“An extremely impressive example of an association
working with residents from different ethnic groups,
age groups and backgrounds, and actively promoting
community cohesion and integration.” That was the
judges’ verdict on Old Ford Housing Association’s project
'Creating the Conditions for a Cohesive Community'.

At the centre of the work are eight community
centres offering a huge range of services across the
neighbourhood. Each centre meets the needs of a
specific group, among them young people, the over
50s and families. One is a construction training centre.
Another houses a credit union.

The association resisted pressure from different ethnic
communities to provide for their needs separately. It
persisted with its inter-cultural approach of creating
generic community centres that meet the needs of
different communities. All centres now have intercultural
and inter-faith management committees made
up entirely of users. Inter-faith festivals are organised
throughout the year.

About 20% of the association’s staff are local residents,
and Old Ford is moving towards a board made up of an
equal number of resident directors and others by 2009.
Meanwhile, the role of the community initiatives team has
grown. Now 28-strong, it spends about £500,000 a year
and has raised about £5 million since it was set up.

Partnerships underpin the work, and Old Ford works
very closely with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Old Ford has a five-year contract to deliver centre-based and
detached youth work for the council in the Bow area and
it works closely with the Safer Neighbourhood Team.

The Primary Care Trust, through the Terence Higgins Trust,
supports the association’s award-winning Young People’s
Sexual Health Programme. Close working with the local
police has reduced crime and anti-social behaviour.                                                                 

The judges applauded the decision to promote cohesion
and cross cultural interaction, by avoiding single
community initiatives. “This is particularly courageous,
considering the prevalence of established Bangladeshi
and Caribbean-targeted work. It predates a similar
approach advocated by the Commission on Integration
and Cohesion. It is highly evident that cohesion and a
community-first approach to housing and community
development were key objectives from the beginning.”