Community Relationships in Crisis
Community Relationships in Crisis
Community Relationships in Crisis
uk
Community relationships in crisis - ?
Tensions in Bristol’s communities
Hen Wilkinson
Community Resolve
University of West of England
Contemporary UK urban realities:
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
• 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.”
‘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.
‘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