Pride in Place

The Government’s Pride in Place programme will see up to £5 billion given to nearly 250 areas across the UK. Each area will receive up to £20 million of funding and capacity building support over the next 10 years, to make long-term improvements that residents want. The money is being managed through new structures called Pride in Place ‘Neighbourhood Boards’ which will become incorporated organisations over time.

This national programme is intended to be a break away from traditional top-down approaches to neighbourhood regeneration where council officers and elected councillors make decisions and plans and then ‘consult’ residents about what will happen. Often people feel this leads to decisions having already been made and tokenistic consultation that doesn’t give residents any real power in deciding how resources are used and what the priorities are.

Manchester has five Pride in Place areas, which have been identified by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government. (They are based on “Middle Super Output Areas” (MSOA), an administrative unit for statistical purposes which unfortunately often doesn’t reflect a locally recognised neighbourhood area). Here we link to maps of the Manchester areas, which are:

• Benchill South and Wythenshawe Central 
• Clayton Vale
• Harpurhey South and Monsall
• Gorton South
• Moss Side West

Note that some Pride in Place boards are deciding to change their area boundaries, but these were the original MSOA areas at the start of the programme.

Manchester Pride in Place Network

Recently, community and faith groups from across these areas have created an informal ‘Manchester Pride in Place Network’ to enable them to share ideas and learning and reflect collectively on how the programme is unfolding. If you would like to be part of this network, please sign up here.

WCN Pride in Place Consultation

Community Savers leaders in Wythenshawe through Wythenshawe Central Network were recently commissioned by Manchester City Council to carry out a consultation with a broad and diverse network of faith and community organisations about how they would like to see Pride in Place organised; their hopes and fears for the programme; and top local priorities for capital and revenue investments in the Benchill South and Wythenshawe Central area.

You can download some highlights from our approach and report here.

Participatory tools

We created a range of participatory tools and activities to enable diverse groups to participate. These included:

• A set of Pride in Place playing cards that small groups could use as a discussion aid to think about all the different kinds of facilities that neighbourhoods might need or that might be missing or need investment
• Giant maps of the area with all the local faith and community buildings and facilities marked on them enabling participants to write, draw and stick notes onto different parts of the map during participatory workshops with diverse local groups across a range of community locations
• A photo-mapping neighbourhood walkabout from the Northernmost down to the Southernmost point of the Pride in Place area. Residents took photos of the features they love or are concerned about in the area, including bus stops, different kinds of homes, run down community buildings and local green spaces. Then we displayed all the images on a slide show at St Andrews Methodist church and had a big group discussion about what we could learn from them
• A resident-designed survey completed one-to-one by WCN committee members with local residents across a variety of key community settings

Key findings

Below we share some of Wythenshawe Central Network’s key findings:

Priorities for the process

• Local residents should take up the majority (80%) of seats on the Neighbourhood Board and it should reflect a diverse range of groups including young people and people with disabilities
• There should be regular public meetings for information-sharing, consultation & transparency
• The Neighbourhood Board should listen to and properly consult local residents to ensure the funding is well-invested and reflects what is needed by the community

Priorities for community buildings

• Community buildings & walkways to be fully accessible for a full diversity of disabled adults, young people & children
• Buildings, activities and spaces that are open during the evening & at weekends allowing local residents to be together and socialise without cost
• Protected & indoor play spaces for children amidst high levels of antisocial behaviour in open spaces

Priorities for investment

• Investment and renovation in community-run buildings such as St John’s Social Club & Brownley Green Methodist Church
• More youth clubs & activities for young people of all ages without costs associated
• A wide range of affordable cafes, restaurants & shops within the Benchill area
• Better transport links, more benches, bins & public toilets

If you are a local resident based in Wythenshawe and would like to become involved in the work of WCN, please contact wythenshawecentral@gmail.com. 

Follow the Community Savers Facebook page for further updates!