54 people, mainly community activists, from ten British cities contributed to a consultation in Liverpool addressing the challenges of community-building, in 2004.
Professor Gerald Pillay, who had recently been appointed Rector and Chief Executive of Liverpool Hope University College, gave a challenging welcome address to the Hope in the Cities (HIC) consultation the previous month. A South African himself, he drew attention to the fact that Nelson Mandela made his prison a centre of higher education and gained his degree while in detention, rather than allowing himself to be a victim.
Pillay told how, at his welcome dinner with the Chief Executive of Liverpool City and the heads of the city’s other two universities, the main subject had been their common concern about the sense of hopelessness felt by many young people. These are people with no ambitions and no dreams, who come from areas of deprivation breeding a sub-culture of dependency. Professor Pillay wants Hope University to create a network of hope and to empower those who are victims.
He wanted to partner with Hope in the Cities in specific areas. Two staff members had recently received HIC dialogue facilitation training. One of them told of a dialogue they had initiated between the university students and staff and members of the community in one of the most deprived parts of the city.
Another highlight of the conference came from Nottingham. Glen Williams, detective and Deputy Chair of the Black Police Association there, spoke with Michelle Campbell, a black community youth worker. Their visit to an international conference in Caux, Switzerland, as well as HIC “honest conversation” dialogues in their city, had broken down barriers of mistrust between them.
“It was a life-changing experience,” said Williams. This had led to a commitment with others in the community, who became part of their team, to initiate dialogues involving police and young people in Nottingham. There had followed dialogues in St Ann’s, the centre of a Nottingham district known for drug culture and gun crime. This initiative is ongoing, and their enthusiasm and conviction were infectious. They wanted to take a lead with others in the Caux Human Security Conference in the summer on a “Police, youth and the wider community” workshop.
Nitin Shukla, Gateshead Council Diversity Officer, and Councillor David Down came from Newcastle upon Tyne. Also present were volunteers working with asylum-seeker support initiatives in different parts of the country.
Barrie Brazier from Nottingham’s Racial Equality Council was another who focused on how to remove barriers of mistrust that too often lead to frustration and violence and stand in the way of creating sustainable communities.
Here are some of the fascinating variety of people (54 from 10 cities) who contributed to the Consultation: a Brazilian journalist on a Liverpool degree course; a former nightclub door manager from Manchester, enlisting disadvantaged young people in constructive work to create a leisure centre; the Chair of Liverpool’s Yemeni Arabic Club; an Afghan woman refugee working with London asylum-seekers; and a South African woman, for 30 years ANC representative in the North West.
Dianne King from London spoke passionately about support for wellbeing and mental health carers, dialogue being a tool which helps remove the big factor of fear. Role reversal occasions had also been effective in developing self-esteem in young people.
Students from Sheffield told of a Learn to Lead programme developing leadership skills and encouraging a spirit of service to the community.
John Sephula from Leeds was working to empower young people who fall into the gap filled by drugs and crime cartels. “Why does regeneration not affect the heart of communities?” he asked. “We put money into lovely buildings, but the key is the human factor.”
Journalist Ana Pereira of Brazil concluded: “At the end of the weekend there was a time for reflection, evaluation and co-ordination of future activities and the confidence that this is indeed a community of hope.”
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