living street putting people first

Bilston is a small village in Midlothian, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Nearly half of all households are in the social rented sector compared with Scottish average figure of 29%. Over the years it has suffered from a lack of investment and it has to rely on neighbouring towns for many of its services, such as doctors' surgeries, primary schools and shops, which entails a bus journey or long walk on busy country roads.

Bilston’s population also had significant learning needs. 43% of households have no one aged 16-74 with qualifications or in full-time education, versus the Scottish average figure of 33%.

Midlothian Council's Community Learning and Development Team approached Living Streets about using tools from Reclaim Your Streets to enable the Bilston Activities Group to learn new skills and improve things in their community. After a mapping activity to looking at their streets, the group decided to carry out a street audit to collect evidence of problems in the area and come up with solutions.

They publicised their street audit widely using their own monthly newsletter, door to door invitations and the local newspaper to encourage others to take part. By taking photographs, notes and discussing their ideas, the group prioritised improvements and have been using these to gain support from local residents and the local authority.

The audit identified the following priorities, which are being dealt with:

• fixing torn down fences
• dealing with a sewage pipe discharge problem in an open space next to the burn
• cleaning up the park at the Pavilion
• revamping the open space at the burn so the space can be enjoyed by residents.

Making an impact:

• Findings were sent to the local elected members to inform them of their recommendations and findings were presented to the Roslin and Bilston Community Council to ensure they could be part of other plans to improve the locality.
• They organised a community clean up in the park so that others could help them in their efforts to make it a better space for local residents, before the local Fun Day
• At the Bilston Fun Day they set up a health promotion stall where they collected nearly 100 signatures in support of their street audit findings and gave out information on how to live an active and healthy lifestyle
• The petition along with the findings were presented to the Council who were able to respond to their issues and set in motion a project to improve the open spaces and parks in Bilston
• The group managed to secure a £1400 community health grant from NHS Health Lothian to provide a programme of activities. The group have all completed an adult leaning qualification
• Follow up survey results (self-reported) show all respondent now walk at least 30 minutes or more each day
• Ageing Well - a local health project supporting the over-50s - has started holding health walks in the area.

Speaking from experience:

• The practical tools from community empowerment toolkit Reclaim Your Streets were ideal for the group to use during their existing meetings
• Apathy in the community about improvements being made has been partly overcome by arranging practical activities such as the clean-up where all ages and abilities can take part and observe an immediate improvement. Living Streets funded crèche facilities to enable more people to participate
• The regional newspaper has taken an unanticipated level of interest in the group’s activities, and has provided free publicity for the group’s aims and activities
• Whilst Midlothian Council currently provides ongoing support and capacity building to the community group, the Living Streets project has provided the practical assistance and tools to give a focus to the group's activities.