Community Relationships in Crisis

www.communityresolve.org.
uk
Community relationships in crisis - ?
Tensions in Bristol’s communities
Hen Wilkinson
Community Resolve
University of West of England
Contemporary UK urban realities:
• accelerating ethnic diversity

• mobile populations
• diaspora/global influences at a local level
New strategies needed to address:

• disparate cultural and faith references
• disintegrating intergenerational relationships
• shifting gender roles
• historical and current political/financial contexts
Bristol context
• Criminal groups/dealing activity as City among those with largest per
• reported by youth/community workers
• 1. Southmead capita GDP in the country
• 2. BS5/10 Manor Farm, Upper Horfield
• 3. BS2 – Lower Ashley Rd Large number of most deprived
• 4. BS16 – Thicket Avenue wards in the country
• 5. BS5 Easton
• 6. BS5 Lower Easton
• 7. BS1 - College Green, Central Library Among the least successful schools &
• 8. BS4 – Newquay Rd highest rates of teenage pregnancy
• 9. BS13 – Fulford Rd
• 10. Whitchurch Park / Hartcliffe Richest areas almost entirely white
•
• Linked schools named by those involved (likely to be others) Poorest areas highly mixed ethnically
• The Orchard
• Bristol Metropolitan Tensions
• City Academy In schools
• Fairfield High Schools
• Brunel Academy
On streets
• Cabot Primary Between different cultural groups eg
poorer white residents resisting new
arrivals
Bristol’s 2007 Indices of Deprivation

Demographic shifts
One of highest rates of change in the country:

- Average pop. growth of 5.3% (390,000 in 2001 to 410,500 in 2006)
- Growth of BME communities from 8.2% in 2001 (primarily African
Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani heritage) to 11.9% in 2006 (large
growth in Somali population)
‘Many of those working in schools and the Council more widely,

appear to lack the confidence, knowledge and skill to relate
effectively with many BME communities. Cultural awareness
and sensitivity – cultural competence - is widely recognised as
being insufficiently developed.’ ICoCo report 2009
One way forward?
Extract learning from overseas/N Irish experience of

rebuilding communities after ‘intra-state’ conflict
Adapt theory/practice for local arena, to:

establish/re-establish relationships
address structural inequalities
Community Resolve:
community conflict transformation
We carry out
• community research
• conflict interventions within
and between communities and young people
• support for residents and families in conflict
• conflict advice and coaching
• training and facilitation
We are committed to recruiting from local communities

as well as actively training young adults to work with us.
Our workers follow their passions and interest.
Ways of working
• Action research
• Cross-community development initiatives working towards
shared goals
• Dialogue groups
• Storytelling/narrative forums
• Collaborative youth programmes
• Education programmes
• Critical discussions about cultural diversity and respect
“So is it our prejudice, is it my fault, if you went up to chat to them
[Somali neighbours] they’d be fine, but we don’t, so is it our
prejudice?”
“I just don’t want people coming over here and getting benefit ...”
“They have to anyway, European government said we got to allow so
much so we got this Euro allowance, is it £700 million for Somalis?”
“Yes but they’re war torn aren’t they ... if you had a chance of dying
over there cos there’s a war, or coming to Britain you’d come over
here”
“Yes but they’ve brought their shit over here”
“1984 Band Aid, we’ve all given money to these same people… that’s
what we’re like. We’re nice guys... comedy aid, this aid and that
aid... you don’t get rich people putting their hands in their pocket.”
St George pub– 8 regulars in discussion

Connecting Communities
‘barriers to community cohesion in six Bristol wards’
March-May 2010 – we talked to 64 people in 17 groups:
- 90% white British residents
- 62% men
- 57% tenants
- 55% longstanding residents (20+ years/whole life in area)
- 50% aged 16-35
Groups held where different sections of the community gather –

pubs, cafes, libraries, youth clubs, hairdressers, school gates and
sports/recreation venues.
Short film clips and questions about -

community spirit, housing availability, family, jobs, benefits,
opportunities for young people & taking local action.
Barriers to cohesion
Us/them – and there’s lots of ‘them’s’…

