Download Report

In 2001 a deprived South London estate won £56 million
to improve the lives and life chances of residents in the
area. This is the story of how residents who had lost trust
in outsiders helping them were able to cooperate, respect
and trust each other, to improve Clapham Park and empower
the community to get involved in generating change.
Clapham Park Project
Ten Years of Change
“I am delighted that Clapham Park has achieved so much
over the past ten years thanks to the implementation of the
New Deal for Communities programme that the Labour
Government introduced.
But the real achievement is that of the community itself in
providing real beneﬁts for its citizens. Indeed the community,
acting for the community and by the community.
So I am proud to have played a small part in achieving the
community successes. It proves beyond doubt that given
the powers and resources, a community like this can achieve
so much.”
John Prescott, Former Deputy Prime Minister
Contents
Where is Clapham Park and why did it need help
2
The Ofﬁcial Handover
5
Year One
8
Year Two
12
Year Three
16
Year Four
19
Year Five
30
Year Six
36
Year Seven
43
Year Eight
47
Year Nine
49
Conclusion
53
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
1
WHERE IS CLAPHAM PARK AND WHY
DID IT NEED HELP?
Clapham Park is a distinct community in South West London; it was
the largest single local authority estate in the borough of Lambeth.
However, for many people it was a
neighbourhood deﬁned by the surrounding
environment and the boundaries it exerted,
rather than the character of the community.
It had a long history of physical and
administrative fragmentation, divided by major
roads, ward boundaries, police sectors and
health groups. There was a clear separation
of residents and even the different types of
council housing created noticeable division.
The NDC area was home to an estimated
population of 7,300 local residents in 3,400
households. It was also home to over 80
local businesses, located mainly in three
areas – New Park Road/Brixton Hill Triangle,
Streatham Place, and Poynders Parade.
The area was dominated by major roads and
trafﬁc dissecting the major housing area, the
Clapham Park Estate, into four segments.
Vauxhall
Stockwell
With its location in between the increasingly
afﬂuent centres of Balham, Streatham,
Clapham and Brixton, Clapham Park was
an area that had great potential, which was
evident from the rise in prices of houses on
the outskirts, which had closer proximity
to public transport interchanges and were
situated in friendlier environments.
Clapham
Brixton
CLAPHAM
PARK
Streatham
Hill
West
Norwood
Streatham
Streatham
Vale
Above: Area map of Lambeth.
Left: Clapham Park New Deal for Communities
(NDC) area map.
2
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
The area was not a destination in its own
right as few people actually made a journey
to Clapham Park, except those who lived and
worked there; for those who passed through,
there was nothing to indicate that they were
in a distinct neighbourhood.
Despite this prime location, it remained
isolated from opportunity and was viewed as
a place where few went to stay and build a
future – a place of transition and desperation.
Above: Burnt out car outside dilapidated garages at the rear of
Muller Road.
There was a severe problem with prostitution,
which came hand in hand with Class A drug
problems, and there were circa 40 crack
houses functioning in the estate.
The multitude of social and physical issues had
led to the breakdown of social interaction and
networking in the area. People had become
more guarded and less welcoming and friendly;
many simply opted to just stay indoors.
In terms of spacious living, there was a severe
lack of it; the entire area was more than 500
metres from any major open space. The only
open space in the area, Agnes Riley Gardens,
lay at the extreme western edge.
Long-term tenants who had reluctantly
remained living in the area had seen the
estate decline over the previous 20 years;
the community in general had seen a rise in
both crime and fear of crime. The health of
the community’s inhabitants was suffering,
as well as the more visible signs of poverty,
such as the appalling, crumbling state of the
physical environment.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
3
THE OFFICIAL HANDOVER
April 2001 was a landmark date for all those who had been involved in
the Clapham Park Project for the previous two years.
The ever-growing more determined
community were ofﬁcially given their grant
status by the Labour Government and were
awarded £56 million to spend over the
following 10 years to make the ever important
improvements to their area.
Kings Avenue, which runs through
the middle of the estate, separated
the area into two distinct building
types. The West of the avenue
was much newer in age, designed
and constructed in the 1950s with
open spaces but the standards of
construction had led to major problems
of maintenance and most properties
lacked central heating.
The East of Kings Avenue was
predominantly made up of 1920s
housing blocks, in a style typical of
London housing estates of that period.
Although there was great potential,
many of the residents associated it
with crime, which was the result of
poor design, inadequate lighting, and
an overall combination of shoddy
maintenance and management.
Physical and administrative divisions had
escalated the deterioration of the community,
and for too long no-one was willing to take
responsibility and no-one was willing to
listen and hear the residents out, ultimately
resulting in the neighbourhood falling behind
and being overlooked.
The programme placed an emphasis on
being led by the local community, the
merging of services and the focus on both
the immediate and long-term needs of the
neighbourhood, which was exactly what the
local people aspired to work on in their vision
and redevelopment of the area.
Although the selection of the area for NDC
funding was a great achievement for the
residents who had fought to make a change
in their community, it wasn’t an altogether
surprising choice. Clapham Park represented
everything that the NDC programme had
been designed to address.
4
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
It was an amazing feat and the team was
buzzing with ideas and enthusing with ways
that they wanted the area to drastically change
for the greater good of the community.
However, it wasn’t going to be easy as these
people that had come from all walks of life had
no blueprint for how they were going to split
up their funding or how to determine the most
deserved issues to tackle ﬁrst.
Although they struggled to begin with, the
Clapham Park Project (CPP) team jumped
right into setting out their priorities for Year
One of the NDC programme and putting
them into action.
Residents receive a cheque for £56 million to spend on improvements in the community over the next 10 years.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
5
The CPP team’s lack of experience
as a group was over-shadowed by
their passion for change because
before they were awarded the grant
status they had already made some
signiﬁcant changes as part of the
Phase 2 Quick Win Programme.
This saw them making some initial
improvements to the area, the effects
of which were still being newly felt and
appreciated in the ﬁrst year, including:
• Refurbishment of the Clapham Park
ofﬁce on the estate, which gave the
growing team a headquarters that
they could plan and work from
• Equipment for board members to
enable them to serve the community
as best as they could
At the start of Year One the CPP team took
time to appoint different group ofﬁcers and
Chairs for each of the six theme groups that
had been set up in the vision. The teams
were made up from a combination of local
residents, statutory partners and delivery
agents who were actively involved in the
project in the initial stages. These project
teams were in control of pinpointing and
putting into practice the much-needed
changes that each theme area required.
At the end of each NDC year (running from
April – March) the Board were required to
produce a yearly review of the projects and
work they had undertaken in each year.
These reports outlined exactly what action
or planning was taken during the NDC
programme for Clapham Park.
• A popular children’s ball area
• IT equipment for a local youth club
• Improved lighting to vulnerable areas
of the estate
• Fun days and lunches for residents.
6
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
7
YEAR ONE
The ﬁrst year of the project got off to a considerably slow start as the
Board, staff and volunteers eased into their roles.
The ball started rolling with research
preparation and feasibility studies to assist
them in identifying the key problems in the
community that the funding needed to target.
However, there was also some major
chipping away at the crumbling foundation
of Clapham Park’s future. Local residents,
the Council housing ofﬁce and the police
all worked together to successfully rid the
estate of a signiﬁcant number of crack
houses, which had not only caused drugrelated problems on the estate but had led to
other social detriments, such as prostitution,
burglary and violent crime. The stamping
down on the crack houses was something
that CPP had resolved to keep on top of in
the following years.
The Community Chest Project was appraised
and approved with the ﬁrst round of grants
helping various important projects and
endeavours. The Community Chest was
a fund which anyone in the community
(individuals, local groups etc.) could apply to,
for their project that beneﬁtted the community
in some way. The individual grants ranged
from a few hundred to the low thousands of
pounds, so each grant would be critical in
aiding the project in whatever regeneration
theme they were working on at different times.
In terms of community engagement and
participation, The Community Forum, Older
Peoples Forum and Youth Forum were all
successfully established and ran without any
hitches throughout the ﬁrst year.
The community newsletter, Park Life, had
started to be produced on a regular basis
providing the community with information
and reaching out for more residents to get
involved with CPP. The magazine had been
established during the lead up to the proposal
for grant status and its growing success was
a testament to the growing participation of
residents in the Clapham Park area.
8
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
As the NDC area is set across several
districts in South London, there had
always been a problem with policing
and designating which ward had
jurisdiction and where. Therefore
changes were made within Year One
so the NDC area was covered by one
community policing team, rather than
being separated into multiple units.
Clapham
Common
Ward
Brixton
Hill
Ward
CLAPHAM
PARK
Thornton
Ward
Streatham
Hill Ward
Map showing wards linked to the Clapham Park area.
“When you look at the Clapham Park area
it’s quite strange where the NDC line is
shown. If you look at a lot of other NDC
areas around the country, a lot of them
are linked with ward boundaries but we’re
not; it’s really quite horrible to work with
as an ofﬁcer because you’re constantly
having to work with a multitude of people
doing exactly the same thing.
