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... ween Hazel Stanley, Philip Trenoweth, (Health Visitors), local police, education officials and representatives from Carrick Council. 2. Coffee mornings were set up and attended by council officials and police to encourage enemies to confront each other in a civilised manner and sort out their differences. 3. The Penwerris Tenants and Residents Association was formed. 4. A successful bid for 2. 2 million of government funding was put in for central heating and energy efficiency measures throughout the estate. 5. The Beacon Community Regeneration Partnership was set up, a multi-agency group fronted by residents on the estate.
As a result of the efforts of tenants and with the assistance and encouragement of health Visitors, Police, School Teachers, Council Members and some government funding, the estate has been transformed into a thriving community. Houses and low-rise blocks have been renovated changing the estates appearance from of dark depression to a bright and cheerful sight. Energy conservation measures have been carried out on 900 homes, 300 of which are now centrally heated. Vandalism has been dramatically reduced with the installation of increased security street lighting. A neighbourhood watch scheme is in force with continued and regular liaison with the police. An empty shop has been converted into Beacon Energy Action Office, offering advice and displaying job vacancies, the office doubles up as a neighbourhood meeting room.
Another shop has been converted into Beacon Care where residents over 65 can receive health checks, there are sessions for physiotherapy and advice on contraception and breast-feeding. Since 1995 the crime rate on the street has halved with 87 % of the community saying they feel safe, children on the child protection register has fallen from 23 - 4 in 1999 along with post natal depression falling from 18 - 4. 10 - 11 year old boys exam results have doubled. Childhood accidents have fallen by 50 %. The regeneration project became part of the NHS 'Beacon' network for it's innovation and practice, and those behind it have been awarded the government Nye Bevan award for excellence.
Social/Community Action 'Done By', this is commonly known as the conflict model. It can be described as the community's reaction to community work being carried out, state decisions which are deemed to be unnecessary by the community, companies forcing ideas, buildings and changes which are unwelcome and many such like factors influence a communities decision to act. Social action itself can be demonstrated by, campaigns, protests, sit-ins, petitions, Raleigh's, letter campaigns, crowds appearing at hearings, phone calls anything which generation and to a large extent hindrance. The intention of social action is to generate power and the winner will inevitably be the side with most power. The other point to make here that usually the side to which the social action group are opposing often have legalities on their side which is the greatest pow r. Several recent protests, campaigns and petitions in Falmouth have been aimed at a mobile phone company to erect a phone mast next to a junior school.
The argument against this proposal is the damage it could do to the children at the school and the surrounding dense housing estate. The land is owned by the council and a lot of money will be gained which is the argument by the council for the proposal, more money more improvements in the area. Parents, teachers, local traders and residents have marched through Falmouth with placards, gathered in large crowds outside the Town Hall and sent petitions to the council and the mobile phone company. While this has generated a lot of attention it has also caused some violent out breaks when a number of individuals tried to cause a riot at the Town Hall. Another example on a larger scale can be seen in recent petrol strikes and convoys, while it generated a lot of attention at the time the long-term effects appear non-existent. The advantages of Social Action can include: - - Showing a large group of interest and power can gain interest and support of those in power i.
e. Politicians - Embarrassment and humiliation can sway a decision to be changed or made - Shows that communities are strong and will not be walked over again influencing ideas - Lets people in power no exactly what a community wants However the disadvantages can include: - - Can be threatening in a way that instigates violence - Petitions may not always be read and there is no way of proving this - It is possible that all the facts are not taken into consideration - It isn't always possible to get everyone in a community involved - Time consuming Quite often social action projects are instigated by community members who feel they are not being heard or feel that more drastic measures need to be taken to gain attention in some cases community workers may get involved either to assist with things such as facts and possibly a mediator or simply to ensure things don't get out of hand although with the large size of some groups this isn't always possible or sensible. In conclusion it is possible to see how all three of these models have the best interests of the community in mind. However with the Social Planning model although it is the intention to improve the conditions in which the community live, it doesn't appear very empowering in fact it appears rather patronising making decisions for the community almost telling them what and how to do things also creating dependency on the government in many ways something the government is aiming to stop. 'The Government places great importance on involving local people in regeneration " It is important to the success of regeneration programmes to involve as many people in the community as possible, in order to establish priorities fro action and effective solutions to problems. ' Cited in Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions. Regeneration Research Summary 1999. web The fact that most social planning projects are set a period of time to achieve their goals it doesn't appear to make any provision for long term measures it also doesn't appear to give any indication of what will be done if the goals of the project are not attained leaving a very tokenistik impression.
The aims and goals of the Sure Start project appear wonderful the intentions are great but through all my research I found it easier to find outlines of intentions than hard facts of what had already been achieved. 'if improvements in housing investment and the quality and availability of public services are not forthcoming, ... families could start leaving troubled estate, compounding the problems faced by those involved in regeneration efforts'. '... this study found that resources were not getting through to provide the scale and quality of services required o tackle social exclusion. The government's national strategy for neighbourhood renewal is a move in the right direction, but there is clearly still a long way to'.
Cited in regeneration Policies are not Working web Community development is it appears the more productive model, encouraging and assisting community members to become actively involved to attain what they need and want together as a community. It's strengthening the community by doing with rather than weakening it by doing for. Community development creates independence and an ability for a community to stand up and control, to an extent the factors that affect the lives, exactly what the intentions were in the first place. Social/Community Action while this appears affective in some instances it can become out of control and altogether unproductive. It is probably the most empowering model yet at the same time the most confusing if the aims, objectives and facts are unclear. Through the study of each of these models it is apparent that the best form of community development embraces all three Social Planning, Community development and Social/Community Action, and quite often community workers and practitioners do.
Taking a piece from each model and using it at the appropriate time will be much more beneficial than using one single model.
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Research essay sample on Social Action Government Funding
