Consultation

In April 2022, we launched a six-week consultation to find out what residents thought our priorities for the area should be.

Methodology
A paper copy of the consultation was posted to all houses in the Big Local area. We also sent out a letter in the six main community languages linking to an online version of the survey and received nearly 400 responses.

Conscious of the need to try to engage all parts of our community, we recruited a team of social researchers, who were paid the London Living Wage, to help our partnership members to talk to local residents. In total, we spoke to over 100 people. We also conducted focus groups and one-to-one conversations with some of our key community partners.

After this, we held a stakeholder engagement session at The Mill, a local community centre, to share some of our early ideas with local partners.

Equalities and inclusion
In 2021, we conducted a review of our work to date to understand who was benefiting from our projects. While there was good representation among different ethnic groups, the review found a slight bias towards younger people.

The partnership also held a specific session on equalities and inclusion, during which we agreed that we would:

Review the way we run application processes for residents grants and events grants, ensuring that it is accessible for all and there is more support for people to apply for funding.

• Recruit a community development worker to make sure we are able to dedicate more time to talking to local residents and partners in the St James Street area.

• Look at how we can make our partnership more inclusive and accessible to a broader range of local residents, recognising the time commitments of volunteering.