Vale Royal Borough Council’s Wharton project
Wharton is an area of social deprivation and suffered from high levels of antisocial behaviour. Last year, young people in the area informed the local voluntary group that they were bored and there was nothing to do.
Young people were further consulted with and as a result, the Wharton Project was established in September 2006 to provide young people with something positive to do, reduce anti-social behaviour and environmental crime and increase community cohesion. Young people can now take part in activities such as sport sessions, DJ coaching and street dancing.
Initially a couple of residents were concerned about noise, however overall, the community feels the project is extremely positive and have expressed how good it is to see activities available for younger members of the community.
Aside from vandalism in the early stages of the project and initial difficulties in gaining support from statutory agencies, the Wharton Project has been very successful and has seen a reduction in the increasing trend of anti-social behaviour in all Wharton Wards in comparison to 2005/6. There has also been a decrease in random fires.
In September to November 2005 there were 31 fires compared to just six between September and December 2006 when the project started. An average of 29 young people take part in activities on Friday and Saturday evenings. A Voluntary Community Service - Service Level Agreement has been developed to focus provision for young people around the Wharton area. As a further incentive for young people to want to visit the community centre it has been re-decorated and may even be redeveloped as part of a capital bid.
When asked what the best thing about this project was, Sue Fernandes, Streetscene Strategy Manager for Vale Royal commented “It’s been brilliant to engage with young people who wouldn’t normally take part in community activities and working with a group of teenagers to further develop the project has been a highlight. It’s important to listen to what they want.”
Vale Royal Borough Council also believes it’s the good relations with partners that have helped the project be so successful. The partners are Winsford Youth Forum, Vale Royal Community Safety Partnership, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, Weaver vale Housing Trust, Cheshire Constabulary and Cheshire County Council.
If they were to start a project like this again, Vale Royal would secure finances at the start of the project to ensure it is sustainable. The project grew much larger than anticipated which made it difficult to make sure appropriate funding was in place and so a large amount of time was spent trying to attract investment.
For further information about the Wharton Project, please contact streetscene@valeroyal.gov.uk