Commonside: Plan to Better Serve the Pollards Hill Community

Sponsor:	Commonside Community Development Trust
Sponsor Liaison:	Naomi Martin & Andy Hodge
Student Team:	Alyssa Hollander, John Karlin, Bernard Rabidou, & Julie Tevenan
Abstract:	Although the New Horizon Centre, Pollards Hill Library, and Pollards Hill Youth Centre provide many services and activities for the community, a lack of communication, suboptimal use of space, and funding deficiencies make it difficult to satisfy all of the community’s needs. The goal of this project was to evaluate existing programs and recommend how to best utilize the facilities to provide needed services and activities to the Pollards Hill community. Based on stakeholder interviews, an assessment of space usage, and a community survey, we recommend the service providers explore ways to increase revenue through improved space utilization and develop collaborative strategies to promote, supplement, and enhance the programs and activities they offer to the community.
Link:	A Plan to Better Serve the Pollards Hill Community Commonside Final Presentation

Executive Summary

In the aftermath of World War II, the United Kingdom faced a major housing shortage, resulting in the construction of thousands of council houses. The council housing, funded largely through tax revenues, was opposed by advocates for smaller government in the 1970s. After becoming Prime Minister in 1979, Margaret Thatcher quickly began to dismantle the council housing system in the United Kingdom. The Housing Act of 1980 made council houses prohibitively expensive for local authorities to build and maintain; therefore, local councils began to sell their housing assets to residents and housing associations. Additionally, government cuts compelled communities to accept a greater responsibility in the provision of social services and led to the creation of development trusts. Development trusts are community-led organizations that aim to regenerate the community socially, economically, and environmentally through the delivery of social services; however it can be difficult to achieve this due to monetary constraints.

Ideally, residents and service providers should work seamlessly together to identify and deliver services needed and desired by the community. The most successful collaborations tend to occur when community members are actively involved in decision making processes, which develops a sense of community and ownership amongst the residents. In the London borough of Merton, the Commonside Community Development Trust provides social services at the New Horizon Centre to the deprived Pollards Hill ward. The Pollards Hill Library and Pollards Hill Youth Centre also provide social services to the community. Although the three service providers currently provide many services and activities for the community, a lack of communication, suboptimal use of space, and funding deficiencies make it difficult to satisfy all of the community’s needs. The probable closure of the Youth Centre in April 2016 due to council budget cuts is likely to exacerbate the current situation, as a significant portion of youth services would be eliminated.

The goals of the project were to evaluate current services and activities provided by the New Horizon Centre, Pollards Hill Library, and the Pollards Hill Youth Centre and to recommend how to best utilize existing facilities to provide desired services and activities to the Pollards Hill community.

To achieve these goals, the project team:

• Quantified the usage of services and activities currently offered at the New Horizon Centre, Pollards Hill Library, and Pollards Hill Youth Centre;
• Solicited community opinions and creative ideas to determine what services and activities are most needed and how they may be best provided; and,
• Developed recommendations for the three service providers detailing how to bridge the gaps between existing services and activities and those needed by the community.

The project team quantified usage by interviewing key staff of the three service providers and analyzing each provider’s room bookings. We also solicited community opinions and creative ideas by distributing a community-wide questionnaire and interviewing local residents and councillors. Although the New Horizon Centre, Pollards Hill Library, and Pollards Hill Youth Centre have the potential to cohesively act as a central hub for the provision of services and activities to the Pollards Hill community, the project team identified several potential impediments that need to be addressed:

1. In terms of space usage, current facilities are underutilized, there is a lack of family services/activities and community events, and the impending closure of the Pollards Hill Youth Center is likely to have a substantial adverse impact;
2. There is a lack of awareness about programs and activities offered due to a lack of communication among the three service providers and between the providers and the community; and,
3. Negative attitudes within the community and a lack of joint, long-term strategies among partners inhibit the adoption of new ideas.

The project team used its findings to develop the following recommendations detailing how the New Horizon Centre, Pollards Hill Library, and Pollards Hill Youth Centre can bridge the gaps between current services and activities and those needed by the community.

Recommendation 1: The New Horizon Center should increase revenue through improved space utilization and additional programming.

