The Seedley & Langworthy Trust

Seedley & Langworthy Trust Salford
191 Langworthy Road
Salford
M6 5PW

Contact: Lorna Leaston
Tel: 0161 737 9918
E-mail: Lorna.leaston@sali.org.uk

Organisational History

The Seedley and Langworthy Trust is a community trust that was set up in 1997 to develop effective links between people who live and work in the Seedley and Langworthy area of Salford and partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors.

The trust was initially focused on supporting people through the regeneration programme taking place in the ward; however this quickly grew to encompass other activities.

The trust has its roots firmly placed within local resident association’s - we have a proud history of working with and for the community.

As an umbrella organisation for residents associations we work intensively supporting residents groups across our local area. To date we support over 20 resident association’s with ongoing support given to residents to set up new groups and develop their constitution.
We manage a busy and accessible community resource centre within the local shopping area. Opened in 1998 it offers support, advice and advocacy to local community members. We provide ‘drop in’ space for other agencies, including ward councillor surgeries, Age Concern, allowing them space to provide dedicated surgeries from an accessible venue.
The trust has 6 community representatives on the local partnership board proving an opportunity for community members to take an active role in strategic decision-making within the local area.
We administer a small grant programme offering financial support to community groups to access grant funding. To date this has supported over 40 community groups covering a wide range of activities and age groups.
We have been actively involved in a range of local projects, including the In Bloom project, Alleygating schemes, Big Draw events, community events … and many more! Many of these have won national and regional awards in relation to community led activity, for example the RENEW Exemplar awards.
We offer training and learning opportunities for residents including budgeting skills, first aid, IT training and a number of courses in community-led research, including Participatory Appraisal (PA). This is delivered via our Social Research and Development enterprise (SRD) and other social enterprises that we have developed.

The trust has over the years welcomed visitors from other neighbourhoods, proud to talk about what we do – warts and all!- and share experiences and lessons learnt. Through the Guide Neighbourhood Programme we can offer free advice and support to community organisations committed to transforming their communities. This support can range from a structured programme of activities, workshops, neighbourhood visit etc, to disseminating a resource and learning pack containing useful resources, contacts, etc. If you think we can support you – please contact us!

Area of operation

The ward of Langworthy is typical of many older inner urban areas of industrialised cities in the north of England. The area has a history of 19th century manufacturing and industry, and as a consequence much of the housing in the area is terraced housing, originally built to house workers. The age, condition and lack of demand for this type of property led to a declining of the area, during the 1990’s and early 2000’s, this caused property prices to slump and many people to suffer from negative equity on their homes. However schemes such as group repair, and Homeswaps have turned this picture around, and now properties are becoming desirable once more. Houses in Langworthy North are selling with ease, often at prices 500% higher to prices in 2001. During the next few years, the Urban Splash development of over 400 houses will make a big difference to the area, disproving the theory that there is no use for terraced housing in this climate.

The crime rate in the area is still higher than in other areas of the city; most of the issues relate to juvenile nuisance in specific areas, these challenges are tackled through the crime task groups and officer working groups, and again this is effecting change, and by residents taking action in forming resident associations and such like. The area is rising up from its image of isolation, fear, and deep rooted social exclusion to become a pleasant family orientated area once more.

Most of the above would not have occurred without the development and implementation of a comprehensive action for the area. After much pressure from the local community, the Home Secretary visited the area in 1998, and requested an action plan be developed. After considerable consultation, participation and discussion, the plan was prepared and resulted in the area receiving funds from the fifth round of single regeneration budget (SRB5). The funding has made a noticeable difference to the area, as work such as the enveloping schemes takes shape. It is important that as the community grows, due to new people moving, we continue work to maintain the momentum of community involvement to prevent apathy, quick profit schemes and the resultant social problems.

Contacts

For more information regarding our Guide Neighbourhood Programme or to arrange a visit please contact:

Lorna Leaston Guide Neighbourhood Co-ordinator
Email: lorna.leaston@sali.org.uk

Joyce Fitzpatrick (Resident Participation Worker
Email: joyce.fitzpatrick@sali.org.uk

Tel:0161 736 8266
Fax: 0161 745 7666