Rebirth at the manor

For A Change, June-July, 1997 by Liz Carlisle, Kristen Tiedje

`I am a young woman and I just left school. I can see no prospect of getting a job,' wrote a disillusioned youth to a local newsletter in Upper Manor, an inner-city area of Sheffield, England. `Young people ... roam the streets with nothing to do.'

Until the 1980s, the Manor Estate relied on steel and engineering as its main industries. When these industries eventually folded, partly due to a change in the government's industrial policy, major sections of the population became unemployed and still are today.

Yet in the midst of this disheartening environment, a rebirth is occurring on the Manor Estate, thanks to a group of eight determined young people.

After vandals smashed the windows of St Swithun's church in November 1995, members of the congregation met with the local community to discuss the problem of young people on the streets. Andrew Robertson, a local youth, described to the angry group what the young people wanted--to renovate a derelict building across the street as a jobs training, resource and recreation centre.

A committee of youths and local activists began The Manor Reborn project (TMR), hiring youth support worker Peter Holt as supervisor. `My aim is for everyone to be trained in three or so years. Then I'll make myself redundant. The management of the centre is going to lie with the young people,' he says.

Until renovation begins, Holt has been offering sessions in personal and relationship skills and in community development. Some of the group will learn building skills and participate in the actual renovation process.

TMR has also linked up with Matrec, an educational centre, to provide free computer courses to interested individuals. Jason Hadi, an unemployed TMR member, hopes to `pass the skills on to the people around here so they can get jobs'. Already some members are producing their own newsletter, sent to around 1,000 in the Manor area.

Funding for the project has come primarily from grants and trusts as well as community fund-raising events.

Last autumn, eight TMR members travelled to Bochum, Germany, (Sheffield's twin city) to visit a similar initiative which helps young people manage their own projects. `They didn't look down on young people but valued them as people with potential,' states Anne Reid who participated in the trip.

Although progress is slow and sometimes frustrating, Holt believes it's `about fighting back and saying, "I'm doing something constructive and positive". All that's happening in the world has left them to just survive. That's the crime, really.'