Communities and Social Inclusion
 |
Edmonton Green |
Many of the projects undertaken by the company
- often in partnership with local authorities
and other public sector bodies – are in areas of
significant deprivation. We are therefore often
at the forefront of attempts to address issues
of social exclusion, by providing local jobs and
improving local amenities, infrastructure and
affordable housing stocks. Outstanding examples
in the last year included: the completion of a £27m
state-of-the-art new leisure centre at Edmonton
Green (in partnership with Enfield Borough
Council); and the launch of a major speculative
programme for small and medium enterprises
in the city of Stoke-on-Trent involving 83 units
totalling 287,000 sq ft.
Once a project is under way, active participation in
local community activities is a key feature of the
company’s approach. We deploy a combination
of initiatives to encourage local communities to
share in the improvements brought about by its
regeneration schemes, including:
- Encouraging the employment of local people.
- Incorporating opportunities for local traders in
markets or small units in our retail schemes at
sustainable levels of rent.
- Subsidising local initiatives such as a Credit
Union, local radio stations and community
wardens.
- Encouraging community participation in our
developments. At Trentham Gardens we have
a team of 46 volunteers, 6 from special needs
groups, and 7 from groups supporting the
rehabilitation of the long-term unemployed
(including the Prince’s Trust).
- Incorporating non-intrusive, but high levels of
security facilities in our schemes to reassure
and protect the vulnerable.
- Sponsoring local sport, leisure and charitable
activities, including the Trentham Water
Sports Association that provides access to
water sports for universities, schools, disabled
groups and local community initiatives, and the
Dursley Bowls Club for whom we provided new
changing rooms, kitchen and other clubhouse
At a number of our sites, we provide free, or heavily subsidised, space
and facilities for the use of local charities. These include: free use of our
Trentham Gardens site for a number of charities including the Race for Life,
the Donna Louise Trust, and the Douglas MacMIllan Hospice, which together
raised £750,000 from Trentham events; and the provision in our Edmonton
Green Shopping Centre of 10,000 sq ft of heavily subsidised accommodation
for an integrated network of training and employment charities and not for
profit organisations, together with 15,000 sq ft of community theatre and
arts-related facilities. |