“When I ﬁrst came here my work was
primarily around policing so I was working
with three wards, so three police teams,
and three sets of council ofﬁcers for
everything.
“For example if you were working with
the Thornton Ward, one end backs on
to Wandsworth, another end backs onto
Clapham. Then you’ve got a very tiny bit
of Streatham Hill Ward that includes the
Knights Youth Centre, and there’s been
quite a bit of antisocial behaviour and
prostitution around there.
“So even though it’s quite a small area
that contains small numbers, there are
still problems, but because it’s only a tiny
bit of Streatham Hill people don’t tend to
work with the people that provide services
there because they forget what ward it’s
in. So you can get housing ofﬁcers who
will carry on trying to talk to Thornton
Ward police but it’s actually Streatham Hill
police they should be contacting but they
can’t distinguish the ward line.”
Ching Wah Wong, CPP Programme Manager
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
9
Right from year one real signiﬁcant progress was made in regards to
cultivating a learned community with future job aspirations and aspects.
An operational working group focussing on
employment was set up – ‘Jobs, Enterprise
and Training’, which merged with the
Business Group because of the extent of
common interest in the area. The enlarged
group had a diverse membership of residents,
local business people and employers and
service providers; good working relationships
were built up with Lambeth Council Education
Department and the local schools.
The Take Up Campaign (promotional
campaigns run on a regular basis targeting
different beneﬁt claimant issues as they
arise), the Welfare Beneﬁts Advice Service
(enhanced services for accessing beneﬁts
and increasing wealth through data on
incomes, and by increasing people’s
awareness) and the One Service Plus
Employment Advice Shop (advice service
covering all beneﬁts entitlement with linked
vocational advice) had all begun to operate in
aiding residents to take control of their beneﬁt
issues, and merged to create one project.
A strong working group was
established to help develop and
deliver the health programme including
representation from all the key health
agencies, the Local Authority, Lambeth
College and local residents.
‘We are keen to develop the mechanisms
to involve local people in the process of
delivering a healthy community, and to be
able to evaluate our work in this area. The
health programme aims to ensure that
all elements of the New Deal will improve
the health and well being of local people.
It also includes proposals to improve
access to services which promote health,
including primary care. This will include
investment in health premises for local
residents, and exploration of possibilities
for one-stop shops to bring together
services which support healthy living and
provide care.’
Health and Well Being Assessment
10
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
An intensive community involvement programme was developed as part of the
master planning process, in which the best ways to improve the local housing
and environment were examined and determined. CPP wanted the people whose
homes and environment were being affected to have the maximum opportunity
to direct and inﬂuence, but also to understand, the outcomes.
‘As an integral part of the master planning
process, detailed audits will be progressed
to support our understanding of the
physical environment and its impacts on
health, employment and crime.
Further work will progress on options
for the residential stock including
landscape assessment and a detailed
play analysis. The process will give us
a clear strategic vision for the area, to
develop local facilities and infrastructure
in an integrated way. We will determine
the community infrastructure needed to
ensure the sustainability of the area and
ensure that the physical environment is
safer by design.
Included in the master plan will be
consideration of our proposals that each
local area will have a community facility
with play, crèche and other facilities. These
will connect to a central place, within which
many of the neighbourhood programmes
could come together to create a vibrant
urban hub. This will provide areas where
people can interact, engendering a strong
and involved community.’
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
11
YEAR TWO
The focus of Year Two was to establish the Clapham Park Project
staff team and support the Project’s Master Plan for physical
redevelopment.
CPP undertook a call for projects from local
partners and community organisations this
year and spent time working with a range
of these to develop initiatives to support its
programme. Good progress was made with
the introduction of a Community Development
Team, including a Community Development
Manager and Ofﬁcer, Capacity Building Ofﬁcer,
and Marketing and PR Ofﬁcer.
Provision of
effective means of
communication,
internally with the
local residents
and externally with
the media, made
good progress; and
as a result CPP
had articles in the
national, local and
trade press. The
CPP website was also further developed, as
well as a regular series of the good quality
newsletter, ‘Park Life’, which had been
designed with the assistance of local people,
informing the residents and local businesses
everything related to the Clapham Park area.
12
The organisation also brought forward a
project in its delivery plan for developing
community facilities and purchased a
large ofﬁce space in the NDC area. This
provided much-needed new ofﬁces
for itself and community facilities for
emerging community organisations.
The Creative Neighbourhood Project began
in June 2002, and provided custom-made
training leading to National Vocational
Qualiﬁcations and employment opportunities
– its aim was to provide tailored training and
development opportunities to aid residents in
working and progressing up the employment
ladder, as well as providing training for
residents who were either not eligible for
training/support through other routes or
needed focussed help to access such
training.
Communty safety in the area was
particularly concentrated on this year
and The Neighbourhood Wardens
scheme was formally launched by MP
Keith Hill in March 2003 with wardens
patrolling the Clapham Park area.
It was the ﬁrst of three pilot warden
schemes in Lambeth.
CPP also established a business forum to
consult with local businesses.
A study into teenage pregnancies took place
this year and CPP felt it was important to
develop links with the London Borough of
Lambeth’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategy,
in order to educate and support teenagers
in the area to understand the problems of
under-aged and/or unprepared pregnancies.
1-4 Brixton Hill Place. The building was re-designed for
multi-purpose community use and provided new ofﬁce space
for the growing Clapham Park Project staff team.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
The Health Impact Assessment Report and
The Health and Social Care Audit were both
completed providing valuable information
about local health standards in the NDC area.
The South London & Maudsley Mental Health
Trust held a half day seminar in December
2002 for board members and residents where
information was shared and gathered about
issues surrounding mental health.
Keith Hill MP and Oliver Higgins, Chair, Clapham Park Project
launch the much needed Clapham Park Neighbourhood Wardens
scheme in March 2003. The Wardens became the ‘eyes and ears’
of the community.
A successful Youth Inclusion Programme
project was also funded, providing support
and a range of activities to a core group
of vulnerable young people, as well as
developing a range of projects targeted at
young people in order to reduce crime.
A Drug Education Programme lasting 10
weeks was delivered in the Summer of 2002
with the attendees having taken part in a
reunion meeting since.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
13
The retail areas where crime had
become a major issue of concern were
improved in terms of surveillance with
three CCTV and one mobile camera
being installed in the problem spots of
New Park Road and Streatham Place,
as well as panic alarms continuing
to be readily provided to vulnerable
residents in the Clapham Park area.
CPP also began work on the implementation
of Community Conferencing (using trained
local people to mediate in cases of
neighbourhood nuisance and anti- social
behaviour) by appointing a Community
Mediation Coordinator. The Coordinator put
together a programme of training involving
residents; a Steering Group was also set up
with residents’ input.
It had always been clear that a large part of
the grant would go towards redeveloping the
housing for residents in the area so steps
were taken in year two to begin the process.
A detailed Audit and Analysis was completed
which concentrated on land management and
ownership, movement and route networks,
townscape, existing land use, safety,
community structure and facilities, housing,
education, health and social care, retail and
leisure, business and training, energy provision,
landscape and services and geotechnics.
From the detailed Audit and Analysis,
ﬁve approaches were developed and
considered for residential stock i.e.
how much refurbishment would be
done to the housing blocks. These
ranged from doing the minimum i.e.
meeting the ‘decent homes standards’
only, to ‘complete rebuild.’ These
approaches were condensed via
consultation with all key stakeholders
to three options on which draft Master
Plans were developed.
The ﬁndings were used to support CPP’s
understanding of the physical environment
and its impacts on health, employment and
crime in the Clapham Park area.
CCTV camera providing surveillance for Streatham Place.
Consulting with residents, which helped produce a draft Master Plan giving three housing options to choose from.
14
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
15
YEAR THREE
The third year of funding was a period of consolidation and growth for
the Clapham Park Project.
Overall Achievements in 2003/04
• Street Law
• Trainee Scheme
• Citizens Advice Bureau
• Business Advice & Planning
• Community Health Outreach Worker
• Mental Well Being
• Lifestyle Opportunities for
Older People
Older people were included through the Lifestyle Opportunities for
Older People project within the Health & Social Care Theme Group.
• Healthy Living Programme
• Urban Landscaping Improvements
re play area at Lucraft House
• Personal Safety
• Redevelopment re Solar PV roof at
Langholm Close
• Safer Homes
• Future Schools
• Partnership Support – Phase II
16
Lucraft House play area before (inset) and after improvements.
Now there is a ball games area and a safe play area for
younger children.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Community engagement, the process
of encouraging residents to participate
in CPP, had come a long way since the
previous year. A number of key events
took place in year three, including the
consultation on the Master Plan, which
was carried out over a number of
months in a series of locations.
CPP’s relationship with its accountable body
(Lambeth Council) was now established
and well deﬁned with an Accountable Body
Agreement in place. The local authority
identiﬁed a lead ofﬁcer to support the
process, who worked with a number of
ofﬁcers in the regeneration scheme to
provide the Project with organisational as
well as ﬁnancial support. This also ensured
that the Accountable Body’s interests were
constantly safeguarded.
