people’s lived experience as part of the regeneration and more widely in the neighbourhood.
There is also much work being done to support the existing and new community via food bank services, youth engagement and a range of social connection activities, including a resident recipe book celebrating heritage stories through food which we thought was particularly cool. Residents from around the local area were invited to submit their favourite recipes so they could unite in the joy of food and share some unique cultural history and traditions. Alongside the recipe book was a photography portrait campaign celebrating local individuals, proudly showing off the diversity of the area, adding to the sense of home and place.
A demonstration of engagement done well
The community outreach and engagement approaches taken at Friary Park Road are great examples of how to do the following well:
- Take the time to build trust, sustain local partnerships, unearth hidden expertise and tap into networks
- Have an ongoing presence, be accessible and transparent, and continue conversations
- Be open, respectful and meaningful in your engagement with the local community
- Support the community through periods of unsettling change and in ways that are relevant to their needs
Strong communities are the foundations of a healthy home and we’re really looking forward to seeing what comes next for Friary Park Road as the community goes from strength to strength.
Meaningful engagement and having ongoing two way conversations with local people, unearths hidden assets and opens up doors, helping to ensure a high quality of life in local diverse communities.
Fostering social connections,enabling access to local networks and services, and supporting a sense of belonging for residents – are all vital elements of the Quality of Life Framework.