We are still here…
…an update from the BNDfC Executive Manager, Ann Allen
A week or so ago I bumped into someone I used to work with years ago. She’s now teaching at the Vestry Hall and she asked me what I was doing now that Burngreave New Deal had ended. That question made me think…
Burngreave New Deal had to take some really difficult decisions early in 2009 around stopping funding for projects. The disappointment is still being felt and voiced by both the New Deal Board and local residents. It was a really tough time for everyone involved.
Since March 2009 a number of our partners have stepped up to the plate and provided continuation funding for some of those projects. Our sincere thanks go to the City Council, the Primary Care Trust and South Yorkshire Police for making sure that the activities which have brought such benefit to local people are carrying on in some form. Thanks also to The Messenger and BCAF for their campaigning on this matter.
So, what about BNDfC itself? Well, we have had an intense couple of months refining our succession plans which still have at their heart the aim of generating an income from New Deal assets to invest back into the local community. This principle was publicly endorsed back in 2007 and it hasn’t changed.
That income is going to take some time to achieve but to give ourselves the best chance of delivering that aim, we have pared back the New Deal team to an absolute minimum and we’re all focussed on making sure we manage our buildings to make the maximum profit to give back to the community. We have the acknowledged luxury of using the remaining half a million NDC grant to support us over the next two years in getting to that profitable position.
Business plan
We have a business plan that has to be approved by both the local authority, Government Office for Yorkshire and Humber and our funders the Department of Communities and Local Government. We will be presenting that plan at our Board meeting in July 2009.
Several people have said to me that New Deal only seems to care about buildings now, but that’s really not the case – as I’ve explained above, we’re concentrating on them now for a longer term benefit for the people of Burngreave.
Employment support
And we’re still delivering our employment support initiatives through the remaining members of our Burngreave Opportunities team. David, Tammy and Zaheer are still seeing an ever growing caseload of people for advice on getting into work. They’ve seen 216 people this year and if you want to benefit from their guidance please telephone them at Sorby House on 213 2300. We hope to access more European funding to expand the services we can provide in this field and we’re already having discussions about providing Flexible New Deal employment services.
Jobs at Tesco
We’re also still working with Tesco on bringing 200 jobs for local people in their new store due to open in late 2010. BNDfC will be co-ordinating the prerecruitment training to help residents get those jobs.
BNDfC might not have the resources it used to have but we are still working on behalf of Burngreave and through our work with the community assembly we’re determined to make sure the needs of Burngreave continue to be voiced in the right places.
Achievements in the last eight years
We’re also in the process of commissioning the required New Deal programme evaluation. To finish on a positive note I’d like to share some of the things BNDfC has achieved over the past eight years.
50% of Burngreave young people achieving 5 A-C GCSEs for the first time ever in the last academic year
120% increase in the number of Burngreave young people going to university compared to a city increase of just 29%
Vestry Hall – back in use as a community learning centre
An award for our training and support to get people into jobs at Meadowhall
Health Awareness shop – local drop in advice available on health issues
New Deal Police team – continuing to deliver impressive improvements such as the 46% reduction in house burglaries
53% of Burngreave residents said they’re satisfied with their physical environment in the city household survey – higher than the city average
House prices up by 20% – not always a popular fact but certainly an indication that Burngreave is becoming a more desirable neighbourhood to live in
I’m not trying to say that everything has been perfect about BNDfC, we do recognise our faults, what I am saying is that we are still here and we are still trying to improve the quality of life for people in Burngreave.