The community had the opportunity to
become involved in project development
and the appraisal processes by participating
in Theme Groups, which were promoted
widely around the NDC area, via newsletters,
notice boards and occasionally through
outreach workers. At this stage in the process
there were generally a regular number of
residents that consistently attended these
group meetings.
• Men’s Health
• Integrated Drugs Project
The organisation was progressing well and
had made signiﬁcant advances over the past
year. CPP had recruited an experienced and
professional staff team where self-motivation
was an essential characteristic. This was
demonstrated by the strong commitment staff
had to the Project’s work activities, with staff
often working outside of regular ofﬁce hours.
CPP also put a Diversity Policy and Strategy
in place, which addressed issues of
discrimination. They were aware that not
all sections of the community were being
engaged, and were looking at different ways
of overcoming cultural and language barriers
in order to reach those that they had not
previously worked with e.g. refugees and
asylum seekers in the Clapham Park area.
Master Plan consultation at the Great Smiles Festival 2003 in
Agnes Riley Gardens.
Master Plan consultation event at 45 Streatham Place.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
17
In order to improve the working and
effectiveness of the Board during this time, it
became clear that some development work
was required, especially as half the Board
consisted of local residents, many of whom
had never had any experience with working in
an organisation like CPP.
Therefore, detailed personal development
interviews with all its resident Board Members
and Theme Group Chairs were undertaken
this year with several Board Development
training courses running as a result.
In November 2003, an intra-Board complaints
policy was introduced to ensure that Board
Members could have their issues and
complaints resolved efﬁciently, and as part
of CPP’s commitment to developing core
training modules for all Board Members,
a number of corporate training courses
were undertaken.
The use of computers and the ICT
infrastructure of the area was a great
concern for CPP, as the beneﬁts it could
have on education and employment were
obvious. They continued to work with a full
range of stakeholder partners in rolling out
ICT services to local residents, recognising
that Clapham Park residents had one of the
highest computer ownership levels of any
NDC area.
The Board was supported by a Finance and
Personnel sub-committee and six Theme
Groups whose Terms of Reference and
delegated powers were formally agreed.
The structure of the theme areas allowed
for effective work with a full range of partner
organisations. It was the success of these
partnerships that formulated the development
of ideas and projects that responded to
Clapham Park’s needs.
CPP continued to ensure that the community
was at the heart of the regeneration
process. They recognised that the
regeneration of the NDC area started from
a proper understanding of the needs of the
community. The community needed to be
consulted and listened to, they recognised
that the most effective interventions are
often those where the community is actively
involved in the design and delivery.
The views of residents therefore shaped
everything from the structure of the
organisation to the various programmes they
designed or contracted into the area to bring
about change and improvement to the lives of
local people.
YEAR FOUR
During 2004-05, CPP went from strength to strength. The development
and adoption of the Master Plan proposals and delivering a successful
Stock Transfer vote were the key priorities of the organisation.
Overall Achievements in 2004/05
• Integrated Drug Reduction
Programme
• Multicultural Festival
• Refuse and Recycling
• Bikes Project
• Volunteering Scheme
• Environmental Impact Assessment
• Community Radio
• Establishing Clapham Park
Homes (CPH)
• Men’s Health
• Flora Fit Street
• Community Support Project
• Community Engagement Phase II
• Improved Communications Phase II
• Show Flat for Clapham Park West
and Show Block for Clapham Park
East
• Delivering the Planning Process
• Raising Achievement for Pupils –
HatTrick (Sport & Education)
• Stock Transfer Campaign
• Evaluation Project
• Young Arts
• Extension of Thresholds Reappraisal
• Junior Youth Inclusion Programme
The organisational structure of the CPP
Board was assessed in year three resulting
in a membership of 19 (10 residents and 9
partners) including a resident Chair, to direct
the organisation’s work and to determine
strategic direction and policies. Management,
i.e. the implementation of Board policies, was
delegated to CPP’s paid staff.
Oliver Higgins, Chair, CPP, Pat Roberts, Chair, Health & Social Care
Theme Group and Gavin Neath, Unilever UK Chairman at Flora Fit
Street launch.
18
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
19
The organisation was aware that they needed
to get more residents involved in their work,
as the people living in the area were the ones
that would know what the main priorities for
the local community were which was, after
all, the concept of the NDC grant. Therefore
they extended the opportunity for residents
to become involved in project development
and appraisal processes and to participate
in the Theme Groups that were set out in the
Master Plan.
The most important project the
organisation focussed on in Year 4 was
working on the Master Plan design
proposal for the physical regeneration
of Clapham Park and preparing for the
Stock Transfer vote.
They acknowledged that there was generally
a small number of residents that consistently
attended these groups so to increase
attendance all meetings were promoted
widely around the NDC area, via leaﬂets,
newsletters, notice boards and through
outreach workers.
Extensive work also commenced on reaching
out to the elderly, with a comprehensive
programme of outreach work initiated by
the Health and Social Care Theme Group to
ensure that the elderly community were aware
of the activities of the Clapham Park Project,
and encouraged elderly people to be involved
in local activities that would promote a healthy
lifestyle.
CPP worked with residents and partners
to complete the Master Plan and with key
stakeholders to bring the Stock Transfer to
residents. In March 2005 residents voted
to transfer the ownership and management
of their homes from Lambeth Council to
Clapham Park Homes, a new community led
housing association.
Clapham Park Homes also produced
a show ﬂat on the estate, which played
a vital part in the Stock Transfer vote
by demonstrating the space and layout
standards that could be achieved
as part of the new build programme.
Residents were able to physically
see and understand how they could
personalise their own ﬂats and the
beneﬁts of the upheaval process
that would inevitably come with
the changes.
A mobile unit was used to encourage residents to vote in the
Stock Transfer ballot. Leaﬂeting, door knocking and adverts
placed in local bus shelters, community advertising boards and
Park Life were also used.
The aim of The Stock Transfer was to assist
CPP in making major improvements to the
homes in Clapham Park and the general area
to lessen the gap between private homes
outside the area and those on the Clapham
Park Estate.
Projects addressing education, in particular
the Saturday School and Home Tutoring,
proved to be extremely popular. 143
children received at least one term of home
tutoring and 83 children attended Saturday
School for at least one term with an initial
evaluation showing that the projects had an
impact on pupils in primary schools. Home
Tutoring was heavily oversubscribed with a
large percentage of the beneﬁciaries being
secondary school pupils.
During the year improvements to Glenbrook
School were completed; the Head Teacher
commented on the beneﬁcial effect the new
building work had on the behaviour of the
children. The reception area was much more
welcoming, and a new ICT suite, library area
and parents’ room were also added, offering
potential for further extended school activities.
Above: A show ﬂat was built in Headlam Road.
In the lead-up to the vote the residents
were consulted, including block by block
consultations where residents were invited to
speciﬁc events tailored to discuss how their
part of Clapham Park would be affected by
the Master Plan.
Above: The bathroom inside the show ﬂat gave residents an idea
of the standard they could expect in their new homes.
20
The Neighbourhood Wardens continued to
provide a reassuring physical presence. They
played a particularly vital role in the Stock
Transfer Campaign, ensuring that ﬂy posting
was controlled, and providing support to
the Health and Social Care team with their
targeted work with elderly and vulnerable
residents.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Above: Improvements to Glenbrook School included a new
entrance.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
21
ICT equipment was provided for Glenbrook,
Maytree, Magic Minds and Richard Atkins
Schools, which also had a signiﬁcant impact
on pupils’ motivation and behaviour.
As more residents became involved
with the project, the Community
Engagement team arranged a
programme of trips during the school
holidays. In total 354 residents enjoyed
coach trips to various venues including
Hampton Court, Legoland, The Open
Air Theatre at Regents Park, a shopping
trip to Bluewater and The London Eye.
Above: Future Class at Richard Atkins School.
Above: A day trip to Hampton Court was a popular destination for
residents.
The Community Education Zone (CEZ) ran
or funded over 15 after school clubs at the
schools. On average per week 280 children
accessed an after school club either run
or funded by the CEZ and these children
attended on a regular basis. On many
occasions there were waiting lists to attend
the club for the following term. Over the year
the CEZ supported nearly 900 children out
of 1,500 that attended school in the area.
They also funded many art projects where the
whole school participated, including the Cloth
of Gold and English Pocket Opera, where
some of the children performed onstage at
the Cochrane Theatre in Holborn. In total
1,500 children participated and beneﬁted
from the arts projects.
22
The Clapham Park Festival was held in July 2004 and was a huge success,
hosted by local television personality Richard Blackwood, and playing host to over
1,500 residents. The event, held at Agnes Riley Gardens, saw adults and children
alike enjoying activities including a circus workshop, a puppet show, bingo, and
live performances, including music, poetry, dance and percussion.
