This research project explores the role of the voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in delivering social value during urban regeneration.
In the current socio-economic and political context, there is a need for more in-depth qualitative research into the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector and its role in the delivery of public services with social value, in line with the 2012 Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.
From January 2023 till July 2023, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork at the Colindale Communities Trust as part of a Knowledge Transfer leave awarded by 明星八卦. Some aspects of the research programme were also supported by a Public Engagement Fund.
The Colindale Communities Trust is a community-based charity situated on the Grahame Park Estate which is undergoing regeneration but meanwhile suffering from physical and social neglect. They currently manage the Old Library community hub in Grahame Park. Although catering for the wider Colindale community, The Colindale Communities Trust is at the heart of the Grahame Park Estate. Grahame Park remains one of the 5 areas with the highest level of deprivation in Barnet.
Gaining a unique ethnographic insight into the operational as well as strategic activities of a charity organisation supporting residents in the areas of employment, health and wellbeing as well as co-ordinating other organisations in responding to the needs of a diverse community, the study looked at how a community in social housing is supported in relation to compounded socio-economic inequalities in the meanwhile spaces of regeneration considering:
- the wider socio-economic and political context of a withdrawal of statutory services after years of austerity cuts paralleled with the COVID-19 situation which has led to a retrieval of face-to-face services
- the impact of the temporal, spatial and demographic scale of a suburban regeneration project in London – and the way residents’ needs are being addressed in a period of transition
Research impact
Initial findings were presented in a report which focused on evidence of good practice in the way the Colindale Communities Trust contributed to social value in the Colindale area and especially on the Grahame Park Estate while laying out some suggestions for the future and how the existing legal framework including the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act and the Community Infrastructure Levy could be activated further to more directly support existing work done on-site by local organisations.
That is considering the role of non-statutory organisations in regeneration projects in contributing to the social value, the social infrastructure and impact in a period of transition and change.
The research outcomes present a number of policy implications in regard to social value and the way it is being implemented at a local level but also across the Greater London Authority, especially in the context of regeneration.
Publications
Peyrefitte, M. (February 2024) ‘Social Value at the Heart of the Community in the Context of Urban Regeneration: from meanwhile resilience to community sustainability’.