Three Coventry neighbourhoods are each set to receive up to £20 million of investment under the Pride in Place programme — a government priority for community-led renewal across the country over the next decade.
At Grapevine, we have spent over 20 years building relationships and power in disadvantaged communities in our city, some of whom will receive these funds — specifically Tile Hill, Hillfields and Willenhall.
In a new article by our CEO Clare Wightman with Rosie McLeod written for The Future Governance Forum, Clare and Rosie explore how we have shown it is possible to strengthen communities’ capacity to act on issues they care about, as Pride in Place intends.
But in order to fulfil the programme’s potential, government needs to get clear on how to deliver its goals.
“Government needs to prioritise more clearly, or these physical infrastructure needs and pressure for urgent results will consume all the energy and resources. This would be a mistake.
“The relational and capacity building aspects of Pride in Place, though harder to see, are fundamental to its vision for renewal and community power…
“We first need to build relational capacity for inclusive participation so that communities have control of the agenda and can determine their priorities.”
(‘Fulfilling the promise of Pride in Place: how to create the infrastructure for community-led renewal’ by Clare Wightman and Rosie McLeod)
With three ambitious, competing objectives of cohesion, physical infrastructure and community control, the Pride in Place programme may be trying to do too many things at once.
How can we guide it more towards the kind of inclusive power and partnership building that will ensure disadvantaged residents aren’t crowded out in the rush to meet immediate service and infrastructure needs and take quick, visible action?
“We first need to build relational capacity for inclusive participation so that communities have control of the agenda and can determine their priorities.
“This community power can support relational work and enable infrastructure decisions that reflect neighbourhood priorities, progressively strengthening both capacity and cohesion,” write Clare and Rosie.
We break the process down into five tests for inclusive renewal we’ve developed that keep us coming back to the patience, flexibility and trust to let communities lead — so real results can come from this Pride in Place funding.
Read the full article ‘Fulfilling the promise of Pride in Place: how to create the infrastructure for community-led renewal’ by clicking this link.
Learn more about our previous work shifting power in Willenhall here.
Thank you to The Future Governance Forum for sharing their platform to publish our article.