Community Maps with Signposts Pointing the Way

“Is it a flat earth that we might topple off the edge from?”, was a hotly debated question for centuries, for millennia.

People could visualise a plain, yet despite the full moon being round, the forever continuous sphere was harder to envisage. Now we see it from space!

Mapping the world – putting it on a piece of manageable paper – was the work of those that discovered new places. Discover and map was the goal and from that “exploitation” of resources worldwide became possible. In our lifetime, mapping on a smaller scale, though still worldwide, has become something we all depend on most clearly seen in satnav technology and Google Street View.  Mapping street by street, building by building, and the rise and fall of the landscape. There has been massive exploitation of basic small facts, like what something is and where precisely it is, in our everyday lives – where is that Amazon delivery, where is the truck and when might it arrive at the front door?

Now, that is mapping in geographical terms; but what about mapping in terms of what there is for us to see, do, relate to and potentially belong to? Our potential social connections in our community that contribute to the world of our mental wellness?  It has been a stubbornly difficult task to do, in all the regions Graham has lived because it is is not one-off constant. It is a dynamic situation because, for instance, many organised activities are not permanent features – they are subject to changing factors such as finance, premises, cost of staffing or availability of volunteers. It is a labour intensive effort to continuously remap community services and activities. Mapping the big continents, of large or well-known initiatives, is easy because they will do it for themselves but the numerous little islands of small, but still very important initiatives to some, means that help is needed which maybe requires a new kind of volunteering – neighbourhood initiative mapping on the small scale. For instance Norton, Billingham, Thornaby etc. as opposed to the country of Stockton and even bigger Teesside. Volunteers make things affordable to do but they also “bless” the volunteer with purpose.

The topic for consideration is the importance of a directory of activities that are available for residents of all ages to attend, for their wellbeing.

As an example, in the case of the Shed, the purpose is principally about social inclusion i.e. men getting together for banter and to make/do things that distract each from whatever the cause is of their personal social isolation. Many, many people (including health professionals) say they have never heard of Men’s Sheds nor their wellbeing function – a form of DIY “belonging therapy”!  We do not advertise the Shed because it simply does not have capacity for many more Shedders. We have about 30 regulars of which 10-15 might come on a weekday morning. A dozen is a nice number because there is opportunity for people to mix socially – it is a place to work in different ways, not a workplace!

Awareness (rather than recruitment) was why we recently attended both Macmillan events (Newcastle and Yarm). Explaining to quite busy professionals what the Shed is fundamentally about.  The banter that the four Shedders shared at both events was the best advert for what a good Shed does. Engagement in a comfortable manly way.

Now, we do appear (I must check) in the Stockton Connections Directory.

focus Graham discovered that it is most likely the same online Directory software used in Scarborough/Whitby/Rydale. It was a system provided by government to kick start data collection of activities. There were (maybe still are?) some limitations in the software design that placed a little more emphasis on organisations than on activities. That was an important stimulator to across the board work to map places.

Stepping back 15 years or so, a GP-led project was founded in Frome, Somerset. It was nicknamed the Compassion Project and was a forerunner of NHS Social Prescribing and of community involvement of volunteer, signposting Communitfocus y Connectors. People. Not problem solvers themselves, other that to solve the problem of where to start.

The very first thing the GP focused on was discovering and recording the activities in and around Frome. It was an exercise taken up by someone who had moved to Frome from a London Borough where she had voluntarily compiled a directory of activities for that Borough. You cannot refer people to what you do not know exists (!) nor if information becomes out of date. That is a frustration for doctor and patient.  The  overall project was very successful because it involved the community in it. It is still successful and Graham visited 6 years ago when a team of health staff from Singapore were visiting.

So a database is critical to compile, to expand and to maintain up to date. A database that has a primary focus on acuities (who, what, when, where and why). Graham and a lady compiled details for Whitby district. Some activities were in the Scarborough, Whitby, Ryedale CONNECT database but many were not. In fact the majority. They found 200 activities in Whitby district (RH Bay to Staithes and inland across the moorland  villages and hamlets). It took about two months of enquiry and search to get the information together.  Then to obtain permission to include it in the database.

