Transferable Lessons & Ideas

Learning from Community Environmental Projects

This example examines two projects which, while not specifically backcourt improvements, have developed ideas and methods which can be constructively transferred to backcourt regeneration initiatives.

These two projects - The Coach House Trust and the Govanhill Re Action Team – deliver environmental improvements within the context of developing opportunities for those who are social disadvantaged. Both have included backcourt improvements at some point within their programmes, but they also work on improving a range of other public or semi-public greenspaces.

These pages identify some of the processes and approaches which might usefully be transferred to backcourt developments. These are:-

• Provide opportunities for those who are excluded or disadvantaged to get involved in environmental improvements. The public benefit of the work and the skills learned can have significant benefits for the participants and the local residents.
• Recycle and re-use materials wherever possible. Efficient use and re-use of resources can unlock creative ideas, save money and reduce environmental impact.
• Small spaces and projects can have a big impact – as motivation for others to get involved, to demonstrate that large funds are not necessary and as an indicator that the area can improve.
• Support residents to develop community art works. The inclusion of art works can turn the space into a personal gallery for local people and increase the sense of ownership.

A brief outline of the the Coach House Trust and the Govanhill Re Action Team are included in the Summary page.

Social - Everyone’s a Winner

Both the Coach House Trust and the Govanhill Re Action Team provide supported programmes of activity for people who are experiencing one or more of a range of difficulties – mental health, exclusion or expulsion from school, homelessness, drink & drug addiction, anti-social behaviour, chaotic lifestyles, lack of English language.

Both projects use growing, recycling, composting and other environmental activities as excellent opportunities for people who are not yet ready for more mainstream employment. Through this type of work, participants take part in therapeutic physical activity and rebuild their connection with the natural environment. At the same time, they develop practical skills such as communication and teamwork.

Training is given, where appropriate, in environmental awareness, language skills, organic growing, healthy eating and other life skills.

Participants in these environmental improvements develop their self-confidence, self-esteem and potential to participate more fully in society.

Environmental Impact - Reuse Everything

The Coach House Trust has always reclaimed, reused and recycled resources wherever possible. Stone, wood, garden waste and plants are collected, stored and found new uses and homes.

This ethos has been the basis for some of their social economy projects. The Buchley Eco-centre, the Trust’s project in Bishopbriggs, receives waste from landscape gardeners including soil, stone, waste timber and garden waste. This is sorted and processed into a range of certified composts, hard-core, mulches and soils which are then sold commercially and used in the Trust’s environmental projects.

The Trust’s workshops in Balmore and Dawsholm sort and cure reclaimed and waste timber. The timber is then used to produce furniture and pieces of art which are sold in the Coach House Trust shop.

The Belmont Lane gardens demonstrate a range of different ways of composting including the Bokashi method, a wormery and more traditional compost bins.
GOW, Garrioch Residents’ Association and Govan Housing Association also worked to reuse materials and resources in their backcourt improvement projects.

Economic; Small Spaces – Big Impact

The funds needed for large-scale improvement projects are often not available, but these projects have often worked on small spaces using only limited budgets. Improving these spaces can make a significant difference to local residents, increasing awareness and local pride, and demonstrating what people sometimes forget - that the area can be improved.

The Govanhill Re Action Team has cleared and planted several front gardens and public spaces, all for a minimum cost. These improvements have generated local appreciation and raised aspirations.

The Coach House Trust originally started working on gap sites and have now improved all the small, neglected areas around their original base.

Copperworks Housing Co-operative is an example of the influence that small, relatively inexpensive, improvements can have on the social and physical environment of an area.

Construction - Getting Creative

Creative elements in environmental improvement projects provide opportunities for local people to design and create their own ‘signature’ for their space. This can be through carvings, mosaics, murals, sculptures, furniture and signs. Materials reclaimed from environmental improvement projects - glass, tiles, roof slates and wood - lend themselves to this type of re-use and allow a bit of the old to be preserved in the new environment.

The Coach House Trust uses chainsaw carvings, glass mosaics, reclaimed wooden furniture, murals and mosaics throughout their sites in Belmont Lane.

GOW and Partick Housing Association’s backcourt projects used artworks to personalise and decorate the new improvements. Local artists were hired to run workshops and residents took part in designing and creating their own contributions.

Gallery

Summary

The Coach House Trust

84 Belmont Lane, Glasgow, G12 8EN. Web
The groundwork of the Coach House Trust was laid in 1996, when residents around Belmont Lane, near Kelvinbridge, became increasingly concerned about the deterioration of eight gap sites in the area. At the same time, a local supported accommodation provider was looking for productive work in the community for people coming out of long term institutional care with a range of mental health, addiction and learning problems. This positive partnership between environmental improvements and social inclusion has been at the core of the Coach House Trust’s work ever since.

In 1998, the project had the opportunity to buy an old coach house in Belmont Lane which was refurbished and repaired with the support of the National Lottery. This is now the main offices for the Coach House Trust, but their activities have been spreading out from this centre.

They have improved the paths and planting along the banks of the Kelvin and reclaimed the Triangular Garden – a private walled garden in the centre of Belmont Lane which had become derelict. There are now workshops in Dawsholm, Maryhill, and in Balmore Industrial Estate, Possil where woodworking, carving and other reuse activities take place. Larger sites have been acquired in Knightswood and Bishopbriggs where the project runs market gardens, nurseries, bulk composting and material reclamation. A shop has recently been opened on Great Western Road where the project sells furniture and artwork produced from reclaimed materials. They are now working towards becoming a social firm, where 50% of their funding is generated by the sale of goods and services.

Govanhill Re Action Team

Samaritan House, 79 Coplaw Street, Glasgow, G42 7J. Web
The project which preceded the Govanhill Re Action Team worked to increase community involvement in recycling, provide environmental training and volunteering opportunities, and improve gardens, backcourts and other semi-private greenspaces. The Re Action Team has focussed on these last two strands and this successful combination has resulted in environment improvement projects being carried out throughout the Govanhill area, with more planned for the near future.

They target areas that are having a negative effect on the community’s environment – neglected and often piled with rubbish. The improvement of these spaces, though individually small, is incrementally raising the amenity of the whole area. The Team works with the local residents and users of the areas that is being improved, raising awareness of environmental and sustainability issues, and encouraging them to become involved in sustaining the new gardens and greenspaces.

While carrying out this improvement work, the Re Action Team is also providing valuable experience and training for the team members. These are recruited from those who are excluded from employment and/or society for a number of reasons – addictions issues, chaotic lifestyles, low education attainment, limited English or a lack of essential workplace skills. Team members are provided with appropriate training and gain valuable work experience, which helps them move towards employment and a more constructive role in the community.

The double benefit of the Re Action Team – improved environment in Govanhill and improved skills and confidence of team members – is positively reinforced through the visible improvement of the area and the appreciation of local residents.







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