Above: On a glorious, sunny day young and old enjoyed the attractions, activities and entertainment on offer at The Clapham Park
Festival 2004.
emphasis on education and training.
Above: You had to book early to ensure a place on the trip
to Legoland.
A Youth Forum was also set up in Clapham
Park which developed a presentation to the
Clapham and Stockwell Area Committee
where they made a video about life in Clapham
Park and Stockwell from a young person’s
point of view. A new youth programme was
passed by the board which had a stronger
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
The Community Forum attracted over 100
residents to each event, an increase from an
average of 70 residents in 2002/03.
Major refurbishment at Langholm Close,
sheltered housing for older people, was
completed during the year, and the project
won a ‘Eurosolar’ award for the installation
of a solar powered roof.
The Estates Recycling Project started in
September 2004 and exceeded its targets
for number of households participating in
the scheme. It signiﬁcantly reduced the
volume of rubbish collected from paladin
bins on the estate.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
23
Extensive work continued on improving
the safety of the community and area with
projects being developed during Year 4 to
address the three points of the crime triangle:
Victim, Offender and Location.
Victim: The Integrated Drug Project, Personal
Safety, Safe Space and Community Support
Projects were all introduced; these projects
worked with vulnerable residents, including
young people, and cross referred clients to
each other to obtain the maximum beneﬁt of
each service.
Location: The Safer Homes Project was
highly commended by the Police as having
a huge impact on the reduction of burglary
within the area. During the year two
workshops were held to inform older people
about personal safety and the beneﬁts of
having security measures installed at their
property. Safer Homes also provided a wide
spread of security measures for two housing
blocks; this was achieved because of the
ongoing drug and prostitution problems in
the area. An unprecedented joint letter was
issued by the Police and Lambeth Council,
asking residents to report crime to them.
They received eight anonymous phone calls
of possible crack houses in the area within
the ﬁrst week of the letters being distributed.
Nine residents were recruited to join
The Clapham Park Project Trainee
Scheme. The project aimed to provide
appropriate learning and employment
opportunities that would help trainees
to secure employment and education
within regeneration.
The trainees completed an eight
week induction programme working
in rotation through all departments
within the organisation; they were then
able to make an informed decision
about where they would undertake
their placement.
Police raided 35 addresses leading to at
least four crack house closures. The Police
continued to provide ongoing intelligence to
CPP and this ensured that where needed,
appropriate support was provided by other
projects such as the Neighbourhood Wardens
or CCTV. Good partnership working between
CPP, the Police and the Housing Department
saw a crack house closed down and secured
within 10 days of it opening up.
Above: Personal Safety training for women.
Offender: The organisation was fortunate
enough to beneﬁt from a Junior Youth
Inclusion Programme (YIP), which received
over £100,000 from the Children’s Fund, and
provided a diversionary programme for young
people aged 8 – 12 years old who lived
within the Clapham Park area. The project
complemented the already successful Senior
YIP for young people aged 13 – 19 years old.
24
Three kerb crawling and two vice operations
were carried out this year. Seventy-six men
were arrested and charged for kerb crawling
and 41 women were arrested and charged
for soliciting and prostitution activities.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
The employment opportunities for Clapham
Park residents were focussed on by CPP and
boosted immensely since the project’s start.
Shop for Jobs was launched in September
2004, with the service providing information
on beneﬁts entitlement, and complementary
vocational support and guidance for young
adults to help them through the ﬁrst steps
on the employment ladder. The ofﬁcial
launch was followed by a week-long series
of workshops and events promoting life-long
learning, volunteering, career development
training and business enterprise. Delivered in
partnership with Jobcentre Plus, the Inland
Revenue, local training providers, employers
and Connexions, Shop for Jobs registered
450 residents and helped 240 of these into
employment or training during the year.
Above: Successful residents who were selected to participate
in the Trainee Scheme after completing application forms and
attending interviews.
Shop for Jobs was a much needed service for Clapham Park
residents seeking employment and training opportunities.
CPP also spent a lot of time focussing on
problems with health and social care and
speciﬁcally worked with Lambeth Social
Services to address the needs of vulnerable
and older adults, particularly within the
context of the Master Plan and Stock
Transfer.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
25
To reduce the incidence of chronic heart disease, CPP embarked upon the Flora
Fit Street programme, which aimed to reduce levels of cholesterol, blood pressure
and weight. The project worked with over 500 residents who lost a total of 324.92
kilos; 7 of the residents ran in the London Marathon after taking part in the running
clubs that were set up during the year.
During the year 16 new groups received
Community Chest Grants and support in
developing their organisations. Some of these
included:
Urban Youths
This group was made up of young people
who wanted to produce a magazine for
13-19 year olds.
Phoenix Carnival Costume Band
The group ran costume making and dance
workshops for children and young people so
that they could take part in carnival events,
including Notting Hill and Luton Carnivals.
They approached Children’s Express who
agreed to provide them with the training
for a basic qualiﬁcation in journalism, free
of charge, which represents £2,670 of
matched funding.
Clapham Park United Football Club
This group of local residents worked closely
with CPP’s Play Development Ofﬁcer to
develop football training and teams for
Clapham Park. So that they could become
self-sustaining, CPP worked towards
establishing them as a group in their own
right. They developed a management
structure and governance documents, as well
as applying for start up costs, training and
equipment.
Four residents, Kevin Hailey, Melanie Cornwall, Karen Chillman and Pat Roberts took part in a ‘healthier lifestyle’ TV programme with the
support of the Flora Fit Street team.
The Clapham Park Mental Well Being
Timebank was also launched with over 90
residents signed up by the end of the year.
The project offered the time of local residents
to provide support for those who may have
needed it, and to develop local projects for
the area. A very successful gardening project
took place with a local resident donating her
garden to local young and old people to grow
vegetables. The hours exchanged resulted
in people ﬁnding work, providing childcare,
painting and decorating, articles being
prepared by a local journalist and poetry
classes being delivered.
The Community Health Outreach programme
continued to work with people who found
it difﬁcult to engage with the projects and
as part of the Flora Fit Street programme a
minibus was purchased and used to transport
vulnerable residents to project activities,
meetings, shopping and social activities.
The Men’s Health programme was also
successfully launched with a total of 200 men
having been seen; health advice speciﬁcally
geared towards the needs of men was being
offered throughout the community.
Above: Phoenix Carnival Costume Band also participated in the
Clapham Park Festival 2004.
Soul in the City
This was a consortium bid from New Park
Road Baptist Church, St Stephens Church,
Clapham Youth Centre, All Saints Church and
Knights Youth Centre (who were coordinating
the group). The project was spread over
two weeks and involved 50 young people
cleaning up the estate.
Above: Many young people beneﬁtted from the training that
coaches received as a result of a Community Chest grant.
26
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
27
External Relations
CPP’s relationship with their
Accountable Body, London Borough
of Lambeth, was positive and was
underpinned by the Accountable
Body Agreement. Effective working
relationships were developed at a
political and organisational level. This
was demonstrated by the Council’s
executive approval of the Master Plan
proposals and taking them forward to a
Stock Transfer vote. Theme Managers
worked with Council departments
across a range of activities:
• The Neighbourhood Management
Team developed a local services
provider’s forum, which led to a better
co- ordination of service delivery
• Regular engagement with
the Council’s Community and
Regeneration Board and linkage with
the Clapham and Streatham town
centre areas committees
CPP continued to develop effective working
relationships with other statutory Partners.
A number of high proﬁle schemes were
developed with Lambeth’s Primary Care Trust
and the Metropolitan Police. Job Centre Plus,
Connexions and Inland Revenue all had staff
working in the area to deliver CPP projects
and activities.
CPP also substantially increased the level
of voluntary sector services in the area by
supporting and working with a wide range of
organisations, including the Citizens Advice
Bureau, Lambeth Credit Union, Age Concern
and the Rainer Foundation.
The relationship with Central Government and
its agencies was strong. CPP worked closely
with the Government Ofﬁce for London, the
Ofﬁce of the Deputy Prime Minister and its
departments, such as the Neighbourhood
Renewal Unit. The focus of work with these
departments was around the Master Plan
proposals and the Stock Transfer vote.
Master Plan and Stock Transfer
Year 4 saw CPP choose its preferred
Registered Social Landlord (RSL)
partner. After a robust competitive
selection process, Metropolitan
Housing Partnership was chosen to be
the RSL partner. The two organisations
agreed to establish a Community RSL
to take forward the Stock Transfer
and subsequent redevelopment of the
Council Housing Stock.
The Community RSL was established
and named Clapham Park Homes
(CPH); it had strong local resident
representation on its Board. This stock
transfer was critical for Lambeth as it
helped them achieve Decent Homes
Standard by the target date of 2010.
The Master Plan proposals and Business
Plan were developed and reﬁned throughout
the year. They were formally adopted by
Lambeth Council in September 2004 and
were the subject of a Stock Transfer vote.
