Changemakers: Building alliances and a sense of belonging in Battersea

Despite significant commercial investment in the area, many residents of Big Local SW11 in Battersea, South West London, are struggling to cope with the cost of living and feeling isolated. In response, the Big Local area has inspired community-led initiatives that are improving people’s mental health and reducing loneliness. Here, Asi Munisi reflects on how they’ve brought residents’ ideas to life, so the community can thrive.

Asi’s story

I’ve lived in Battersea all my life, and what I love about it is the strong sense of community.

I read the other day that when a female elephant is giving birth, or is hurt, the other elephants will form a circle around her. They’ll protect her from any predators while she’s vulnerable. And when there’s a new birth, or something to celebrate, all the elephants trumpet and celebrate in the goodness that’s happened. And that is Battersea, it’s that sense of belonging.

The biggest challenge for us, as Big Local SW11, has been to reach people who don’t want to come out of the house. Those who have been hurt or have got into trouble with authorities. We’ve reached out to people who don’t necessarily have trust in the NHS or government services, but on a community level, they will engage. The work of our Big Local has been about breaking down those barriers and coming together.

Inequality in a changing Battersea

Around 10,000 people live in the Big Local SW11 area. It’s a tale of two cities. There’s a lot of commercial development, but there’s also inequality. People are struggling to feed their families or make enough money to pay the bills. Sadly, they’re having to choose between eating or staying warm.

With the commercial investment in Battersea in recent years, corporations have got more involved in addressing some of the issues. But no matter how much money you pump into somewhere to do it up, that won’t be maintained unless you also put responsibility into the minds of the people who live there. It’s vital to uplift people’s mindsets to care about where they live.

There are many benefits that come from taking part in activities in your community. It can alleviate stress and build self-esteem and confidence.”

I first came into contact with Big Local as part of the Battersea Jubilee Festival, a series of events to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee in 2022. I was involved as I run a ministry called Asinati CIC and have a weekly show on Riverside Radio, which both aim to inspire engagement with God through music and drama.

I met various members of Big Local SW11 through the festival, and their community worker, David, encouraged me to come along to a meeting. As a woman of faith, I believe there was a reason that David came into my path. I love Battersea, it’s my home. I felt Big Local SW11’s work on addressing the issues of mental health, loneliness and isolation were incredibly important.

The chair of Big Local SW11 was stepping down and it was agreed that three people should come together to lead the partnership, including myself.

Addressing mental health, loneliness and isolation

Mental health is an issue that has an impact on every person to some degree. At Big Local SW11, we hired researchers to look at how community interaction and a sense of belonging can improve mental health. The research showed there are many benefits that come from taking part in activities in your community. It can alleviate stress and build self-esteem and confidence.

I think that people tend to isolate themselves because they feel misunderstood or that they don’t belong. It’s important to create a non-judgmental atmosphere, where people can relax and be authentic. We created an online Community and Belonging Forum which has helped to do this.

The forum meet weekly online and between six and 20 people come along. We check in with each other, find out what’s happening in the area and how we can support each other. The forum empowers people to turn their ideas into real change for the community. We fund them to get their projects off the ground and journey alongside them to bring them to life. In the last four years, it has supported 22 community groups to reduce isolation and connect people in Battersea.

The forum has enabled people to uplift each other so their ideas become a reality.”

A single mum with a child with autism came to the forum. She’d faced a lot of challenges in terms of schooling and after school support. The people in the forum encouraged her to think about how she could navigate her own situation and help others.

She began I Sensory, which is now a registered community interest company. It brings children with special educational needs and families together for a range of activities and events. It’s benefitted around 24 families who go on regular walks, have coffee together and the children take part in fun activities, like dance classes. The support from the forum enabled her to gain the relevant safeguarding, liability and first aid assurances to start the company.

Many other great projects have come out of the forum. This includes Fitwell, a fitness and mental health programme which has supported 240 women from different communities, providing a safe space in Battersea to come together.

There’s a disco dance club for women over 40 who might not feel confident enough to go into a nightclub and an initiative called the Agoe Empowerment Network. It’s supported 150 people who have English as a second language with their literacy and numeracy and helps get women into employment.

We’ve also funded a men’s support group, called Guy’s Room. It provides a safe environment for men to discuss issues around their physical and mental health. And we funded a community engagement programme where volunteers connected 40 local residents with their community, reducing isolation and connecting them to others. The forum has enabled people to uplift each other so their ideas become a reality.

Celebrating our community

Community events have been an important part of our work. We provide £35,000 each year towards the Battersea Community Festival, which developed from previous festivals. It takes place in September, with different organisations coming together, and people can meet their neighbours and have fun.

Each year we host lots of live performances from local talent, games and activities. Local organisations have stalls to let people know what help and support is available. We get hundreds of people attending and it’s a huge celebration of the love that exists in our community.

What Big Local SW11 has done in the last 10 years is bring back that sense of community and belonging, and that no one is alone.”

When Big Local SW11 finishes, its legacy will be the Battersea Alliance. It came about because there were community organisations with their own areas of expertise that also had some crossover and similar challenges. Driven by Big Local SW11, the organisations came together to form the alliance. We’re pooling our resources and supporting each other to deliver work that benefits the residents of Battersea.

The alliance is made up of five core organisations, alongside Big Local SW11. These are youth organisations Providence House, Carney’s Community, and Caius House; the Katherine Low Settlement, a charity reducing poverty and isolation; and St Peter’s church. The alliance focuses on the key themes of reducing loneliness and improving mental health.

The alliance will continue working on the Battersea Community Investment Strategy, which is a plan to drive more investment into Battersea from companies, local and central government, and the NHS. We’re seeking investment to support our collaboration with the local authority and South West London Integrated Care Board to fund a pilot preventative health programme, called community prescribing.

Unlike social prescribing, this approach doesn’t need a GP referral. Instead, referrals can come from community-based organisations. The goal is to engage people in activities that interest and motivate them, such as arts and culture, to transform their health and wellbeing.

It’s important to recognise that we can achieve so much more by working together. Collaboration takes time, but our shared goals keep us focused. By staying aligned, we can make a bigger, more lasting impact on our community. As Big Local SW11 exit the alliance, hopefully more organisations, especially those formed from the Community and Belonging Forum, will come on board. It means the alliance will continue to grow as a legacy for our Big Local.

There’s that saying that it takes a village to bring up a child and in some ways, that’s been lost in city life. What Big Local SW11 has done in the last 10 years is bring back that sense of community and belonging, and that no one is alone.

Interview by Elspeth Massey.

Photos: Battersea Community Festival, 2024. Credit: Sandra Munoz-Alvarez

Discover more inspiring stories from our changemakers series on our Voices page. You can also listen to the latest series of our community power podcast to hear from more people making change happen through Big Local.