Green Spaces & Young People: The view
from a housing provider- Affinity Sutton
Andrew Cooper- Neighbourhood
Investment Manager

25 September 2012
Why improve green spaces?

• Affinity Sutton is a housing association which has 57,000 properties across
 England

• Recognised that there is a very strong business case for improving green spaces

• Residents feedback- improving appearance of where they lived was a priority for
 them and would increase customer satisfaction

• Helps make our estates look better and places people want to live

• Many costs and problems result from isolation and economic inactivity – ASB, rent
 arrears and general dissatisfaction

• Make the areas more desirable places to live

• Neighbourhoods Green project raised awareness for housing providers
Green spaces can be a problem
Cultiv8 and Affinity Sutton
• Affinity Sutton is a housing association which has 57,000
properties across England
• Cultiv8 is our green spaces project and involves bulb and tree
planting, allotments and natural play areas, community gyms
• It links into national priorities around heath and well being and
community cohesion
• Vital to engage with young people about green spaces, under
16’s make up 20% of national population and on some housing
estates this can be up to 50%
• Young people have enjoyed been involved and making a
difference to their neighbourhoods
Greener Neighbourhoods
Affinity Sutton is working with residents on a range of exciting green
projects including:

• Local kitchen gardens

• Community allotments

• Urban orchards

• Outdoor gyms

• Conservation initiatives

• Natural play areas
Greener Neighbourhoods
Affinity Sutton is working with residents on a range of exciting green
projects including:

• Local kitchen gardens

• Community allotments

• Urban orchards

• Outdoor gyms

• Conservation initiatives

• Natural play areas
Our approach
Affinity Sutton is working with residents on a range of exciting green
projects our approach has been community led:

1. Identify priorities for local areas and consult

2.Engage residents and partner organisations and identify funding

3.Deliver allotments/ community gardens/ play areas to meet local
needs
Killingbeck park
Community Gardens & events
Allotments
Cultiv8 in action
Key partners

• Our residents
• Ground maintenance contractors
• Groundwork
• Environmental Charities/ youth service and youth
  organisations
• Schools
• Police
• Royal Horticultural Society/ Colleges/ Community
  Cafes/ Food Co-ops
Youth Engagement

                       Young People
                      5-11 11-16 16-25




             Intervention         Ambassadors
           Bradford & Penge       National & Estate




       Sport                Arts              Community
      Olympics         Roots Showcase        Funding model
Outcomes for Affinity Sutton
• 38 bulb planting events held in 2011
• 4 new allotment projects
• 2 community gyms, 3 new play areas/ parks
• More community volunteers
• More engagement with residents
• Increase in customer satisfaction
• Over £800,000 invested in green spaces in
  2011/12 over half from external sources
Thanks for your time, any questions?

Affinity Sutton - Green Spaces & Young People: The view from a housing provider

  • 1.
    Green Spaces &Young People: The view from a housing provider- Affinity Sutton Andrew Cooper- Neighbourhood Investment Manager 25 September 2012
  • 2.
    Why improve greenspaces? • Affinity Sutton is a housing association which has 57,000 properties across England • Recognised that there is a very strong business case for improving green spaces • Residents feedback- improving appearance of where they lived was a priority for them and would increase customer satisfaction • Helps make our estates look better and places people want to live • Many costs and problems result from isolation and economic inactivity – ASB, rent arrears and general dissatisfaction • Make the areas more desirable places to live • Neighbourhoods Green project raised awareness for housing providers
  • 3.
    Green spaces canbe a problem
  • 4.
    Cultiv8 and AffinitySutton • Affinity Sutton is a housing association which has 57,000 properties across England • Cultiv8 is our green spaces project and involves bulb and tree planting, allotments and natural play areas, community gyms • It links into national priorities around heath and well being and community cohesion • Vital to engage with young people about green spaces, under 16’s make up 20% of national population and on some housing estates this can be up to 50% • Young people have enjoyed been involved and making a difference to their neighbourhoods
  • 5.
    Greener Neighbourhoods Affinity Suttonis working with residents on a range of exciting green projects including: • Local kitchen gardens • Community allotments • Urban orchards • Outdoor gyms • Conservation initiatives • Natural play areas
  • 6.
    Greener Neighbourhoods Affinity Suttonis working with residents on a range of exciting green projects including: • Local kitchen gardens • Community allotments • Urban orchards • Outdoor gyms • Conservation initiatives • Natural play areas
  • 7.
    Our approach Affinity Suttonis working with residents on a range of exciting green projects our approach has been community led: 1. Identify priorities for local areas and consult 2.Engage residents and partner organisations and identify funding 3.Deliver allotments/ community gardens/ play areas to meet local needs
  • 8.
  • 9.
  • 10.
  • 11.
  • 12.
    Key partners • Ourresidents • Ground maintenance contractors • Groundwork • Environmental Charities/ youth service and youth organisations • Schools • Police • Royal Horticultural Society/ Colleges/ Community Cafes/ Food Co-ops
  • 13.
    Youth Engagement Young People 5-11 11-16 16-25 Intervention Ambassadors Bradford & Penge National & Estate Sport Arts Community Olympics Roots Showcase Funding model
  • 14.
    Outcomes for AffinitySutton • 38 bulb planting events held in 2011 • 4 new allotment projects • 2 community gyms, 3 new play areas/ parks • More community volunteers • More engagement with residents • Increase in customer satisfaction • Over £800,000 invested in green spaces in 2011/12 over half from external sources
  • 15.
    Thanks for yourtime, any questions?

Editor's Notes

  • #14 Our vision is to offer a range of activities for our young people, through working with partners across all of our estates. Currently, there is a wide variety of activities offered to our young people that fall into the three key themes of Sport, Arts and Community . We aim to continue this provision by working up a sustainable plan with our partners. For example, we aim to create young community leaders in each of the themes so as to build skills in our communities and leave legacies following each project. We are also aiming to create National PR opportunities through arranging National events to bring our young people from different estates together. In 2012 we are aiming to go one stage further and offer more developed programmes for our young people, in order to offer ‘a menu’ of engagement for our young people. These will include: Intervention programmes- aimed at vulnerable and hard to reach young people. These projects will target ASB hot spot areas and will involve working with Housing Officers in order to identify the key problems. An example of this is a project taking place in Penge in London and Bradford in the North and involves working in partnership with Brathay Trust who specialise in creating intensive support programmes. Ambassadors- National Ambassadors- are our first team of young people who will help to shape and promote youth activity across England. They will receive tailored training and support in order to help them to fulfil this role and will be involved with a range of national activities including creating youth website pages; running youth conferences; report on youth related issues; and be a positive voice for our young people. Estate Ambassadors- will involve working closely with Resident Involvement and the RAP committee to create opportunities for our young people to have a local voice and be provided with an alternative way to engage with our services. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Joe Rich.