The vote was open to all council tenants
and leaseholders in Clapham Park. Voting
ran from 24th February 2005 to 24th March
2005. There was a high turnout with 78%
of the electorate casting their vote – 59.3%
of tenants and 62.8% of leaseholders voted
‘YES’. The ‘YES’ vote was a resounding
endorsement of CPP’s proposals to transform
the area. The housing stock was transferred
to Clapham Park Homes in spring 2006. This
work was CPP’s key priority for 2004-05
and 2005-06, and it was delivered within the
target timeframe.
• The Community Safety Theme Group
contributed towards Lambeth’s
Community Safety Partnership’s
Crime Reduction Strategy
• The Education Theme Group worked
with the Local Education Authority
on primary and secondary schools
provision, on the Every Child Matters
Agenda and on Extended Schools
• The Co-Chair of the Local Strategic
Partnership (LSP), Lambeth First,
was a very active CPP Board
Member and CPP contributed
towards delivering some of LSP’s
objectives outlined in the borough’s
Community Plan.
28
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Above: Oliver Higgins, Chair, CPP and Museji Ahmed Takolia, Chair,
Metropolitan Housing Partnership sign an agreement to establish
a community RSL (Clapham Park Homes) at the Clapham Park
Festival 2004.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
29
YEAR FIVE
The establishment of the new community led housing association,
Clapham Park Homes (CPH), was supported by CPP throughout
2005/06. They worked closely with CPH to try to bring the community
together after the vote and to keep the community informed about
developments leading up to Stock Transfer, through events like the
Community Forum.
In September 2005, MacArthur
House became the ﬁrst property to
be refurbished and was unveiled at an
open day attended by 80 residents.
The refurbishment included a new
video entry phone system, a new
entrance to the block and the brick wall
surrounding the building replaced with
toughened glass, a new underground
refuse system, new balconies,
windows and doors for residents;
and new kitchens, bathrooms and
improved heat insulation within the
homes.
Resident days out were in their third year of
action with a series of summer and winter
trips being enjoyed by local residents. The
trips included a visit to Lakeside Shopping
Centre, a Tea Dance at the Festival Hall and
seaside trips to Margate, Eastbourne and
Southend; in total 419 residents enjoyed a
day out.
Reducing the fear of crime amongst
residents was one of the issues
outlined in the Master Plan, and during
Year 5 it was evident that leaps and
bounds had been made with this goal.
The reduction in the level of burglary,
drugs and prostitution activities was
signiﬁcant. CPP’s Safer Homes Project
helped 162 homes and businesses to
improve their security and made 40
referrals to the Fire Brigade.
A trip to Southend wouldn’t be complete without a walk along
the beach.
MacArthur House before (inset) and after refurbishment.
Locals also continued to enjoy the Coffee
Mornings, which began in May 2005 as a
way of talking to older residents about the
housing redevelopment and Stock Transfer.
It quickly transformed into a weekly forum
where residents could discuss issues, get
help and advice, meet and make friends and
ﬁnd out about other projects they could get
involved with.
Cotton House was one of several blocks that received improved
security funded by the Safer Homes Project.
The introduction of kerb-crawling/vice
operations provided conﬁdence to local
businesses and residents, and reduced
their perception of crime. During the year,
CPP worked with the police to arrest 118
kerb-crawlers and 51 prostitutes, and also
provided a drop-in service for 53 prostitutes.
CPP staff helped volunteers to start up a weekly coffee morning,
which became a popular event for many elderly residents.
30
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
31
The Bikes Project was one of the key diversionary projects that successfully
engaged young people to develop their mechanical skills. During the year, 63
young people attended bike repair and maintenance courses and 13 were trained
in cycle proﬁciency.
Free bikes were given to children who completed the bike-building course and took part in cycle proﬁciency training and testing. Garages
at the rear of Muller Road were demolished to make way for the bikes workshop.
The new CCTV cameras and the use of
mobile cameras by the Police assisted in
a number of operations leading to the arrest
of suspects.
In relation to crime prevention, the organisation
also focussed on youth diversionary activities
in the area using a range of services and
projects to complement the activities provided
by other youth providers.
The Junior and Senior YIP continued to
operate and worked speciﬁcally with a core
group of 50 young people who were involved,
or were at risk of being involved, with crime.
One to one intervention work and support for
32
parents helped many young people to return
to school or ﬁnd alternative lifestyles away
from crime. There was a 71% reduction in
arrest rates, in comparison to the previous
year, since the engagement of the Senior YIP
in the ﬁrst six months of 2005.
The Safe Space project provided speciﬁc
activities for young women, and in particular
was successful in their transition work with
young women in Year 6, providing a safe
and conﬁdential space, that enabled the
young women to discuss issues of concern,
enabling them to settle into their respective
secondary schools.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
In June of Year 5, the ‘Empower Us Today,
Congratulate Us Tomorrow’ scheme was
launched to support a partnership of local
youth providers to become self sustainable
and work with young residents to deliver
activities for young people. The project part
funded a post at Clapham Youth Centre;
this was extremely successful with the post
holder starting a young parents group one
morning a week, as well as organising trips
and activities. The project also funded an
outreach worker to work in Clapham Park
after school to meet young people around the
area and sign post them to various services.
Holiday programmes for Easter, summer and
half term were also arranged by this project
and they made a signiﬁcant contribution at
the Lambeth Country Show in July 2005.
The Community Education Zone (CEZ)
laid the groundwork in enabling Richard
Atkins and Glenbrook Primary Schools to
offer extended schools services. A host of
activities took place in both schools including
a lunchtime library service at Richard
Atkins, Reading Clubs in both schools, and
lunchtime, after school and holiday events
and activities.
Learning Curve, a group of parents working
with Advance Educational Services to
develop services for Clapham Park and
the wider community, was developed in
December 2005 to undertake the Saturday
School and Home Tutoring Programme. This
year the group ran an Easter School for Year
6 pupils in preparation for their SATs and
expanded the tutoring programmes from
primary to secondary children.
In June 2005 the HatTrick Project, in
partnership with the FA, ran a series of
successful football events for young people
in Clapham Park. These included a launch
tournament in October 2005 and a series of
holiday programmes during the summer, half
term, Christmas and Easter breaks.
During the year CPP’s Young Arts
Project worked with a number of
local artists to develop the creativity
of young people in Clapham Park.
The project also funded an Artist in
Residence at Richard Atkins School.
Many of the youngsters took part in a competition and an
exhibition at the Betty Morton Art Gallery in July 2005.
Financial information continued to be given
throughout this year to assist residents. The
Citizens Advice Bureau helped residents with
information, advice and advocacy services;
they offered guidance to 215 residents,
many of whom needed debt and welfare
beneﬁts advice.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
33
Shop for Jobs also continued to offer
much needed guidance for those seeking
employment and offered advice and
guidance services to unemployed and underemployed residents seeking work, including
providing them with information about beneﬁt
entitlement, training and vocational support.
The project gave almost 700 residents access
to job search facilities and helped around 90
residents ﬁnd full time employment.
As well as this achievement, the Volunteers
Scheme, which aimed to improve skills and
reduce unemployment by providing work
experience, had 78 residents involved in
voluntary work, contributing 3,323 volunteer
hours.
During Year 5 the enterprising and
exciting development of Generation
Radio – a radio station for Clapham
Park began training residents to
work in a variety of roles, including
broadcasters, technicians, station
managers and back ofﬁce functions.
78 residents helped to make the
station a success and 36 were trained
in a variety of roles, ready for the
station’s ﬁrst broadcast via Internet in
Year 6.
From April – November 2005 the Lifestyles Opportunities for Older People (LOOP)
Project delivered a wide range of physical and health promotional activities
to create a seamless service for older people in the Clapham Park area; 178
residents beneﬁtted from classes and other social activities.
The aim of making Clapham Park a healthy
and caring community under the Health and
Social Care theme group was also enhanced
this year with the implementation of a variety
of community activities and projects.
The Healthy Living Project offered a number
of activities aimed at encouraging residents to
have a healthier lifestyle, including Cook and
Eat workshops, Cooking for Men workshops,
Understanding Food Labelling workshops,
Smoking Cessation workshops, a walking
group, Seated Aerobics and Nutrition dropin sessions. To enable the programme’s
sustainability, twelve residents were trained
to become Community Food Workers,
equipping them with basic nutritional skills;
two of these residents were employed by
CPP on a part-time basis.
34
A Celebrating Age event in October 2005 was one of a number of health promotional activities arranged by the Lifestyles Opportunities for
Older People Project, which came under the banner of the Health and Social Care Theme Group.
The Community Support Project supported
vulnerable residents through a housing team,
staffed by St. Giles Trust, which addressed
a range of housing and welfare issues and
acted as a ﬁrst point of contact and support
for all residents. During the year 39 residents
were aided in keeping their tenancies and 41
residents were linked to other services.
A signiﬁcant achievement in the area of
health was the work that CPP carried out
with Lambeth PCT and a local pharmacy
in offering free Chlamydia testing for all and
NHS treatment this year. Chlamydia was
chosen because it was the most common
sexually transmitted infection amongst young
men and women.
