One Flow One Brent: A 3 year journey of empowerment and resilience
Over the span of three years, OFOB has united essential stakeholders and fostered a profound comprehension of community requirements, executing a holistic strategy to address the underlying factors contributing to violence and crime, with a particular focus on children and youth.
Building the Foundation: Seeds of Change
OFOB began with a powerful sense of purpose – a need to connect with the local community and understand the hopes and challenges of the youth in Stonebridge, Chalkhill, and Church End estates. Through a collaborative journey, we started a series of World Café Conversations, exploring pressing questions on how to enrich the estates and engage people in activities to support the community's growth. Our discussions led to defining gaps and establishing goals and targets to collectively paint a brighter future for the tri-estate.
These conversations resonated with a multitude of voices, from our dedicated community organisations, council leaders, housing associations, and police officers, to the heart of our neighbourhoods. The goal was clear: to identify the gaps that needed our attention and to shape priorities for the future. Emerging from further talks, OFOB established a set of focus points:
- Amplifying the voices of young people.
- Fostering leadership skills and opportunities.
- Engaging the communities affected by violence in shaping solutions.
- Creating safe and thriving community spaces.
- Providing an all-encompassing youth programme.
- Offering tailored advice and support.
- Supporting families through trauma-informed programmes.
- Igniting a passion for learning and skill development.
- Leading the way for system-wide change.
- Building capacity and competency within our organisations.
- Cultivating strategic partnerships to reduce violence.
- Empowering small organisations through grant funding.
The Strength of Togetherness
As the journey continued, OFOB experienced a significant transformation of further collaboration. The relationships among our consortium members grew stronger and with expansion of our steering group, we welcomed new perspectives and a fresh breeze of ideas. The appointment of a new project manager also brought renewed energy and a united sense of purpose.
“When we started, we had very few young women in the youth representative group as we were young male based. One of the biggest shifts we have seen is the young, underrepresented women and the voices we have not heard before now coming forward,” shares Sarah from MTVH (Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing). “We have created a safe space for young girls and that has been quite successful.”
While expanding and adapting to new challenges, OFOB delivered services during the February half-term and awarded tenders for estate-based steering groups. Despite the hurdles, our programme showed unwavering resilience in bridging gaps and working towards a holistic community intervention approach.
Expanding Outreach and Strengthening Ties
We entered our second year with a commitment to expand our network. Through a successful Expression of Interest process, OFOB reached member organisations that had not previously been engaged, casting a wider net of collaboration. Multi-stakeholder events on Chalkhill and Church End Estates fostered stronger relationships and the potential for greater collaboration with schools and colleges.
Continuing to empower our young people through the Youth Steering Groups, over 15 enthusiastic young members have moved forward to represent each estate. Community events and stakeholder engagement initiatives further raised awareness and encouraged collaboration, giving our future leaders the chance to shine. We also invested time in building local networks and implementing a grants programme to address identified gaps. Young people's involvement in the grant-making process provided invaluable insights, emphasising the importance of their voices in decision-making.
Building capacity and unity has been another area we improved. Workforce development workshops centred around data and impact provided essential tools for our delivery partners. Inclusive decision-making initiatives, such as the She Is Summit, encouraged discussions on inclusive approaches and the unique needs of our young women.
“One Flow One Brent has allowed us to not only launch an amazing project called My Life Matters but has also given us the opportunity to connect to the beneficiaries and their parents through our engagement,” says Davis J Williams from Manhood Academy. “From our perspective, the community has become stronger than ever before. We have empowered young people to the point where they have gone back to their communities with additional knowledge and insights. That is a strength.”
Fostering Community and Addressing New Challenges
Year 3 began with heartwarming stories of young people forming new relationships and feeling a sense of belonging. These experiences opened doors to a world of positive peer relationships, mentoring, and early intervention. Challenges included expanding outreach to reach new groups of young people and fostering closer collaboration among our delivery partners.
“The programme has been impactful in giving young people the voice to speak their minds and be completely and brutally honest. They can bring up the issues young people face nowadays and find solutions," says Vishani, an OFOB Youth Board Member.
A Bright Future Awaits
Our collective efforts to engage with our community, identify needs, and empower our young people have set us on a course towards improving community cohesion, amplifying the voices of underrepresented young people, and increasing opportunities for activities and access to opportunities. As we journey into our third year, OFOB remains dedicated to fostering positive behaviours, addressing challenges, and creating a safer, more prosperous community for all.