‘Having something secure for 10 years transformed the whole way we looked at the funding’
Reverend Bob White shares how listening to, supporting and celebrating community members lies at the heart of Fratton Big Local's legacy.
In Portsmouth, the long-term funding provided by Big Local enabled Reverend Bob White and Fratton Big Local to deliver meaningful change locally – and demonstrate what communities can achieve when they have the right support.
When you start looking at all we’ve done together and the variety of things we’ve done, it has been an amazing achievement.”
Reverend Bob White
Reverend Bob White is addressing a select audience inside what used to be the Sue Ryder shop on Fratton Road, Portsmouth.
They are gathered here today not to witness the beginning of what will be, but rather what already is. At the end of February, Fratton Together was formally founded, a community interest company (CIC) born out of Fratton Big Local.
This event is a chance to thank the partnership’s members and paid workers who were integral to the success of this Big Local area. It’s also an opportunity to reflect, raise a glass of Nozeco, and have a slice (or four) from a huge cake baked to mark the end of Fratton Big Local.
The event is taking place inside the building that will be home to the new group’s community pantry, which opened in June 2024. The group has ambitions to use the space for community events and arts and crafts – and are exploring whether it could provide a home for organisations dispensing legal and financial advice for local residents.
“Twelve years ago, a small group of us, of which I’m the last member, met in the vestry hall at St Mary’s Church. We talked about the possibility that the council might be able to work with us, to get funding for what would be called a Big Local Trust Pilot Area.
“When you start looking at all we’ve done together and the variety of things we’ve done, it has been an amazing achievement,” says Bob.
The transformative impact of long-term funding
Given Bob has been a constant throughout, he is the ‘go-to’ man to explain why Big Local has succeeded in this part of Portsmouth, where other community-focused projects often failed to leave a lasting impact – and what other resident-led programmes can learn from their experience.
“Going right back to the start, we had heard rumours that Fratton was going to be chosen as a Big Local area. What was exciting was the potential to shape something that was a response to local need, shaped by the community itself, rather than somebody from the outside coming in with their preconceptions about what life is like here.
“Alongside that was the 10-year funding package. One of the big challenges we’ve experienced in community work is a kind of short-termism. Often the funding (for community projects) is based on a three-year cycle that would often mean just as you’re getting something off the ground, you end up spending much of the third year trying to find funding to keep the project going.
“Among local communities, particularly in areas such as Fratton, where we’re used to things appearing and then disappearing very quickly, where hopes are raised then dashed, that breeds a certain kind of weariness.
“But to hear that something was going to be secure for 10 years transformed the whole way we looked at it and has enabled us to begin to address some deeper-lying cultural issues, and start to change people’s views of the local community.
Liz, a worker for Fratton Together.
Listening to the community
“Fratton was an area that was never able to access strategic SRB (Single Regeneration Budget) money or any other significant funds for deprived areas because the side of Fratton Road where I live is identified as a deprived area, while on the other side of the road there are parts which wouldn’t fall into that category. As a result, very little happened here in terms of building up community life.
When somebody actually addresses those immediate concerns, then residents are more likely to talk about what else is troubling them.”
“The first thing we did as a Big Local partnership was simply listen to what the community was saying. The issues they were concerned with centred on lighting in public spaces and the need for more dog bins.
“When somebody actually addresses those immediate concerns, then residents are more likely to talk about what else is troubling them.
“One of our first major projects was looking at the local rec. It was run down but serves a very large and densely populated area (the total population for the Fratton ward stands at around 16,000 residents).
“We started off with the children’s play zone, and the funding allowed us to be ambitious, to bring in Davies White, an award-winning firm of designers. That space has since become known as the best play area in the city.
“Through more people using the rec, the toilets that had been previously closed by the council were re-opened, and that led to the opening of a coffee bar which coincided with Covid. We were able to provide a space where people could meet, and the project came to have a far deeper impact.
Events to inspire and celebrate the community
“We also felt that by regularly hosting big occasions like the lantern parade, as part of our Festival of Lights, it would generate excitement and anticipation but also belief in the people delivering those events.
“The city itself has an arts consortium called Portsmouth Creates, and they wanted to build a big, city-wide event called We Shine. So suddenly our Festival of Lights grew into something far bigger.
“Another community event that we’ve delivered is the Inspiring Fratton Awards, which began five years ago. That came about in partnership with our local MP, Stephen Morgan, who was born in Fratton and has always been an active supporter of Big Local.
“Before he went to Parliament to do his maiden speech, Stephen went to the library and asked: ‘Who can I quote as being famous people from Fratton?’ and apparently there are only two.
“That prompted Stephen to speak to us and ask: how we can raise people’s aspirations? How do we encourage and inspire them to do more? How do we celebrate what goes on here in a way that makes them feel that they have gifts and talents that they can share?
“Each winner is significant of course, but one person who stood out last year was Mandy Taylor, who won the Spirit of Fratton award. She’s a lollipop lady who has stood outside the local secondary school for at least as long as I’ve been here, which is 20 years. Simply being able to recognise her contribution is saying ‘this is us’ as a community.
Launching the new community pantry
“We are committed to generating the income that will mean we can continue to deliver those big events that residents have come to consider as part of life here, under our new guise as Fratton Together.
“This will include launching a new community pantry on the high road. In talking to the community, all the indicators were there that a pantry will help to address issues around food poverty, mental health and wellbeing.
“We’ve had people ready to volunteer, but we needed to find the right building. Our pantry will be one of the better sites in Portsmouth, as its part of a shopping centre, located on our main road, in what was a Sue Ryder Shop – whereas other pantries are inside a building or tucked away in a hall.
Perhaps our greatest achievement is that we are held up by the city as an example of what communities can do when they’re given the right support.”
“Make no mistake, the past 12 years have been hard work, but we’re no longer made up of isolated groups, we all seek to do things together. So, the community centre and St Mary’s Church put on joint activities and the church is very much a community space, rather than solely being a place of worship.
“There is more of a sense of Fratton being on the map, not just locally, but very much in the thinking of others in the city. Yet perhaps our greatest achievement is that we are held up by the city as an example of what communities can do when they’re given the right support.”
By Ryan Herman
Top image: Reverend Bob White. All photos: Local Trust/Holly Bobbins
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