St Peter's Partnership

Download the St Peters Partnership Film

Text Version

Music – ‘Lifted’ by The Lighthouse Family.

“Without the community behind you, you go nowhere.”

“I’ve got a lot more involvement in things now and I’m able to take part in stuff. I know what’s going on.”

“This has been a real success, a partnership that’s worked for the people of St. Peter’s.”

Music

Narrator

St. Peter’s Ward is part of Ashton-under-Lyne; Tameside’s largest town. It includes Ashton town centre and is a vibrant and attractive area but like many former industrial towns it has its share of problems. It’s one of the worst areas in the country for multiple deprivation with high unemployment and poor academic results. Now though there’s new hope, skills and opportunities thanks to the former Ashton Regeneration Project and its successor, St. Peter’s Partnerships.

Linda Fletcher, Chair SPP and local resident

“You would not know how proud I am of St. Peter’s. It is a massive achievement personally and for the staff and the volunteers.”

Adnan Zaman, St. Peter’s Youth (SPY)

“My life could have gone a very different way, a very bad way and at the moment everything that I’ve achieved and the opportunities I’ve had I’m working to give those opportunities to the rest of the young people that we work with.”

Narrator

It’s all about putting unity into the community and, as a Registered Charity and Development Trust; St. Peter’s Partnerships have created social enterprises which provide a range of training and job opportunities for local people. The profits are then invested back into a host of social projects.

It’s a multi-cultural Ward and the Partnerships have been pivotal in making improvements to create social cohesion and help different generations live alongside each other.

Joyce Bowerman, Resident and Trustee

“The youths had nothing to do. They would roam in the streets and the residents didn’t have a high opinion of where they lived, and now St. Peter’s is uplifted.”

Brenda Eckersall, Resident and Trustee

“I would encourage a lot more residents to get involved and have a bigger voice within the are and we are working very hard with the Residents’ Association with St. Peter’s and with lots of other groups to try and involve a lot more people.”

Music

Narrator

Increased traffic has been a major factor in the Ward’s development. Main roads into Manchester or to the M60 created barriers for pedestrians so people tended to stay isolated rather than mixing; a particular problem for young people, but the work of St. Peter’s Youth or SPY changed all that. It brings youngsters together, offering a wide range of sessions and learning opportunities. SPY is based at Holy Trinity Church, managing the centre, keeping it alive and supplying crucial services into the heart of the Ward. Another example of putting unity into the community.

Adnan Zaman, St. Peter’s Youth (SPY)

“The St. Peter’s Youth has in the past young people never had much to do and they were hanging around on the street and because of that they used to do a lot of anti-social behaviour and causing nuisance and stuff like that and the activities SPY puts on skills local people to work with those young people and gives them something more positive to do and achieve something better in life.”

Jeni, Volunteer – St. Peter’s Youth Team

“It’s changed me being a volunteer it’s following my career path that I wanted to do because I want to be a Youth Worker and I want to get a degree and everything.”

David, Volunteer – St. Peter’s Youth Team

“My mates think it’s a good idea, my mum and dad love the idea of me becoming a volunteer. It’s good all round.”

Safie, Volunteer – St. Peter’s Youth Team

“My friends and family are involved within things now. They’re part of the activities that are going on and they can see and feel what’s going on so they’re a lot more comfortable with it now.”

Narrator

St. Peter’s Youth Team is made up of around eighty local people who provide over seven hundred young people with more than sixty hours of activities each week. In addition, low education standards and few jobs meant people needed more training and development to help them find work.

Safeguard Assessor

“Hello we’re from Safeguard – we’ve come to do your fire risk assessment. We’re here on behalf of the Fire Service. This is our ID”.

Narrator

St. Peter’s Partnership has developed a new social business, ‘Safeguard It’, which has been a huge success in its first two years inspired by a pioneering idea. It’s won a National Fire Service award. Local people have visited more than five thousand homes.

Safeguard Assessor

(Test smoke alarm) “Okay that’s fine”

Andy Heywood, Borough Commander GMFRS

“Safeguard It social enterprise is a partnership between the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and St. Peter’s Partnership which we’ve established primarily to deliver home fire risk assessments to the vulnerable people within St. Peter’s initially. Home fire risk assessments are making people’s homes safe from fire.”

Safeguard Assessor

“We’ve got ones with ten year guaranteed battery”

Andy Heywood, Borough Commander GMFRS

“Local community members have engaged in this essential service in such a passionate manner that they’ve delivered a high quality service to the most vulnerable people in St. Peter’s.”

Marianna Findlow, Safeguard It

“I think St. Peter’s Partnership is a very good organisation and their interest is always with the local community and they will do anything to help local people, either put them on the path for jobs or helping to train to get the jobs.”

Michael McDonald, Safeguard It

“I’m a community minded person and it’s given me the opportunity to work with people in the community and doing community work and having an effect as a person because it’s my community; not only that it’s my family’s community.”

Narrator

But St. Peter’s Partnerships are not just about jobs and young people. There are also environmental benefits as residents enjoy a better quality of life helped by the Greenscape social enterprise.

Adam Howard, Greenscape

“I was unemployed for several months and through St. Peter’s people at Cavendish Mill I had the opportunity to work for Greenscape and the training that they provide. I’ve got four health and safety certificates and at the moment I’m presently doing customer service NVQ.”

Shawn Carlsson, Greenscape

“I think Greenscape’s improved the area by giving facilities such as parks and all that you know for the kids and making it a better place but also with it being part of doorstep it’s literally on my doorstep so I can bring my family here and let the kids come and play.”

Music

Narrator

The Partnerships grew out of the former Ashton Regeneration Project which was managed by the Local Authority. Tameside Council recognises how the initiative has added value to its investment in the Ward.

Jack Davis, Vice Chair SPP and Local Ward Councillor

“Many things have changed because the Council has asked St. Peter’s Partnership to do X, Y and Z, and we’ve done it with some style. One of the things that I’ve always tried to do as a Councillor is to get the community involved. Without the community behind you, you go nowhere. Fortunately for St. Peter’s Partnership they enjoy what we do and give us one hundred and ten percent support.”

Guy Heppner, Trustee

“St. Peter’s is a very, very strong community. People who have lived here all their lives and feel very committed to the area we have consistently exceeded our targets so our funders in the past have always been pleased that we’ve delivered in the way we’ve said we would deliver.”

In the past twelve months the employment and training team has delivered more than two thousand seven hundred hours of information, advice and guidance sessions. Three hundred and eighty people have gained qualifications, with over seventy landing a job.

Sadjo Dhalo, St. Peter’s Resident

“Since I came here I’ve started doing my English, my numeracy and then I started doing other training like first aid, my community, my health, so I’m very grateful for these opportunities I have because now I have a great job.”

Malgorata Chwistek, St. Peter’s Resident

“I’m doing now a work placement in IKEA and I’m very happy to do it because I always wanted to work in IKEA so probably I will get the job I applied there.”

Narrator

St. Peter’s Partnerships have grown steadily and now turnover two million pounds a year. There are currently seventy employees and over a hundred community volunteers providing grass root support to residents and local community groups. Local people have a range of social networks open to them. So the future for the residents is bright. There’s a strong local community that’s confident and determined about what should happen next.

“For the future we need to provide more opportunities for interaction between communities because it’s when we work together that we grow together. This’ll help bridge language barriers and help change cultural differences.”

“I would like us to grow and include more people in the community, get more people back to work and to keep St. Peter’s Ward a clean and homely place for people to live in.”

“Anything that would improve our area I’d just like to see it grow and grow.”