Hillfields Marketing Project - Summary of Final Report

1. Introduction

The Hillfields Marketing Project was an URBAN funded project that was operative in Hillfields from April 1999 until December 2001. The purpose of the project was to provide “An extensive programme of marketing activity designed to promote a more positive image of Hillfields and its community”.  The project was led by Hillfields Area Co-ordination (now Phoenix Area Co-ordination Team) and involved a range of partners. The project was closely linked with a sister project, the Hillfields Internet Project, which gave an Internet dimension to the work.

An interim report on the project was produced in July 2000. This report updates that report and provides an end of project report on expenditure and achievements.

2. Project Achievements

The achievements of the project can be summarised as follows:

·        Over 33 newspaper articles in the Coventry Evening Telegraph. were generated by the project, with a total of 436 column inches and 1011 square inches of photo coverage. Using the media industry’s standard method of valuing newspaper coverage, this is valued at £151,069. 

·        A cultural grant scheme was implemented that supported 16 local cultural projects.

·        A Millennium Year Calendar was produced and circulated to key agencies in the city to promote Hillfields.

·        Extensive programmes of events were held in Hillfields during Hillfields Carnival Week for three years (1999 – 2001). There were a total of 36 festival events, each year culminated in a Gala Day for the whole community. Separate reports have been published for each year. [1999 2000 2001]

·        Attendance at events promoted through the project amounted to 8334 participants.

·        A group of young women at Osaba Women’s Centre created a photographic brochure to promote Hillfields.

·        A programme of events was held to promote Hillfields during Women’s Week 2001.

·        A stall promoting Hillfields was put on by WATCH at the Godiva Festival in June 2000.

·        Support was given to the Sky Blues Residents Group to organise their own local event in September 2001.

·        A woven bookmark was created by students at Coventry Technical College to celebrate the history of Hillfields and the Millennium. Each child at a Primary School or Nursery in Hillfields was presented with a bookmark during the year.

·        Hillfields History Group was supported in putting on a programme of local History Walks.

·        Southfields Community Action Group was given support to design a pocket park at East Street. This has now developed into a more substantial project and the City Council has given a license to Warwickshire Wildlife Trust to manage the site.

·        A local Community Bonfire in Hillfields was held in Hillfields for three years between 1999 and 2001.

·        A Christmas celebration event was held at St. Peters for three years in 1999 2000 and 2001.

·        Support was given to re-establish the historic Petertide Procession in 2000 and again in 2001.

·        A training course in newsletter production was put on.

·        An Asian Cultural Event was held in October 2001.

·        12 Hillfields resident volunteers gave substantial support to the project, including four local residents who were trained as firework lighters.

·        32 monthly editions of Hillfields Update were produced between April 1999 and December 2001. Each edition was distributed to 310 people and placed on the Hillfields Website.

·        In partnership with Coventry Chamber, an Online Business Directory was created which gives the opportunity for every business in Hillfields to be on the web.

The outputs of the project are shown below.

3. Related Activities

In addition to the directly funded aspects of this project there were a number of related activities that contributed to achieving the aims of the project. These have included:

·        The Hillfields Cultural Grant Scheme, funded through the Single Regeneration Budget, was integrated into this project and provided much of the match and some of the outputs. The scheme was managed by staff in the City Council’s Leisure Services Department.

·        The project sponsors have developed a positive working relationship with the local press and have worked closely with a succession of Hillfields reporters with the Evening Telegraph to address the problems of the poor image of Hillfields. This has helped to ensure that the positive aspects of Hillfields are reported.

·        The project has been closely integrated with the Hillfields Internet Project. All of the monthly Updates that have been produced as part of the project have been placed on the Hillfields website. The website, funded through the Internet Project, has been used as a further media for the promotion of Hillfields.

·        The work of WATCH Ltd has been important in ensuring that the local community have been fully involved in the work of the project and the positive actions to improve the area’s image. This has included WATCH putting up a stall at the Godiva Festival and being involved in a number of other city-wide initiatives.

·        Hillfields Homechoice, the choice based letting scheme for social housing in Hillfields, has been actively promoting Hillfields as a place to live. The Bridge Group has been undertaking the marketing work for that project and has worked closely with the Hillfields Marketing Project to improve synergy and impact. Homechoice has produced several leaflets as well as a further website.

4. Project Finances

The original application was for a total project size of £64,500, including ERDF grant of £32,000. The actual expenditure was as follows:

 The match funding for this project came from a number of sources:

·        SRB grant funding (Hillfields Cultural Grant Scheme)

·        Costed time spent on the project by the Area Co-ordinator and Office Manager

·        Expenditure funded from the main Area Co-ordination budget.

5. The Overall Impact of the Project

It is not possible to separate out the impact of the project in isolation from the other things that have been going on in the area. However the following statistics suggest that the overall impact has been very positive in relation to the image of the area:

·        The total newspaper coverage of Hillfields (including both project generated and other news coverage) has increased significantly during the life of the project.  

·        House prices in Hillfields have increased by 12% per annum over the life of the project 

·        The annual intake of pupils at Sidney Stringer CTC has increased significantly during the life of the project.

Overall it appears that the project, together with other initiatives, have had positive impacts on the image of Hillfields and the confidence of the local community.

6. The Future - What Next?

Whilst considerable progress has been made in addressing the image of Hillfields, it is considered important to continue the work associated with this project. The following action is planned:

·        Events – the project has released Area Co-ordination resources that will enable the funding of events to continue into 2002/2003. Thereafter it is proposed to seek additional funding to enable the programme of events to continue and expand. The option of formally constituting the Events Planning Group as a voluntary group that can attract funding is being considered.

·        Updates – the monthly Update will continue to be published by Area Co-ordination, but has been expanded to cover the whole of the PACT area.

·        Cultural Grants – will not continue in their current form but WATCH and Area Co-ordination will provide support to local groups to access some of the other resources that are now available.

·        The Hillfields Business Directory will continue to be maintained by the Area Co-ordination Office from within existing resources.

·        It is proposed to develop a further project, using Objective 2 Funding, to continue the promotion of Hillfields as a place to live, invest and do business in.

7. Acknowledgements

Although this project was led by the Area Co-ordination Office, the whole community of Hillfields have contributed to its success. We would like to give special thanks to the volunteers who helped make the project a success and to all of the organisations that got involved in the many different events and initiatives.

John M Payne
Area Co-ordinator
April 2002

Project Outputs

This page was last updated 24/05/06