Ian Henry was one of the ﬁrst Clapham Park residents to sign up
to Generation Radio’s Studio Techniques training course.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
35
Neighbourhood Management
77% of residents are satisﬁed with the
area as a place to live.
YEAR SIX
Highlights for 2006/07
Education
Since 2002 Key Stage 2, Level 4 in
Science improved by 5% to 85%.
150 Lambeth schools and youth
centres entered the Young & Creative
competition during June and July
2006. The event held at the Betty
Morton Gallery saw children from
Glenbrook and Richard Atkins Schools
win prizes in the various categories.
Artwork created for the Young & Creative Art Competition 2006.
CPP’s Extended Schools Co- ordinators for
Glenbrook and Richard Atkins Schools were
employed and fully funded by the schools
during the year. A CPP mentor was also
employed by Richard Atkins School as a
Learning Mentor; Julie Roberts, Head of
Richard Atkins School said:
During the year the Mentoring Scheme
expanded from working with the three
primary schools in the NDC area, to a
secondary school outside of the area.
Lambeth Academy is one of the main
secondary schools that CPP young residents
attend. The change meant CPP could track
young people that the scheme has already
started working with, to ensure that they still
have a role model.
Inspiring Learning for All continued to arrange
regular reading and creative writing events and
activities for children, young people and adults
to enjoy. Some of the events included book
signings, the Winter Celebration, World Book
Day and the Summer Reading Challenge.
Two of the four primary schools in Lambeth
with the highest number of Somalian pupils
are in the NDC area. A report from Lambeth
Education showed that many of these
children were failing at GCSE level so CPP
stepped in. During the year, two successful
feasibility projects were commissioned which
focused on increasing parental involvement
for Somalian parents.
“The CPP Mentoring Scheme has been
very successful. We have found that it has
had a positive impact on the children that
have been mentored.”
36
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Neighbourhood Management oversaw the
delivery of a range of capital and revenue
projects that brought together residents and
service providers to create a cleaner, greener
place in which to work and play.
The ofﬁcial opening of a brand new
playground for 2–11 year olds took
place in August 2006. The new
playground was funded with a £70,000
grant from Lambeth Council’s Housing
Opportunities Fund. The application
was organised by local resident, Akie
Deen, with support from CPP.
Community Development is crucial to this:
identifying and working with a range of
groups, including the hard to reach, elderly,
Somali, and Spanish and Portuguese
speakers, to link them with wider networks.
Neighbourhood Management also worked in
partnership with organisations like Lambeth
Council and Clapham Park Homes to improve
the physical environment for residents living in
the Clapham Park Project area. Projects run
during this year included Agnes Riley Gardens
Improvements, Community Chest, Community
Development, Redevelopment Programme,
Doorstep and Commercial Recycling Scheme
and Neighbourhood Ofﬁcers.
The new playground in Plummer Road, Clapham Park West.
CPP worked with Lambeth Council and key
stakeholders to co-ordinate and fund the
refurbishment of the ball games area in Agnes
Riley Gardens.
Refurbished ball games area in Agnes Riley Gardens.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
37
The ﬁrst phase of works to New Park
Road was completed in early 2007. The
improvements were paid for with developer’s
Section 106 funding set aside from the
development of Courtney House to undertake
environmental improvement works on the
Northern end of New Park Road. Local
businesses, residents, children from Richard
Atkins School, and local community groups
were consulted about the improvements they
would like to see made. The results from the
consultation informed the improvement works
which were carried out. Once the works were
completed businesses and residents were
very satisﬁed with end results.
The new Community Development
project proposal was approved and
this meant the team could continue
to support the Coffee Morning (which
celebrated its ﬁrst anniversary in
May 2006), the Luncheon Club, and
build on their Community Chest
projects. The team also supported
other projects with a range of events
including the International Day, the
Latin Night, the Clapham Park Festival,
and the Community Forums.
During the year the Neighbourhood Wardens
continued to act as the eyes and ears of
the area, patrolling frequently and reporting
any issues to the relevant authorities. In
particular the Wardens worked closely with
Clapham Park Homes and estate contractors
Connaught to ensure that ﬂy tipping was
cleared up quickly from the area.
Community Safety
The total number of all crime incidents
reported per 100,000 of the population
was considerably reduced leading to
26.6% less crime being reported in the
Clapham Park area in comparison to the
rest of Lambeth.
During the year the Community Safety Theme
Group continued to develop and manage
projects that contributed towards making the
Clapham Park area a safer place to live, work,
play and visit by aiming to reduce the actual
levels of crime and anti-social behaviour, as
well as the fear of crime, and promote the
resolution of anti-social behaviour through joint
work with appropriate organisations. Projects
run during this year included the Bike Projects,
CCTV, Combating Prostitution & Drugs,
Integrated Drug Programme, Safer Homes,
Personal Safety and the Transition Project.
The Combating Prostitution & Drugs Project
funded multi-agency operations to target
kerb crawlers and prostitutes in the NDC
area. First time offenders were given
Anti-Social Behaviour Contracts (ABCs),
whilst re-offenders were brought before the
court and prosecuted. During one six week
operation 81 kerb crawlers were given ABCs,
seven were prosecuted and 242 prostitutes
were arrested.
The same project was also responsible for
ﬁtting new door entry systems to Brunel
House, Brindley House, Parson House,
Aspinall House, (1-9) Plummer Road,
Rodgers House and Muller Road to help
combat the problem of drugs and prostitution
in the area. One resident commented that
“Things have deﬁnitely changed for the
better. I now feel safe and comfortable
about taking the stairs as I no longer
have to worry about people selling or
taking drugs.”
During the year the Junior and Senior Youth
Inclusion Programmes (YIP) continued to
work with young people who are involved in
or at risk of being involved in crime. Activities
included workshops addressing concerns
about guns and gangs or image identity,
supporting young people into employment,
and providing holiday activities.
Clapham Park Festival on 3 July 2006 in Agnes Riley Gardens.
The Bikes Project continued to work with
the youth to develop their bike repair skills
and encourage them to undertake cycling
proﬁciency tests. During the year 71 young
people graduated from the project.
The ﬁrst International Day on 15 November 2006 at Richard Atkins
School was hugely successful; it celebrated food, dance and
culture from around the world.
The Bikes Project proved to be a popular and well-attended
activity for young people.
38
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
39
The Safer Homes project was set up to reduce
burglary by assessing residents’ homes
and funding the purchase and installation
of front and back door locks, hinge bolts,
frame strengthening, door viewers, letterbox
guards and security chains, as well as window
locks, external security such as trellis’ and
replacement doors where necessary. 26%
of residents took part in the scheme, none of
whom have been a victim of burglary since
their homes were made secure.
During the year the Transition Project
supported young people in their transition
from primary to secondary school. This
included help with bullying, drug awareness,
relationships, friendships, internet safety; self
esteem and conﬁdence building.
Forty-ﬁve residents graduated from an eight week Drug Awareness Training
course aimed at addressing the drug issues in Clapham Park through education.
The team also provided a drop-in service for young residents, and worked with
a number of young people through the local youth centres and with the Youth
Inclusion Programme.
Business, Education & Training
11.5% reduction in the number of
unemployed 16-24 year olds since 2002.
The Construction Scheme was launched in
partnership with CPH and Notting Hill Housing
Trust’s Construction Training Initiative.
During this year Shop for Jobs was evaluated;
the extended project continued to help
people gain employment and qualiﬁcations,
as well as supporting people with beneﬁts
enquiries. During the year the team helped
77 people into employment.
Training is customised to the Clapham Park
Master Plan and allows residents to achieve
recognised qualiﬁcations within their chosen
trade, and also gain relevant work experience.
In terms of ﬁnancial assistance, Lambeth
Savings & Credit Union continued to receive
NDC funding, enabling it to help families
without bank accounts or those needing to
access low cost loans, who might otherwise
have borrowed from a doorstep lender. By the
end of the year the Credit Union were well on
their way to signing up 1,000 new customers.
Lambeth Credit Union’s low cost ﬁnancial assistance helped
residents get their ﬁnances back on track.
In June 2006 Generation Radio, the
new community radio station for
Clapham Park, was launched via the
Internet. Managed and presented by
local residents trained the previous
year; the station also enjoyed a
month’s FM broadcast during October
and November 2006.
A range of programmes were transmitted live as Generation Radio
broadcast on FM during October and November 2006. Programmes
included Jazz, Soul, Hip Hop, Classical, Latin American and African
music. 2,500 people tuned in over the period.
Residents who completed an eight week Drug Awareness Training course were presented with certiﬁcates at the end of the course.
40
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
41
Health & Social Care
Throughout the year the Healthy Living
project continued to offer advice on healthy
cooking, eating and nutrition, and provided
physical activities through tailored health
promotion.
The Community Support project continued
to help residents with issues relating to debt,
housing, beneﬁts, council tax, mental health
and substance misuse. During the year the
project stabilised 68 residents’ tenancies.
