The SHOUT project is a youth and community project which has its origins in North Oxford. It operates as a joint venture between the Oxford Citizens Housing Association (OCHA) and Spurgeon’s, a national charity which is experienced in working with children, families and young people.

The project’s initial focus was to address social problems on the new Waterways housing development in North Oxford but our umbrella aim is wider than this, to promote social cohesion and to encourage healthy and interactive communities. The first step in our work on the Waterways development was a successful community consultation event back in April 2005. This attracted approximately 70 local people and subsequently other agencies quickly came on board as partners, including Woodstock Road Baptist Church, Oxford City Council, Keble College and St Edwards School.

In the early days of the project, funding was secured from Oxford City Council’s North Area Committee and also from the County Council Youth Support Service’s Divisional Youth Committee. This meant that the project was able to fund a full-time youth and community worker, working mainly with Waterways residents but also providing some input to estates in Banbury where OCHA also has social housing. Lance Adams was successful in winning the trust and confidence of local residents, and set the scene for the project’s relational approach. He worked closely with young people, particularly those who were bored or at risk of anti-social behaviour, and he set up a variety of activities which ranged from canoeing and kayaking to football and help with homework.

Lance has since left the project, returning to his native USA, but the work of Shout continues, currently funded by a grant from the Housing Corporation’s Innovation & Good Practice programme, which has enabled us to expand into other areas, including Blackbird Leys. We were delighted not only to be awarded this funding but also with the fact that we were shortlisted earlier this year for a National Federation of Housing award. In the end we did not win, but it was still an honour to be shortlisted in this way for a national award.

Back on the Waterways it has been difficult to recruit a replacement for Lance but we have managed to work out an arrangement with Oxford Youth Works whereby they have seconded James Edeney to the Shout project to work on Waterways for two and a half days a week. It will take him a while to build the professional but trusting relationships which constitute the foundation of our work but we continue to be committed to offering activities and support to local children, young people, families and the older residents of Waterways.

More recently we have developed links with St Margaret’s Institute, thanks in large part to SMI’s Chairman and the Management Committee’s support. It is always useful to establish links with other community-based organisations, particularly those which have a strong developmental track record, but the Shout project is all the more grateful for the practical support which has been forthcoming from SMI, in the form of a long term contribution to funding part of the cost of our Waterways worker. This is not only a generous gesture towards Shout but a demonstration of SMI’s commitment to investing in the local community. This new partnership, and the financial support involved, can only strengthen our capacity to work with the residents of Waterways and help build a positive community.

David Trebilcock

Shout project manager

October 2008

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