Part 24. An example of community engagement. A major undertaking

The Church of England parish church on the top of the hill has a large well-heeled congregation ministered to by a vicar and a curate. At the bottom of the hill is a council estate built in the 1960s. There are rows of terraced houses, blocks of flats and a shopping parade. At one end of the parade is a doctor's surgery, at the other a library. In-between one retail outlet is trading,  the others are empty. The church had no presence on the estate and very few residents made the trek up the steep hill to the  church.

The people living on the estate have a typical socio-economic profile. The church decided to take a lease on two of the retail units and turn them into a cafe, an activities area and a skills training workshop. The new church centre was managed and run by church volunteers.  Although the centre is busy it is noticeable that most of the clientele is not from the estate. 

After the initial enthusiasm interest started to wane.  Then a 'big hitter' joined the congregation. An independent charity was formed as a limited company to run the centre. Trustees were nominated by the church along with representives of the borough and county councils. The borough sold the retail units and the county the library to the charity for nominal sums.  In return the charity raised a large capital sum from major philanthropic trusts. A complicated  agreement was drawn up between the councils and charity.

The money was used to renovate the buildings, build an extension and repurpose the library with the use of movable shelving thus enabling the space to be used for church services,  childrens' parties and other events. Part of the building was developed as a secure area for nursery provision. A small meeting room enables residents to meet councillors  housing association managers and the like to discuss problems.

The new centre provides a range of services and activities for all age groups. The downside has been the reluctance of most of the people on the estate to become involved. This sadly is a feature of many secular and faith based community centres. The roots of the problem were  a failure to engage with the local community using appropriate methodology and  also failure to encourage real and not token community participation and ownership.