The Time Bank project operates on
a system of residents exchanging
their time and services with others,
enhances social networks, builds on
the contributions of individuals and
works with key agencies to provide
support for vulnerable people in
Clapham Park. During the year Time
Bank exceeded the target of 2,160
hours exchanged by almost 1,000
hours. Time Bank member, Elspeth
Anderson, said:
YEAR SEVEN
Delays occurred with the housing redevelopment programme because
of a Judicial Review and unexpected delays in negotiating with the
Greater London Authority (GLA) on energy supply issues. However,
by March 2008 headway had been made in a number of key areas,
including the improvement of 19 homes, decanting of 88 residents
from 26 homes and achieving buy backs from 55 leaseholders.
Demolition had started and consultations had taken place with
residents participating in the decision-making processes that directly
impacted upon the programme of activities.
Education
The theme group supported Richard
Atkins School in running a Somali Parents
Workshop. The workshop addressed many
of the issues raised in a feasibility report,
examining the attainment of Somali heritage
pupils in Lambeth Schools and the reason
for their underachievement. The workshop
looked at ways of overcoming these barriers.
“I have lived on the estate for 28 years
and before I joined Time Bank I didn’t
know anyone in the area apart from
my neighbours. Now I know lots of
people through the clubs, classes and
volunteering that I do.”
Inspiring Learning for All project
continued to inspire residents to learn
something new and different. Delivered
in partnership with Lambeth Libraries,
the project targeted speciﬁc groups of
residents in order to promote literacy
within Clapham Park.
The Young Arts Project continued to enable
children and young people to take part
in artist led projects, and rewarded and
celebrated their creative achievements. This
project culminated in Young and Creative
2008. Organised in conjunction with the Betty
Morton Gallery, over 300 people attended the
awards ceremony and exhibition.
Activities to promote literacy for both adults and children included
storytelling events, drama workshops, poetry and short story
competitions, creative writing workshops and Lambeth Archives
sessions. Nearly 200 children received free books, stationery and
book tokens during the project’s lifetime.
Time Bank staff and members promote the scheme at the
Clapham Park International Day, November 2006.
42
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
43
The Saturday School continued to help
children to achieve the educational standards
they are capable of, with an average of 15
residents attending each session. In order
to help sustain the project, a small fee
was introduced, which was subsidised for
Clapham Park residents.
Year 7 saw the Youth Programme provide
mentoring for secondary school pupils at
Lambeth Academy. Knights Youth Centre’s
Trainee Youth Leader Apprenticeship
Programme supported the mentoring scheme
and also provided holiday activities for young
people organised by young people. The
Youth Programme also supported young
people in developing community enterprise
and businesses.
Neighbourhood Management
During the year, the CPP Neighbourhood
Forum was set up to become the main
platform for residents to engage with
Lambeth Council, local service providers,
the Police and local councillors. The Forum,
chaired by Ward Councillor, Diana Morris,
includes participation from the whole of the
Thornton Ward.
Commercial recycling also proved popular
with 87% of the businesses surveyed
indicating that they wanted the scheme
to continue. Lambeth Council agreed to
continue funding the Commercial Recycling
Project and began looking into the possibility
of mainstreaming the project.
44
A 5-a-side football pitch and multi-use games
area was launched at Agnes Riley Gardens
during the year. The pitch and games areas
were redeveloped with funding from CPP and
Lambeth Council.
Community Safety
The Junior and Senior Youth Inclusion
Programme worked with 8 to 12, and 13 to
19 year olds to offer targeted interventions
that reduced the numbers taking part in antisocial or offending behaviour.
The Safer Homes Project provided vulnerable
residents, domestic violence victims and
burglary victims with additional locks ﬁtted to
doors and windows. A total of 40 properties
were secured in 2007, making a total of
928 out of 3,200 properties (29%) since this
project started in 2004.
Business, Education & Training
Residents were offered support to
start their own businesses, and a
new monthly Enterprise Forum was
launched in September 2007.
The launch event was marked with football tournaments for two
categories – Under 12s and Under 15s. Lambeth Lakers basketball
team also displayed their skills and taught basketball tricks.
Clapham Park Project Chair, Donna C. Henry (right) presented
medals and trophies to participants with Councillor Lib Peck.
Throughout the year, partnerships were
developed enabling the project to bring in
an additional £13,000 of funding to CPP for
Community Development activities such as
encouraging residents to get more involved
in the area running the Luncheon Club and
Coffee Mornings and generally supporting all
community groups.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
The Junior Youth Inclusion Programme supported by Progress
Community Gardening delivered a cookery programme for
Richard Atkins Primary School pupils.
Residents and local businesses were given the opportunity to
network and ﬁnd out more about ﬁnance, marketing, taxation and
effective PR in business.
The Clapham Park Bike Club continued to
teach young people how to build and repair
their own bicycles.
Shop for Jobs continued to deliver training
for clients, working in partnership with
various organisations such as Lambeth
Council, St. Giles Trust and the YMCA, and
the 2007 training courses delivered 124
job training outcomes. Since April 2007,54
clients conﬁrmed that they have achieved
employment and provided evidence of their
employment status.
CPP provided secure door entry systems to a
total of 230 properties, which in turn reduced
the use of stairwells and communal landings
for drug and prostitution activities. There was
also a huge decrease in prostitution related
activities, mainly due to the partnership
between CPP, the Safer Neighbourhood
Teams, the Lambeth Vice Unit, TfL, and the
Police’s Central Clubs & Vice unit.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
45
Health & Social Care
The Healthy Living Project provided residents
with access to nutrition advice, cook &
eat sessions and one-to-one advice about
exercise and physical activity sessions.
YEAR EIGHT
Approximately 1,000 residents attended the hugely popular Clapham
Park Festival 2008 and enjoyed the music, food, free bike repairs and
other activities.
Free bike repairs on offer from Clapham Park Bike Shop.
A number of health promotion events were organised, providing
information and advice to residents.
Time Bank continued to contribute to
improving the health of local people, through
engaging residents with social activities,
supporting them to develop conﬁdence
and skills, and providing one to one advice
sessions for members needing extra
support. 399 residents accessed the project,
exchanging a total of 3,867 time credits since
April 2007.
Stilt walkers thrilled youngsters with their balloon modelling skills.
The Festival was funded by Clapham Park Project and Clapham
Park Homes. Above from left: Donna C. Henry, Chair, CPP, Keith Hill
MP, Cllr. Christoher Wellbelove, Deputy Mayor of Lambeth, Ms Emita
Grifﬁths, Deputy Mayoress of Lambeth and Joe Moll, Chair, CPH.
The event informed women (not previously
involved in CPP activity) of workshops and
health advice available.
The stage was hosted by Generation Radio presenters.
Over 283 residents attended the CPP
International Day at Richard Atkins School to
see performances, attend workshops, enter
competitions and win prizes.
94 residents attended International Women’s
Day on 11th March.
46
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Up to 10 women attend the Women’s
Group every week; activities included ﬂowerarranging and face-painting workshops,
aimed at increasing individual conﬁdence and
skill levels.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
47
Community Development supported
the Over 50s Social Club in applying for
and securing a £10,000 grant from the
Bridge House Trust, ensuring that the
group’s regular coffee mornings and l
uncheon clubs became sustainable.
A free 10 week Basic IT Class took place
during the year with feedback from the
participants illustrating that they now had the
conﬁdence to access further IT training.
The theme group also provided funding for
a year-long crèche provision to support the
weekly ESOL (English for Speakers of Other
Languages) classes held at Richard Atkins
School in partnership with Lambeth College.
Fortnightly shopping trips continued with
the assistance of the CPP casual workers;
residents pay a small fee for the service.
The Community Development theme group,
Some Other Way Forward (SOWF) and the
CPP Youth Team arranged an arts workshop
for 15 young people. This developed into
a bigger event at the Tate Modern and
consequently two CPP participants joined the
Tate Modern work placement scheme.
The CPP Youth Team specialised in
‘detached’ youth work, where the team
connects with the person directly at their
chosen location, focussing on where
the person is ‘at’, geographically and
developmentally.
The detached method progresses in deﬁned
stages:
YEAR NINE
• Area Based Work: Detached youth
work that begins to identify areas of
interest for the young people.
As the NDC’s grant status was coming to an end, CPP went out of
its way to ‘go out with a bang’ and provided events that the whole
community could be a part of and enjoy.
• Peer Group Work: More regular
deﬁned detached work, aimed at
forming a ‘bond’ and focusing on
uncovering important issues and
problems in their lives.
Over 100 residents attended The
Easter Eggstravaganza – a series
of events hosted by CPP over the
Easter period.
In conjunction with the Youth team,
Community Development’s biggest success
was implementing summer activities which
took place across Angus, Crossman, and
Cotton Houses over the summer holidays of
this year. The activities, which ranged from
sports to t-shirt designing, were implemented
as a direct response to resident’s concerns
about anti-social behaviour, and were
designed to enhance community cohesion
and empowering communities to come
together.
