Building a resilient
community
Newham is a young, vibrant and
ambitious borough, but as the second most deprived borough in the
country, we face enormous challenges.
Our approach to building resilience in
Newham
Newham is the second most deprived borough in the country and
we face enormous challenges. Our approach to transforming the lives
of our residents is unique. Through building resilience; personal,
economic and community, we will make a positive and lasting impact,
working towards the people of Newham having the same life chances
as those in other parts of London.
In 2011, following our consultation A Strong Community: Building
Resilience in Newham, we launched
Quid Pro Quo, Not Status Quo, Why we need a welfare state that
builds resilience (pdf). It was our delivery plan for building
the resilience of our residents and community.
Since then we've committed to embedding resilience in everything we
do as a council. We have made great progress in building a more
resilient Newham and we have now launched
Resilience Making it Happen - An update on delivery (pdf) which
outlines what we have achieved so far.
We are building resilience in Newham by:
- Jobs through our local employment scheme, Workplace, which gets
5,000 people a year into work, half of which are long term
unemployed.
- A comprehensive Every Child programme. This includes a
groundbreaking programme which gives children in Year 5, Year 6 and
Year 7 the opportunity to learn how to play an instrument, at no
cost to parents.
- Free universal school meals for all primary age children;
- A guarantee of one to one tuition for primary children falling
behind with reading;
- Free theatregoing and sports participation, including Every
Child a Chess Player.
- Our elected Councillors with our residents will have real
control over physical assets and local services. From now on
they'll direct the biggest council-run volunteering service in the
country. They'll be able to pro-actively approach hub co-ordinator
officers to share ideas about what will make their neighbourhood
better, and then participate to get changes made.
- The country's first borough-wide licensing scheme for private
rented sector landlords. Better quality housing will mean healthier
residents, better community relations and a higher quality physical
environment.
A more resilient future for Newham
The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games brought the
world's attention to our doorstep. We'll always fight for legacy
from the Games and beyond. That means jobs and we're delighted that
we helped so many Newham residents get employment during the Games.
Summer 2012 was a also a time for celebration as a our
Lets
get the Party Started programme supported residents from all
walks of life come together and celebrate.
This is just the beginning of our work in this area and we're
making sure we're supporting local people in the most effective
ways possible. From helping young people to find work, to plans for
a life changing fund for local people who want to transform their
lives, we'll keep looking for new ways to build resilience in
partnership with local people.
Understanding community resilience
To build our understanding of community resilience in Newham and
the strengths, networks and connections in the borough we conducted
a research project with think tank the Royal Society for the
encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and The
Campaigns Company.
Resilience consultation documents
The research highlights the different ways and places that people
interact and support each other in Newham as well as fascinating
insights into the values and perspective of local people.
This is a new way of thinking for local authorities and this
research will help us to develop our ideas for getting the most out
of the strengths and talents of local people, to make Newham a
place where people choose to live work and stay.