Wow, moments like this really do make this work worthwhile! It was fantastic to see these two dedicated tenants receive recognition for all their hard work to create a better community for everyone. Read on for their story……

In September 2008 Leeds Federated and Groundwork embarked on a Master-Planning initiative in the Arthington’s area of Hunslet, Leeds.

 The Arthington’s is an estate with wide-ranging issues such as poor environment and anti-social behaviour and is made up of older housing stock in need of regeneration. The Master-planning initiative was developed to give local people the opportunity to create a long-term visual plan of how they think their neighbourhood can be improved environmentally and to get involved in delivering each improvement.

 The Arthington’s estate, like many communities does have really significant issues, but the commitment of the local community has already meant that some fantastic improvements to the local environment have been carried out,  which has, in turn addressed other issues such as youth nuisance and crime, helping to make the Arthington’s a better place to live for everyone.

 Two members of this community have been committed to improving their neighbourhood since this work began. Their names are Kyle Ackroyd and Adam Rankin, aged 16 and 18 years respectively. Kyle and Adam have embraced working to improve the area and have been involved in every project delivered so far.

 Their commitment has created such a positive picture of young people within this community that the barriers once dividing young people from the rest of the community are lifting, creating a more cohesive and peaceful environment for everyone. Adam and Kyle are also excellent role models for younger children on the estate, encouraging them to get involved in positive activities in the area as well as helping to keep the area tidy and free from litter.

 Adam and Kyle initially came along to the first consultation session with Leeds Federated and Groundwork in 2008 and enthusiastically got involved in mapping ideas to improve their estate. Since then, these two can always be relied upon to come along to any projects sessions; rain or shine (and there’s been plenty of rain!), always bringing along a good few other youths too! The young people on the estate have worked extremely hard to clean up the streets where they live, whether it’s been clearing out gardens or litter picking, filling up a fair few skips over time. 

There’s been planting and gardening too, the young people on the estate got involved in planting bulbs as part of Bulb Bonanza 08 as well as organising a workshop to create beautiful hanging baskets for people on the estate. Imagine young people in your area knocking on your door with 2 beautifully colourful hanging baskets ready to hang outside your door; this project brought a lot of smiles to residents’ faces as well as brightening up these terraced streets in Hunslet. Seeing young people work hard to create these hanging baskets for the local residents really helped to break down barriers between generations and restore trust between young people and adults in the area.

 Adam and Kyle always deliver the leaflets advertising any community events on the estate, they get other children involved and work extremely hard, whether it’s picking up litter, planting up baskets or creating artwork. They are always positive and well-behaved, polite and enthusiastic.

 One recent area of great concern for the local community has been a number of empty properties awaiting refurbishment on Arthington Place. The properties were attracting drug addicts and fly-tipping and parents were concerned about the potential danger to children who were also getting into the properties. Adam and Kyle came up with a brilliant idea to board up the properties and decorate them to stop people getting inside and to brighten up the street. It was not only a real turning point in the project to see these two young people coming up with innovative ideas to resolve issues within their community but it provided the perfect solution to a housing management headache for Leeds Federated, saving a substantial amount of money for the Association.

 Working with a graffiti arts project called Hectic Productions, over the summer this year, Adam and Kyle, along with a number of other local children and young people have designed and created some fantastic graffiti boards to cover all the windows and doors of these empty properties. These house aren’t an eyesore anymore, they are safe and secure and demonstrate the creative way in which these two young people have got involved in helping to make their community a better place to live for every one by identifying a problem and coming up with a solution to it. 

 Adam and Kyle have been working with Frontline Youth on their ‘Detached Youth Project’. This project visits the Arthingtons every Tuesday between 5.30 and 7.00pm. They have participated in sports and other fun activities each week and have encouraged other young people to engage with these workers also.

 Adam and Kyle’s enthusiasm and commitment to improving their community has not gone un-noticed and they were invited to help out for the day on a trip for older vulnerable people living in the area.

 Leeds Federated’s 50+ Residents Group were looking for  volunteers to help out on their trip to a Lavender Park near Malton in June of this year. Adam and Kyle were perfect candidates! The acted as a ‘friend’ for a person for the day, someone to lean on when needed and to keep them safe.  

 During this trip, Adam and Kyle had many different duties to ensure that the older people enjoyed their day and had the help and support they required. Walking with their appointed older person, helping them choose food and carrying the tray back to a table. This was a great help to Nelly who uses a walking stick and struggles to carry anything. Jennifer Catton and Lindsay Harris who helped arrange the trip had nothing but complements for Kyle and Adam and the way they conducted themselves and helped the older people get the most out of their day.

 There’s still a lot of work to be done to improve The Arthingtons but the enthusiasm of young people like Adam and Kyle is infectious and doesn’t go un-noticed. It encourages other residents to get involved and improve and look after their neighbourhood as well as developing better relations between young people and older residents.

 Adam and Kyle are a fantastic example of the positive young people that live within all our neighbourhoods who, with a little encouragement and belief can make a real difference to their community now and for future generations.

Leeds Federated’s Community Development Team brings together expertise in a number of areas, creating a holistic approach, combining innovative ideas with enforcement to resolve a variety of social issues.

Our team consists of 5 practitioners working closely together, headed by Sue Jennings, Community Development Manager. We develop initiatives with a range of partner agencies such as Groundwork, The Police, Youth Provision, other Housing Providers and local people.

This blog will create a diary of on-going initiatives and projects that will keep you in touch with the way we work within our communities.