Pride in Place: views from Northern communities
‘Pride in Place: views from Northern communities’ explores views of residents on what contributes to feelings of pride in their local area and the role NHC members could play in boosting pride in place.
Fostering pride and belonging in local areas is a source of community cohesion and social capital and will play a key role in reducing local and regional inequality across the UK. Research commissioned by the Northern Housing Consortium enabled residents in locations across the North of England to discuss life in their local area. Residents highlighted a wide range of specific factors which contribute to feelings of pride in their local area.
These are:
- Access to basic services
- Sense of community and decision-making
- State of the local environment
The research highlights key challenges such as: the fragmentation of services, a lack of capacity across public services and a lack of visibility of housing and other service providers to residents. These challenges can be overcome with specific action from housing providers, local councils and national government by: encouraging devolution of power to a regional or local level, rebuilding local capacity and supporting innovative engagement and creating community hubs.
This research will play a key role in the NHC’s influencing activities over the next 12 months providing a robust evidence-base for the NHC to present to Government and opposition parties. NHC members will find this a useful insight for their activities within their communities.