Our usage statistics indicate that the available space in the New Horizon Centre is underutilized, limiting potential revenues.

• To improve turnout of employed residents and students, the project team recommends that the New Horizon Centre increase afternoon/evening and weekend rentals.
• To increase future room rentals and retain current room bookings, we suggest that the New Horizon Centre offers discounts for first time rentals and long term leases.
• We recommend that the New Horizon Centre add additional programming such as family services/activities and community events.
• To ensure that the needs and desires of the community are continuously met, the project team recommends that the Pollards Hill Library, Youth Centre, and New Horizon Centre conduct regular assessments of their usage statistics in the future.

Recommendation 2: The service providers should improve and increase the promotion of existing offerings.

Our results reveal that many community members are unaware of the services and activities provided by the New Horizon Centre, Pollards Hill Library, and Pollards Hill Youth Centre.

• The project team recommends that the New Horizon Centre increase the promotion of current offerings such as the Step Forward Programme and Monday and Friday Markets.
• The project team also suggests improving the current bulletin board systems of the three service providers by dividing advertisements into three separate boards: board one would display frequently occurring services and activities by category to allow residents to more easily find the type of offerings in which they might be interested; board two would organize frequently occurring services and activities by the day of week similar to one of the boards currently in the New Horizon Centre; and, board three would highlight less frequent or one time events and emphasize upcoming events that would only be available on specific dates.
• If time and funding permit, the project team recommends that the three service providers improve the engagement of less involved residents and increase overall community knowledge of services and activities by distributing advertising materials directly to residents’ homes. We also recommend developing a community outreach program that combines resources to employ a community outreach officer who explains services and activities to residents and personally invites residents to events.

Recommendation 3: The community should develop plan for potential closing of the Youth Centre.

Our questionnaire indicated that local residents believe the potential closure of the Pollards Hill Youth Centre will have a substantial negative impact on the community.

• Based on questionnaire respondent feedback, the project team recommends a local consortium develop an extensive plan for the Youth Centre to manage its finances by identifying and applying for long term grants to maintain the facility, staff, and programming.
• Given more time and resources, we recommend that the consortium increase opening hours on weekends and update the exterior of the Youth Centre to make it more welcoming.
• The project team recommends that the current Youth Centre staff be retained to provide continuity, as the staff has already developed a strong relationship with the youths.

Recommendation 4: The three service providers should develop collaborative strategies and improved communication.

An opportunity exists for improved collaboration between the New Horizon Centre, Pollards Hill Library, and Pollards Hill Youth Centre. Our results indicate that a joint method for the New Horizon Centre, Pollards Hill Library, and Pollards Hill Youth Centre to communicate services and activities to the community is near unanimously desired.

• To allow residents to more easily access information regarding service and activity offerings, the project team recommends that the three service providers create a joint newsletter and share links to the other two service providers through their websites and social media pages.
• If time and funding permit, we also recommend that the three service providers create a single website portal and advertise as the “Pollards Hill Community Space.”

Discussions with outside service providers demonstrate that for service providers to be successful, their leadership must be fully committed to a long-term strategy.

• The project team recommends that the three service providers hold monthly meetings to eliminate occurrence of duplicate and/or competing programming and coordinate more joint events.
• We suggest that the three service providers develop a strategic plan that details how to better serve the community and addresses negative attitudes and social friction. This plan includes but is not limited to empowering residents by implementing a quarterly questionnaire to ensure services and activities meet community’s needs, involving residents in community decisions, and implementing a membership card to give residents a sense of ownership and belonging as well as allow service providers to regulate users.

Although residents may be skeptical to new ideas and promises of change, community leaders may gain their trust by exhibiting genuine commitment to serving the community. Many residents are reliant on the three service providers to deliver much needed services and activities. The three service providers have the opportunity to collaborate with each other and residents to induce positive change in the community. The outcome of this regeneration may provide insight for other communities pursuing similar goals. With commitment and dedication, the leaders of the New Horizon Centre, Pollards Hill Library, and Pollards Hill Youth Centre can inspire the unification of the community and help residents cultivate devotion and loyalty to Pollards Hill.