• who they felt received favourable treatment.
• who are perceived as receiving support /not, who work
or don’t, pay taxes or don’t, get council houses or don’t
• Underlying the ‘us / them’ stories was a powerful sense
of ‘fairness / unfairness’
‘Being a middle-aged white single male I’m not high priority for
any council services’
Lack and loss …
of civility, security & community spirit
• How things had changed in their local area
• New arrivals scapegoated - increasing racial diversity
• Lack of neighbourliness, of not greeting each other, not socialising
• Lack of opportunities to come together (especially with the decline
in pubs), to take part in communal activities
• Men feeling as if they were objects of suspicion (CRB checks)
• Wistful stories of how they can no longer say hello to a neighbour’s
daughters, or joke with a small girl in the butchers.
‘More and more people speak to you less and less’

Shifting values –
the work ethic, consumption and consideration
• the lack of a work ethic (although seen in other ethnic
groups with some jealousy
• the destructiveness of easy credit, ‘everything now’ culture
• a lack of discipline and respect at home and in school -
parents seen by some as a root cause of the problem
• a world dominated by technology, high levels of
consumption and throwaway consumerism
• a decline in decent employment opportunities
• a lack of intergenerational activities.
‘None of the kids know how to cook anymore’

‘No-one knows how to sew, or like to put on a button’
Poverty traps …
physical, financial, emotional, aspirational
• Expensive and inadequate public transport – and huge impact on work,
social and family life
• Few opportunities for employment, competition with Polish workers
• financial climate driving down men’s wages and putting pressure on
working conditions
• being better off on benefits - including those receiving them
• being unable to compete in the labour market, being ‘left behind’
• being targeted by loan sharks
‘if [young people] do get a job then none of their friends have
got jobs and they’re isolated… so what they know is what they
stay with so people deliberately hold themselves back...’
Recommendations
Local government support and city-wide policy shifts
• Provide accessible, engaging and transparent information on key areas of
bad feeling – eg housing allocations, transport
• Demonstrate an awareness of the impact of little/no job security on the
‘working poor’ and unemployed, and provide support
• Encourage sociability through numerous community hubs / places to meet
• Develop thriving local economies - local trade/barter, local jobs etc
Building on local strengths and skills

• Draw on local knowledge so people feel valued & can contribute
• Re-learning of basic skills – budgets, sewing, cooking, ‘make do and mend’
• Remove barriers that stop men volunteering/operating in their community
Encourage sociability, civility and a sense of individual responsibility

• Counter the drift towards social isolation and community fragmentation
• Challenge specific rumours that are destructive of social fabric and
cohesion.
Outcomes from research
• 3pp summary expanding on recommendations
• Circulated to councillors / community development workers
• £7,500 per ward to improve cohesion for the benefit of local residents.
*Improving Neighbourhood Partnerships/Forums

* Addressing particular areas of tension - eg housing allocation, planning
*Support to community hubs or projects accessed by local residents
*Volunteering support to local residents
*Capacity building training for local residents
*Inter-generational projects
* Project work with a particular group ie Dads or young people
*Local street parties/fun days
*Community support in schools
*Cross cultural events
*Discussion groups
*Skill Sharing
Creating community resilience
• Social challenges – social cohesion, levels of social
capital
• Psychological challenges – negative stereotypes and
prejudices, unsettled grievances
• Structural challenges - ongoing disparity in social,
economic and political power, structural and cultural
violence
Conclusion
• Challenge of social cohesion in UK’s diverse inner city

areas – multiple realities vying for place
• Building a shared language/approach to conflict
across city useful platform for cohesion/dialogue
• Actively recruiting and training from local
communities provides leadership and models
cohesive working
• Organisation has amassed large numbers of
supporters from all walks of life - demonstrates
potential for mobilisation as well as broad appeal
www.communityresolve.org.uk

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www.communityresolve.org.

• accelerating ethnic diversity

New strategies needed to address:

Bristol’s 2007 Indices of Deprivation

One of highest rates of change in the country:

‘Many of those working in schools and the Council more widely,

Extract learning from overseas/N Irish experience of

Adapt theory/practice for local arena, to:

We are committed to recruiting from local communities

St George pub– 8 regulars in discussion

Groups held where different sections of the community gather –

Short film clips and questions about -

Us/them – and there’s lots of ‘them’s’…

‘More and more people speak to you less and less’

‘None of the kids know how to cook anymore’

Building on local strengths and skills

Encourage sociability, civility and a sense of individual responsibility

*Improving Neighbourhood Partnerships/Forums

• Challenge of social cohesion in UK’s diverse inner city

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