Changemakers: Inspiring community pride and creating a better place to live

With a strong coal industry past, the village of Thurnscoe in the borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, experienced high unemployment when the local mine closed in the late 1980s. After it was allocated funding in 2010 through the Big Local programme, Big Local Thurnscoe has focused on bringing people together and developing green spaces for the whole community to enjoy.

Derek’s story

Although Thurnscoe is a village, it’s more or less the size of a town. The closure of the colliery hit the community hard, with high levels of unemployment, a lack of social cohesion and problems with health and education.

A railway line splits the village of Thurnscoe in two. When Big Local started, there was conflict between the two areas. We knew we’d have to overcome divisions, as well as integrate families who were coming into the area as new houses were being built.

It wasn’t until after I retired that I got involved in the community. Volunteering wasn’t something I’d done before. I’d always been too busy in my job as a lecturer in hospitality at Dearne Valley College.

Then, about 12 years ago, I got chatting to volunteers from Friends of Thurnscoe Park who were working on the grounds. Before I knew it, I’d joined up.

Our aim was to bring the community together and make it a better place to live.”

One of the volunteers was also part of the committee that became Big Local Thurnscoe and I was inspired by the idea that it was led by residents. Because of my background in further education, I got voted in as chair. I’ve remained in that role all the way through.

Our aim, as a group of volunteers running Big Local Thurnscoe, was to bring the community together and make it a better place to live.

Community space for everyone

We used residents’ views and ideas to develop our plans. The community told us there was a need for a place where children and teenagers could be active. It also needed to provide adults with an enjoyable green space.

We spent time working up plans with a local company for a community plaza in an area that was just grass. We signed a 25-year lease from the council for £1. The pandemic slowed things down, but we were determined to bring the plans to life.

The plaza opened in June 2022 with a big celebration … It’s a wonderful place for young and old to enjoy.”

The project was challenging as the company that built the plaza went into liquidation. Luckily, the vast majority of the work had been done. Alongside the plaza, there was going to be a café and accessible toilets in two shipping containers.

But before it got finished, vandals got in. They destroyed the plastering and all the wiring was ripped out. It was horrendous. It would’ve cost too much to get it redone, so we made the difficult decision to have the containers pulled down.

Despite the challenges, the plaza opened in June 2022 with a big celebration. Around 400 people attended. It’s a multiuse area for the whole village. It has a raised bit in the middle, which is a space for parkour. This is a sport where people can swing, jump and vault between obstacles as fast as they can. It looks like a mini Stonehenge.

There’s areas for skating, scooting and bikes, as well as amphitheatre seating and a community garden. It’s a wonderful place for young and old to enjoy.

Thurnscoe Plaza in Big Local Thurnscoe

Making the village a better place to live

To make the village a better place to live, we wanted to improve green spaces. We dug out planters on the main street that were overgrown and neglected, added tonnes of topsoil and planted flowers.

Then we installed three-tiered planters and raised wildflower beds in the centre of the village. We also got permission from the council to have hanging baskets.

Now, we have dazzling flower displays. It’s been so successful that the local authority has taken over the running of them and the displays are sponsored by local businesses. As well as looking nice, it makes everyone feel proud of the village.

We also started a social housing project, which aimed to improve the housing available in the area and allow young people the chance to learn a skill that could lead to a job. We bought two neglected semi-detached houses that were sitting empty. A huge amount of work was needed to bring them back to life for local families to live in.

We teamed up with Barnsley Community Build, a charity that provides apprenticeships and training in the construction industry. We funded two apprentices to train and work alongside skilled builders to refurbish the houses. They were completely stripped back, new internal walls were installed and replastered, and new kitchens and bathrooms added.

In total, 16 apprentices worked on the project and four went on to secure jobs in the building industry. We sold the houses and it’s fantastic to know we have families now living in them and young people with jobs.

Supporting the community during Covid

When Covid hit, we liaised with Station House, our local childcare centre, and the Dearne area council team to work out who in the community was most in need. We were the first group to get food parcels out, with more than 200 delivered over six weeks. We also provided cleaning packages, so people could keep their homes clean.

At Christmas, the Mayor of Barnsley collected donations of children’s toys. I picked them up, the Big Local Thurnscoe team helped wrap everything, and then we went out to deliver them to around 120 families. We’d put them on people’s doorsteps, ring the bell and step back. It was overwhelming to see the children’s reactions to this kindness at a difficult time.

We launched our Thurnscoe Enterprise Fund during the pandemic. We gave out £500 grants to residents thinking about setting up a new business or for small businesses needing a boost. We also set up the Thurnscoe Relief Fund to support organisations and local groups working in the community.

We funded over 50 community groups and new businesses, including local football clubs, youth groups and the fishing club.

Bringing people together

Community events have been a big part of our Big Local, to bring people together. From beach parties and winter wonderland events to a dinosaur day we held at Phoenix park, they’ve been hugely popular. Each event would attract anywhere between a few hundred to almost a thousand people.

I’m proud that we got people working together from the two parts of the village to develop and improve the area. It was all centred around what people wanted.”

We also put on a sculpture trail where we had three large sculptures on plinths made: a gorilla, an owl and a hare. Then we had a set of smaller plain ones which were given to local schools and nurseries to decorate. Once finished, they were arranged around the local area. Kids went around with their parents to find all the sculptures and there were prizes. The event united everyone to have fun together.

In March 2024, we had our closing event to say thank you to everyone who has supported Big Local Thurnscoe. There was a huge inflatable art structure which you could walk around, with music and lights.

Walking through the giant inflatable ‘Lumini’ at Big Local Thurnscoe’s celebration event. Photo: Local Trust/Jason Lock

So much has happened over the last 10 years. I’m proud that we got people working together from the two parts of the village to develop and improve the area. It was all centred around what people wanted.

I have helped to set up a new community charity called Thurnscoe Regeneration, which will build on and take forward the good work that’s happened. I know that there’s even brighter things to come for our village.

Interview by Elspeth Massey.

Read more inspiring stories in the changemakers series on our Voices page. You can also hear from people making change happen in the latest series of our community power podcast.