Bridging the Distance, a Community Safari (part 1)
On Tuesday 2nd of July, some members of Dwellbeing went on a community safari, almost a school trip, to Gateshead to learn about how groups on the other side of the Tyne are building community and supporting people in their own unique ways.
Shieling Working Group member, Isaac Bell Holmstrom, reflects on the experience and what we can learn that can help our work in Shieldfield….
We started at Bensham Grove Community Centre – a beautiful building, originally owned by a cheesemonger who became a quaker, and who invited people from all walks of life into his home to teach and talk with his 6 daughters and his son, who went on to become feminists, university students, abolitionists, and suffragettes. Christine, Paul and Neil told us about how the building eventually became a community centre. After a ten-year process, a full asset transfer meant that Bensham Grove Charity (which hosts Gateshead Community Bridgebuilder) owns the space outright. This means a lot of responsibility, but it is handled admirably. There was such an emphasis on welcome, they put so much care into helping us feel at home in the space and in their community, they were incredibly positive and this energy was evident from their work.
We went through various rooms, each with an old photograph of how that room used to look, to see Chris’ adult education class for people with learning difficulties, interwoven with artwork, textiles, and an exhibition of their work. We toured through art groups in more rooms, each more beautiful than the next, and through the conservatory decorated with tiles painted by the community. We reached Zahra’s English class, a wonderful community of people from all different ages and countries, staying in hotels and making use of the classes as a way to make friends and engage with the space.
The connections we saw between all these spaces was incredible – the nearby GP refers people to Bensham Grove’s “Active Families” exercise class, and Christine emphasised how valuable it is to build these networks during “peacetime”, so that should any crisis hit, they would be ready and prepared. A short drive down the hill is Teams Life Centre, a 50-year-old (this year!) centre, where we met Paul from Gateshead Council, Alex from Community Mental Health NHS and Chloe from Connected Voice. Seeing a building hosting so many groups that work together, with close connections to the Council and to different service providers, shows the flexibility that comes from a collaboration based on trust and understanding. We even walked past a furniture library, a building where people can donate furniture, or borrow it; people have written into their wills that they want their furniture to go to this building, because when they first came there, that’s where they got it from. The area has its own unique requirements – anti-social behaviour, issues around walkability and mobility, and need for cultural capital – but the time and effort that has gone into building these spaces and the communities within them are inspiring.
It almost felt like seeing a version of Dwellbeing from the future, seeing what can be achieved through care and attention. We all left with our heads full of ideas (and our stomachs full of very tasty baked potato), and we look forward to hosting Christine, Paul, Neil, Margret and more in Shieldfield, to teach and learn and share. Many thanks to everyone we met, we can’t wait to see you again and keep working together!
Read more about the Gateshead Community Bridge Builders here: https://relationshipsproject.org/project/gateshead-community-bridgebuilders/