Engaging with the community in Grays, Thurrock
As the services and outreach of Kids Inspire grow, an essential focus for the team is to understand and learn from the new communities we are working within.
As our therapeutic services for primary school children extend into Grays in Thurrock, our Community Engagement Team has been busy finding out what is going on in the area, and what the needs are.
Here is an account from our Community Engagement Team:
From time already spent in Grays, we have found it to be both friendly and interesting. We have been looking out in particular for the community resources already present, or “assets”, as suggested in the operating principle of the local authority, that is, asset-based community development. We were delighted, therefore, to come across the Community House, a real gem of an “asset” in the area!
Community House is a vibrant community centre on the Seabrooke Rise estate in Grays, Thurrock. It is a modern building with two very large meeting rooms, plus office and kitchen space. It is wheelchair accessible, with an internal lift. It is a light, airy, pleasant building with large windows and a garden.
Community House is a charity in its own right, with a board of trustees made up of local people from the estate, many of whom are active in helping out with opening and closing the building. They are highly committed to the project for the sake of the people on the estate.
Best practice of asset-based community development:
During the pandemic, the team ran a food bank and clothes bank, and now, they run a 60-strong youth club for ages 4-16, with volunteers. Their store room is packed floor to ceiling with games, and puzzles. Every year, they take the children camping for a week; through the year they go on day trips. While bullying is dealt with by exclusion for a week and being barred from day trips for a while. They are proudly multicultural. One of their young people is on a leadership training programme with Essex Boys and Girls Club this year. She helps out with the youth club.
The building is used to its maximum potential and it does this by renting out the big rooms for parties at weekends. There are strict rules about usage and finishing times, with a deposit to ensure compliance, but this income means that Community House is financially self-sufficient. They are not dependent on grants, although they do secure grants which they use for the benefit of their users. For example, one grant enabled them to buy laptops for youngsters to take out on loan for the duration of their schooling. They use grants for camping trips so the charge to parents is minimal (£10).
A visit to Community House will demonstrate what ‘asset-based community development’ means in practice! The assets are multiple: the building, the location, the volunteer workers, the local residents; the collaborations with local shops for the food bank, the link with Essex Boys and Girls – the list is long.
Community development is what the team are practicing by drawing local people in to sit as trustees, by promoting a multicultural welcome in hiring out their space, by running an inclusive youth club - all so important in giving young people a sense of belonging and trust. They are both tapping into the local social capital on the estate and reinforcing it by making available safe community spaces for people to meet.
I would like to congratulate the team, headed up by founders Wendy and Anita, and their trustees on their fine community work. Let it long continue!
Here at Kids Inspire, we are hoping to be able to collaborate with Community House as we develop projects and services in the area and introduce projects that complement the work already taking place.
By building relationships with people and community groups in Thurrock we are aiming to encourage local people to participate in activities that will support the emotional and social wellbeing of local children and young people. After all, it takes a village to raise a child!
Elizabeth Bayliss, Community Engagement Lead
Community House, Grays, Image courtesy of Thurrock Nub News