People living in Willenhall have worked alongside Grapevine community organisers to build their collective power and campaign for improved park and play facilities in their Coventry neighbourhood over the past couple of years – and it’s bringing results.
Through a series of community focus groups at the tail end of 2023, the ‘Willenhall Coalition’ identified their first community priority to tackle.
Members decided that by focusing on a community park or play area they could help people improve their physical and mental health, create a space for social interaction, build a greater sense of community and support local families.
Thereby addressing some of Willenhall’s historical population health inequalities.
The Coalition team – people living in and caring for the neighbourhood’s wellbeing – took charge of:
- Researching other Coventry parks
- Creating a list of “most wanted” play equipment
- Speaking to 200 residents through organised door knocking
- Collecting 70 completed local surveys
- Initiating meetings with council services
- Setting up a constituted group able to apply for and receive funding to make their park vision a reality.
Community organiser Edwin Lukong said: “Behind each door we knocked lay a wealth of wisdom and local insight.
“We gained a deeper understanding of the experience of living in Willenhall by listening to residents’ views and finding out the changes they want in their area.”
One-to-one conversations with people interested in making change helps bring their passions, strengths and motivation for collective action to the surface. It gives them permission and purpose to openly care about their community.
What happened next?
The constituted group ‘Friends of Brookstray Park’ identified a goal of improving the existing play area to appeal more widely to children of all ages.
The team applied for funding for new play equipment and created a dedicated website to share their vision with the wider community.
Some of their proposals included better pre-school provision, an outdoor gym for older children and adults, a multipurpose court and an athletics track.
Interestingly, they learned in 2026 that five Coventry parks would receive brand new artificial sports pitches funded by The Football Asssociation – but not Brookstray Park.
So the Friends fought to be included in the city-wide plan… and won! In fact, it is the only one to be constructed from scratch.
The six new pitches will enable Coventry people to enjoy more outdoor sports including football, netball, basketball and cricket in their local parks.
And community exercise group ‘Waka Waka Fitness’ – another group we helped form in Willenhall (click here for Dorothy’s story) through our community organising work – has signed up to lead outdoor fitness sessions on the new pitch.
Our work with Coventry people helps them identify changes they want for their communities and build their capacity to achieve it – the Friends of Brookstray Park and Dorothy prove it works.
Shifting Power
More about our Shifting Power work can be found here. Read our five-year strategy here.