Policy Hub
On 15 May 2008, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) published a report (Community leadership approaches to tackling street crime) which considers whether the approaches taken to tackling street crime by a social enterprise in Manchester might be relevant to similar neighbourhoods in other areas.
The United Estates of Wythenshawe (UEW) group in south Manchester is currently tackling street crime through its work with young people in Benchill, one of the UK’s most deprived wards. By converting a disused church into a community centre with a gym and other facilities, the group now has a base from which to work with young people. This study reviews their work sharing methods for tackling street crime with similar neighbourhoods in the Midlands and the North of England.
The report looks at the context in which UEW was set up, including the changing face of the Wythenshawe estate in South Manchester, growing concern about a culture of criminality that was becoming embedded in parts of the neighbourhood, and how UEW grew over the years to be what it is today.
Similarly, the report examines what happened when UEW began to reach out to groups in other parts of the country to see if the approach taken in Wythenshawe might be relevant to what they were trying to achieve in their own neighbourhoods.
The report sets out key lessons from the project and offers suggestions as to how policy-makers and practitioners could do more to harness the commitment and energy already in evidence in deprived communities.
Community leadership approaches to tackling street crime (PDF)