One reason the CONNECT database was so empty was that it covered mainly the bigger organisations, often centred in Scarborough, who submitted their data for inclusion but small organisations are often on the margins and, like individuals, can be hard to reach. Councils do not have the resources to discover the hidden. It is either a strategy of winning hearts or using volunteers in the effort – champions in the scattered communities being proactive in localities.

Another factor is that organisations can be concerned about anything published might lead to an uncontrolled influx of new attenders. It could happen, but we have not heard of it because what small organisations provide isn’t a service. The Shed isn’t a service, it is a band of men choosing to come together and help run it.  There can therefore be criteria, one of which may be that existing attenders need to be considered. Attending is not a service right, but a process of engagement (as we do with NHS Social Prescribing Link Worker introductions of patients).

A third inhibitor of directory take up is that in North Yorkshire there was the requirement to update information every year. If not, removal! Go in and amend. Now, that can be quite alien for a small social group. I think this is an area where volunteer local champions could lend a hand.

It was hinted above that there was (IMHO) information missing. Given that Sheds are about wellbeing (as indeed are churches and also activities like weight control classes and sports), the big missing item was not what an activity does, but what it does for people. How they are designed or how they behave to raise people’s spirits.

In Whitby we devised 25 descriptor words that categorise broadly what the activity does for the attender. Indoor bowls might be classified in broad terms as entertainment, although if there is a deliberate intention by leadership (in word or action) to combat isolation then it would be appropriate to add the tag of social inclusion.

The simple device of tagging activities in the database with the keywords opens up the possibility of matching a person’s need with possible activities that might suit them.

There were no photos included (at least then) so it was entirely textual. However, there was provision to include social media and online links to broader information.

In Whitby we developed an add on that worked with the activities on a map basis and also the distances of activities from a dozen well-known landmark locations. Those landmarks were used as surrogates for where an individual lives. Maybe St. Mary’s on the roundabout for Norton or the Duck Pond!

Whilst it is right for the community to have direct access to as much of the information as possible, there will be the need for some people to have assistance to navigate the system and printouts of useful entries.

In Norton there are now centres to which people can come for advice and guidance at given times. The Library, the Methodist Church, the Common Ground Eco HUB and (even!) Norton Men’s Shed, plus others. What we would all benefit from (professionals and volunteers) is a comprehensive directory to refer to listing activities available for people to enjoy and/or benefit from. Big and small, intentionally or even incidentally helping people to connect with the surrounding community. However, that is a job of work across even a Borough, let alone Teesside and beyond. The elephant needs to be divided into manageable portions to make it digestible! 

Here are some thoughts, based on previous experience, of how it might be done.

• There needs to be some committed volunteers (say 3 or 4 in each different locality) to identify new start up activities and to check on whether any close or whose  meeting details have changed. Particularly though, to work with new activities to record and describe them appropriately.
• Places/time slots are needed where people can go for some signposting to help. Where they can start the journey towards solving problems through  reputable, experienced organisations (like the CAB or a Food Bank).
• There needs to be a team culture of working together with local activities areas and also teams in other localities. Possibly with a couple of get-togethers of volunteers each year to gather feedback and to show appreciation of their important support work.
• There needs to be resource to run the central database (not to be the sole data collector!). That ought to be the responsibility of Stockton Borough Council as at present. Importantly, with them feeling supported and appreciated too!.
• There needs to be general community understanding and support for a Directory which means building on the relationships between activities, organisations and individuals to do a good job together.
• Soon coming down the road will be the national Neighbourhood Health strategy. Neighbourhoods gelling to provide local support for services and activities. Ir will require a lot of trust building between sectors that at present are not so used to working together collaboratively. Yet do so could be a very satisfying experience, removing organisational isolation caused by silo working.

So, who is up to helping in two or three pilot areas. SBC has already begun some exercises which can also provide good experience, plus the work done in particular organisations.