Community Voice in Northumberland
The Northumberland Experiences pilot is an innovative place-based research project focused on the Hirst in Ashington, training local people in community research methods to undertake research about what life is really like in the area.
The Northumberland County Partnership set out with the aim of achieving generational change and tackling inequalities by 2044.
The partnership wanted to do things differently and Northumberland Experiences is a key example of this which was developed and run in collaboration with Insights North East- a regional partnership connecting evidence to policy.
Northumberland Experiences goes beyond statistics to hear stories about what life is really like in Northumberland through interviews and photo voice from residents in the Hirst. This approach gives a genuine and honest view of what it is like to live in the Hirst.
Most of the evidence we already have about life in Northumberland comes in the form of numbers and statistics. What his evidence is missing are the stories and experiences of the people living in Northumberland today. This means councils and other important institutions – such as hospitals, schools and businesses – aren’t able to consider these when they are making decisions that affect the lives of communities.
The Northumberland Experiences Project Pilot set out to understand what life is really like in The Hirst. It wanted to listen to the community and to make sure the things that they said, and the things that were important to them, would be heard by the County Partnership.
The ambition for this project, beyond the pilot is that it will continue to reach different places across the County, revisiting various locations across Northumberland in the next 20 years. The hope is that, by doing so, the County will create a record of life as it changes, helping policy makers and stakeholders understand long-term impacts and measure social outcomes
Community researchers were found and recruited through voluntary and community sector organisations in the local area and partners. The researchers underwent a six week training programme on how to do research followed by four weeks of research. 13 researchers completed the training and 10 conducted the research.
During the research, the community researchers interviewed people they knew, often neighbours, family, friends and fellow residents, hearing their stories in their own words and transcribing, using audio recording, taking notes or sometimes photos.
The community researchers interviewed 27 local people as part of the project. All of these residents had a wealth of local knowledge that the researchers were able to call upon.
The coding of the transcripts was done by Insights North East and using a thematic and grounded approach. The thematic approach used the wider determinants of health framework and the grounded approach explored themes that emerged from the transcripts. Despite these diverse topics we found evidence for all wider determinants of health, and using a grounded methodology we also identified some further themes around social capital, different experiences of volunteering and the importance of the Park and the Welfare centre in the Hirst.
Health is social but things aren’t great:
It is very clear from the research that the residents in the Hirst see health as much more than physical health, it has to do with wellbeing and social interactions as well as physical health. Social interactions can also support a journey to better mental health. There is a strong sense of community where people look out for each other and include people that contributes to community wellbeing.
I know that I’ve still I’ve got people that would look out for us [Participant 21]
At the same time, residents were acutely aware that things had got worse in the Hirst. There were especially concerns about the safety around the park, particularly for women and children. There was also a clear contrast in how safe the Hirst was perceived during night and day.
Hirst park at night vs. day
Along with the strong sense of community was a pride and awareness of the history of the community as a former mining town. But the pit closures and changes in industry had been strongly felt by the community and had large impact on peoples’ mental and physical health.
How did the closure affect the people?
Mostly devastated and struggled to find work but men were spending their money quickly and ran it out. I used my redundancy to pay off my home and my wife’s mam’s house [Participant 1]
Community is strong and there are key hubs:
Despite a feeling of decline, there was a strong sense of community power, resilience and hope coming through in the interviews.
There was also a feeling that the Hirst is portrayed negatively to the outside world and there were outside prejudices based on class. It was felt that although there was some truth in this, these portrayals did not tell the whole story and missed out many of the positive aspects of the Hirst such as family and community.
We just need to move away from saying that people are poor because it’s embarrassing as well for them,as well, not just them though it’s just like we are actually richer than yourselves, you know what I mean? [Interviewer: It not always about money you have got, could be family]
Yeah, it’s the whole family dynamics. Yeah the friendship that they have, obviously, you know what I mean? [Participant 4]
When considering how things could be improved in the future, much of the comments aligned with improvements in the wider determinants of health. People wanted more opportunities for young people, both for their leisure activities and employment. They also recognised a link between there being fewer activities for young people and the incidence of antisocial behaviour and feeling unsafe.
This sense of power and pride also came through when residents spoke about the nice and positive places in the Hirst.
Hirst Park
One of the important places is Hirst Park. It is part of their everyday activities and movements. But as seen above it is also a place where people feel unsafe, one and the same place therefore gives people very different experiences, but it remains a key place that is important for people in the Hirst.
Park up near that area is my favourite. It’s just so peaceful and it’s just got a lot of great memories now. […] When I was coming back from a club with all my friends we used to hang out at the park and there’s a bench there for one of my other friends who sadly passed away so she actually got a bench there so it’d be nice.[Participant 19]
Volunteering isn’t always great
Social capital is key for community, and volunteering is at the heart. But the research showed that there are many motivations to volunteer, and sometimes the experiences aren’t good. This is a really key thing for the community to be aware of
I think to give a sense of purpose and be out in the community more. I did at first, I think, it was kind of new and exciting, but then I felt like I started dreading it, like I would wake up dreading it the night before, I would dread it because it wasn’t the thing for me. [Participant 9]
The next steps for the project are to share the report and stories on the Living Archive that is being created by Northumberland County Council. The community researchers are continuing to share their voices about things happening in the Hirst and the council is working with Rural Design Centre to take the lessons learned from the pilot forward. More importantly, the council, community and organisations working in the Hirst are working on addressing the issues raised in the research to make a change in the community now.
Learn more about the project in this documentary by Jason Thompson.