CROYDON COMMENTARY: Businessman TIM WATES believes that even a small shift in engagement with each other can make a big difference to the borough’s future
Cut It Out: one event staged at Selhurst Park helped the Palace for Life Foundation get some at-risk young people into employment
Across Croydon, many community groups, volunteers and businesses are rolling up their sleeves to make a difference. From local youth initiatives tackling crime, to grassroots projects supporting those in need, the borough has people working together to create positive change.
Yet these efforts take place against a backdrop of real challenges. Local authority finance, unemployment, crime, and housing remain pressing issues. And while no single organisation, group or individual can solve everything on their own – the presence of existing community projects shows that there is no shortage of willing people, and there is an answer to getting things done that does not rely on vast spending.
Local organisations like Croydon Commitment are supporting employment, education, social inclusion and wellbeing. Social enterprises like Serious About Youth are creating real employment opportunities for hundreds of young people. Initiatives like Be Inspired and Croydon Voluntary Action continue to support countless individuals.
Beyond this, there are also visible signs of progress across the borough: three Sixth Forms earning “Outstanding” ratings from Ofsted, and 56 Holiday Activity and Food programmes providing meals and activities for children last summer. These developments are positive, but it hardly has to be pointed out that more needs doing.
The key to more change lies in conversation, more connections involving more people coming together to talk about what needs to be done, rather than relying on government, both local and national, or anyone else. Research from Birmingham and Sheffield universities shows that when communities collaborate and share ideas, action follows.
A recent example of this was the Cut It Out event, a football tournament hosted by Crystal Palace and the Palace for Life Foundation, which Wates Group was proud to sponsor. This event brought the community together in sport and dialogue to combat knife crime. As a result, the Foundation has reported that young people involved in the project, who were at risk of heading down a negative path, now have jobs and new perspectives.
Another great example is the social enterprise Serious About Youth, that was created after two friends discussed what they could do to support young people in the borough. SAY has trained hundreds of young people from BAME backgrounds, including a high percentage of women, for jobs in the building industry.
More than that, SAY directly introduced them to prospective employers, and they have succeeded in placing hundreds of young people in valuable roles that would otherwise have been mostly beyond reach. I am proud that Wates has been a keen financial supporter of SAY.
When people talk, things happen. They discover answers, form groups and get things done. It can be through volunteering, collaborating with local charities, or simply engaging with neighbours. Change starts with dialogue. Businesses can play their part, too. Short-term results become long-term ambitions. The benefits are clear:
- People, businesses, and community groups work together more effectively to bring about change
- The community gains more influence over decisions
- A shared vision of what Croydon can become begins to take shape
- The community becomes fairer and more inclusive
With 391,000 residents and 14,000 businesses, even a small shift in engagement with each other can make a big difference. People starting conversations sparks change.
Wates Group, and our family philanthropic bodies, are committed to supporting Croydon.
Playing his part: Tim Wates, chairman of the Wates Group
We were founded here by my family more than 125 years ago, and we continue to maintain a presence in the borough and actively support community projects. This includes a major three-year commitment with Crystal Palace, to mentor at-risk young people, to invest in the Manju Shahul-Hameed Foundation for mental health, refurbishment at the local hospital, planting vegetables in the grounds of sheltered housing to grow food for the homeless, and supporting Serious About Youth.
This is in addition to sponsoring youth programmes such as the Croydon Apprenticeship Fair, Zen Bus For Mental Health, and Lives Not Knives and Be Inspired to prevent knife crime. We have also supported disability sports initiatives, and we will continue to do more.
My personal engagement with the borough includes my time as chair of the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, during which we funded Croydon College capital works and the refurbishment of Fairfield Halls. My personal bond with the borough is reinforced by being a season ticket-holder at Selhurst Park for more years than I remember.
But making a big difference requires widespread action, not just good works by Wates Group or other corporate organisations. Many small initiatives will outweigh the big, and while large projects often come and go, small-scale improvement is habit-forming, and grows, and importantly it creates community spirit that swells.
I sense the will to make a difference is here. The vital element needed is to talk and keep talking. Whether it is with neighbours, colleagues, support organisations or community representatives. Conversation can lead to action, and from there, to a future that Croydon deserves.
- Tim Wates is the chairman of the Wates Group
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I completely agree that we need to bring Croydon people together if we are going to make Croydon a better place.
There are numerous examples of wonderful local groups doing amazing things, but I will add a mention for the Croydon Climate Crisis Commission. This wasn’t about residents delivering things themselves, it was about residents coming together with experts to create a whole set of policies for our Council to deliver.
I have always believed that power should come from the bottom up and that means empowering and supporting local groups to do the wonderful things they do. It also means getting local people together to be part of the decision making processes at Croydon Council. We’ve seen what happens when we leave decisions to the tired old political parties, we need to get them out and get the voices of Croydon residents heard in our borough.
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