‘In a world where it is tempting to think we are divided and turning against each other, actually, this is what Nottingham is like’
Gary Bulmer, a former police officer who co-founded Evolve, a community organisation in the north of the city(Image: LDRS)
“When we first started doing this we were given a cheque for £250. Ten years later, look where we are,” says Gary Bulmer, a former police officer who co-founded a community organisation in the north of the city.
Evolve, in the Broxtowe estate, has managed to use a £250 cheque from a Rotary Club to become a vital part of the local community, offering people a safe, warm place to take part in events, get job support, or simply be as they are and socialise.
However Mr Bulmer, who says the group now employs eight people to help offer a raft of services for those in need, fears they may need to start cutting back in March when funding is pulled.
The Labour Government has now introduced a new programme, called ‘Pride in Place’, which enables communities to take better control over where they believe money should be spent.
Under the programme, the estate and neighbouring Cinderhill will receive £2m each year over the next decade, and a neighbourhood board comprising local people and community leaders will decide where it should be spent.
“Certain things are happening organically, and people are trying to do it, and if [the Government and authorities] can recognise where that it is – you could use that money to fund that and watch it grow,” Mr Bulmer said.
“It’ll solve the problems. When we first started doing this we were given a cheque for £250, and 10 years later look where we are.
“They recognised what we were doing, they trusted us to use it in the right way, and now we employ eight people and last year we had over 2,200 individuals access either some activities, support, jobs, or connectivity. If you look at what we save – people not falling into crisis, not being as lonely, getting jobs – it is phenomenal.”
Evolve is a co-operative Community Interest Company (CIC), which means all profits are reinvested into the work it does.
When the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) paid them a visit on Thursday (November 6), a knitting group was being hosted out of its base in Helston Drive.
Curry and cardamom-infused rice pudding, made by one regular, was available alongside tea, coffee and biscuits.
As well as job support and knitting events, the group also has a boxing ring where people can train.
While the neighbourhood boards are yet to be set up, it is hoped the funding will offer groups more certainty.
It will come at a pivotal time for Evolve, with one of the funding pots it has been drawing from running dry next year.
“We’ve got a situation in March where we are probably going to lose four or five of our team because we are not going to be able to do this any more,” Mr Bulmer added.
“It is really concerning.”
Alex Norris, Labour and Co-operative MP for Nottingham North and Kimberley, also paid Evolve a visit on Thursday as part of the Co-op Party’s Community Britain campaign.
Alex Norris, Labour and Co-operative MP for Nottingham North and Kimberley, paid Evolve a visit on Thursday as part of the Co-op Party’s Community Britain campaign(Image: LDRS)
He says he was “right at the heart of the design of Pride in Place” as a Government minister.
“It was done with this sort of project in mind,” he told the LDRS.
“The point of Pride of Place is to get that support to them. Not just ‘do you want some money for this project you are doing’, but instead flipping that around and saying, well, if we had £20m for your community, how would you spend it?
“The key thing is the people who use these services should lead those decisions. I’m the local MP, I have views, the local council and statutory services do, but it shouldn’t just be what we want. It should reflect what people want locally.
“The sort of feeling this place gives me is I just want to help. And that help is not for us to say, ‘here are the things can you do these things because I want them to do it’, it is how can we get you the tools and resources to help you do what you’re doing.
“Sometimes it can be hard. You work with people with some real challenges. We cannot make that easier, but what we can make easier is that they are not worried about keeping the project going.
“This is the Britain, this is the Nottingham – the north of Nottingham – that I know and love. In a world where it is tempting to think we are divided and turning against each other, actually, this is what Nottingham is like.”
A spokesperson for the Co-operative Party added: “Evolve is the absolute embodiment of community Britain. For over a decade community organisations like Evolve have operated in spite of Government, never with its full-throated support.
“Pride in Place is an important step in the right direction. Funding decided and directed by local people.”
