Community Programme

East Manchester wards still rank amongst the most deprived in the country according to the National Index of Deprivation and suffer from a wide range of problems including high crime rates, high levels of disease and pre 18 conception rates, environmental blight, poor housing, low levels of educational attainment and a lack of adequate and accessible facilities. The area is characterised by deep-seated poverty, low aspirations and expectations and subsequent high levels of transience with the impact of destabilising communities. A key issue has also been the poor delivery of public services characterised by a lack of coordination, responsiveness and relevance in meeting the needs of the community.

A key aim of the wider regeneration programme is to create a sustainable area that will be safe, accessible and welcoming and where there are a range of high quality services to meet the needs of all people at the time at which they need or wish to access them. The area will also have a range of facilities to meet their childcare, social, health, recreational and learning needs.

The Community Framework brings together those elements of the regeneration programme that focus on improving the quality of life and well being of both existing and new residents. It also brings together the work of a number of area based initiatives, including Sure Start Children's Centre programmes, Sports Action Zone, the Beacons social programme along with mainstream services including Manchester City Council, the Primary Care and Mental Health Trusts and local voluntary and community sector providers.

The programme is still in the early stages given the level and extent of deprivation in the area and in some cases the impact of interventions will not be obvious for some time, e.g. in raising life expectancy rates. Cultural and life style changes will be required to be made by some residents to break habits of a lifetime in order to improve the quality of their life and their health.

The approach adopted by the regeneration team has been one of facilitating multiagency work, building on what currently works well and ensuring that all project work piloting new innovative approaches to meeting need, is integrated into, and informs, mainstream provision, both at a delivery and at a policy level.