• Basic Small Group Work: Weekly
group activity workshops to explore
aspirations, hopes and plans. Focus
is on preparing young people for the
residential aspect of the programme.
• Progression Routes: Speciﬁc oneto-one work identifying individual
pathways to education, employment
and training. Focus on helping each
individual to ﬁnd their own pathway –
may include residential work.
Lambeth Children’s and Young People’s
Services (CYPS) awarded £200,000 for
the CPP Youth Team’s Empowered Youth
Programme providing additional activities
for young people in Clapham Park and the
borough of Lambeth.
CPP worked with the Weir Link Centre
to support a range of activities for all
ages, including activities for children and
empowerment courses for parents.
The Empowered Youth Programme funding
provided a weekly community-based football
programme at Agnes Riley Gardens.
Shop for Jobs ofﬁce was used as a venue for residents to ﬁnd
out about activities due to take place in the summer and children
took part in a variety of Easter-themed activities.
Around 1,000 people attended the last CPP
NDC Festival and enjoyed music, food,
games and advice from various projects.
Attendees also had the opportunity to ﬁnd out
more about the CPP Charity being set-up as
the future organisation to take CPP forward
post NDC grant.
The Lyham Road Street Party was supported
by CPP and was well attended by residents,
bringing together the local community
allowing them to enjoy music, food, games
and workshops in the last of the summer sun.
The CPP Women’s Group went from strength
to strength with regular members taking
part in activities including sewing, knitting
and beauty workshops, as well as aiming to
increase their conﬁdence and skill levels.
48
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
During 2009/10 the Clapham Park
Advisory Service assisted 37 individuals by
giving straightforward friendly advice and
information about beneﬁt related issues and
debt referral, as well as referring residents
to other local agencies to help them with
enquiries including probate matters, building
disputes, housing and employment tribunals.
During this year, CPP was one of 300
organisations nationally to be accepted
onto The Community Builders Programme,
which was a government programme aimed
at assisting charitable organisations to plan
and manage community activities from their
building. CPP successfully sailed through
the ﬁrst stage of the bid and was awarded
a bursary of £2,000, which was used to
develop ideas with the CPP board around the
future use and development of Brixton Hill
Place.
The CPP Youth Team continued to work
with local residents, schools and partner
organisations to develop a strong learning
community, specialising in implementing the
‘detached’ youth work model.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
49
The young people continued to be
encouraged to get involved in decision
making and shared their views and voiced
their concerns at the weekly Youth Forum,
and community mentors worked with pupils
around their self-esteem and community
development in a programme that took place
at two local primary schools and a secondary
school.
Urban Sport Life (USL) was responsible for
providing a number of sports and speciﬁc
physical activities for young people in the
NDC area.
The Neighbourhood Forum continued
to be a platform for residents to discuss
issues affecting them with the local council,
councillors and service providers.
As the NDC programme reached its end,
CPP supported the Forum to develop and
link with the Lambeth Forum Network.
The Neighborhood Steering Group, which
consisted of a group of local residents who
have a passion and interest in improving their
local community, continued to play an active
role in steering the work programme in the
Forum.
With regards to community space, local
residents who are the Friends of Agnes
Riley Gardens worked closely with Lambeth
Council and local councillors on the
redevelopment of the pond in Agnes Riley
Gardens. The park’s development plan was
put into action this year and the new pond
was revealed in December 2010.
50
Between 1st April 2009 and 31st March
2010 the wardens reported a total of 1,016
incidents. The top incident types reported*
were as follows:
The Volunteers Project was also revitalised with 40 volunteers involved both at
CPP as well as in many other organisations such as Kids City and University of
London. They also provided much needed support at various events like the
Winter Celebration and the Clapham Park Festival.
• 228 incidents of anti-social
behaviour (various types including
business disturbance, intimidation,
loitering, neighbourhood disputes
and noise nuisance)
• 166 incidents of ﬂy-tipping
• 110 incidents of housing defects
• 43 abandoned vehicles.
*The Wardens produced ‘incident’ reports,
which were forwarded to the appropriate
agencies for further action. Reports were
also produced indicating attendance at 83
community events throughout 2009/10,
including local coffee mornings, churches,
festivals, residential homes and primary
schools.
The Bikes Project again proved to be one
of CPP’s most popular projects with an
increase in members learning how to rebuild
bikes from parts donated by Lambeth Police.
After attending a three day Cycle Proﬁciency
course, the young people received bikes
they had built, along with a helmet, chain and
toolkit.
In turn the Bikes Shop also remained popular
with the local community. Residents were
encouraged to visit the shop to get their bikes
repaired on Saturdays with all proceeds going
back into the project.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Winter Celebration 2009 at Richard Atkins School. Donna C. Henry, Chair, Clapham Park Project (centre), Chuka Umunna, Labour’s
Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham (left) and Rev George Briggs (right).
CPP continued to offer employment and
training to residents in order to further their
careers; a one-off Advice and Guidance
Session was offered to anyone over 20, living,
working or studying in Lambeth, Southwark,
Wandsworth or Central London with
qualiﬁcations below NVQ Level 2. Individuals
had the opportunity to explore career paths,
training and job opportunities. In addition
they were given an ‘employability’ pack
covering CV writing, interview techniques and
guidance on how to ﬁll in application forms.
Following the closure of the Shop for
Jobs project in September 2008 a new
Employment & Training Service was launched
to provide employment and training advice,
CV workshops, job applications and covering
letters, interview techniques and job search
strategies.
Generation Radio’s local radio station
continued to be broadcast 24 hours a day,
seven days a week on the internet and was
attracting a regular listenership of 10,000.
During the year a further 30 residents were
trained in basic radio skills with a large
percentage using the skills to produce a
greater diversity of programmes at their
station.
The Clapham Park Time Bank, being run
entirely by Time Bank members, supported
resident members in developing conﬁdence
and skills, and provided one-to-one advice
sessions for those needing extra support.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
51
CONCLUSION
For 10 years Clapham Park Project provided this small area in the
Borough of Lambeth, South London, with the funding and the
means to develop and regenerate the area ﬁnancially, physically and
emotionally, whilst uniting the community.
Although the journey was strenuous and
littered with stresses, setbacks and vast
amounts of hard work, the CPP staff and
residents alike formed a determined coalition
that worked together in improving the lives
and futures of the local community.
People from all walks of life, who had never
even spoken to each other before, joined
together for the same cause and worked
towards the vision that they had created for
the Clapham Park area.
Clapham Park Project continued to work with the Weir Link Centre after Year 9 to support a range of activities for all ages, including
activities for children and empowerment courses for parents. To promote CPP’s work, a group of volunteers attended the Weir Link Fun
Day in June 2010.
The Project continued to evolve from
its inception with board members, staff
and partnerships with different agencies
developing over its lifetime.
Several passionate residents and staff
members were consistently involved from
receiving the grant funding which meant CPP
played an integral and memorable part of
their lives.
In March 2011 the 10 year NDC grant
funding concluded meaning that the Clapham
Park area has lost a lot of its much needed
services, staff and community-changing
projects and initiatives.
There is no doubt that the Clapham
Park Estate has seen some life altering
developments over the years, especially
with the abolition of many crack houses and
the associated problems with prostitution in
this family-centred community improving its
environment as a more desirable place to live.
52
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Clapham Park Homes serves as a lasting
legacy with its on-going regeneration of the
housing facilities, introduction of advanced
community safety measures and recovery of
wasted spaces in and around the estate.
Many of the housing blocks are still in the
process of being redeveloped or completely
demolished and rebuilt to provide residents
with brand new accommodation tailored to
the occupants’ needs and desires.
However, the end of the NDC funding
also spells the end of a lot of services that
residents have become accustomed to
and grown to rely on e.g. local businesses
and civilians are especially wary of the loss
of the wardens patrolling the area, which
made them feel safe by providing an ofﬁcial
presence.
However, as of 24 March 2010 CPP achieved
charity status in preparation for the end of the
NDC funding that happened a year later in
March 2011.
CPP becoming a charity means that the project
will be able to apply for more funding from
other sources to continue providing some
of the projects and activities that have been
successful over the past 10 years such as the
Clapham Park Timebank and the Bikes Project.
There have been mixed reactions to the
evolution that CPP has gone through with
participants of the Project fearing for the future
of the organisation and feeling unsure about the
ability to maintain standards in the area.
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
53
However, others feel positive that if the
community focusses on pitching in and
striving towards a better tomorrow, Clapham
Park will only grow from strength to strength
on the foundations that were built by CPP
over the 10 active years.
Ultimately the future of the project remains uncertain, but what
is apparent is that, what started as a handful of small voices in a
battered building on a dangerous estate, escalated into a determined
community pulling together and providing a better future for
themselves and others.
The sheer will, hard work, and the generous spirit of everyday people
led to 61 acres of troubled and neglected South London land being
transformed into a thriving, safe and healthy community where
everyone involved could be proud to call home.
54
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park
55
56
Clapham Park Project | 10 Years of Regeneration in Clapham Park