What is Objective 2?

The Hillfields Action Plan aimed to help the Hillfields neighbourhood to realise the vision that local people aspired to in 2002.  This vision was that: 

“Hillfields will be a desirable and positive place to live and to work in; a place that people value and where they are prepared to invest their time, energy and money. People will see Hillfields as “the village community in the heart of the city”

Source: Extract from The Vision for Hillfields

 

In 2002 the Hillfields community came together to express a vision of the type of neighbourhood they wanted to live in.  This was the vision the Hillfields Objective 2 Action Plan Programme has sought to realise for the benefit of the community through the delivery of a range of projects and services. 

Background to the Hillfields Action Plan

The Hillfields Action Plan (HAP) injected over £5.1 million European grant into Hillfields between 2002 and 2008 (£4 million European Regional Development Fund finance and £1.1 million European Social Fund grant).  In addition it drew in over £6.3 million finance from other sources, making the total investment over £11.4 million.  The Hillfields Action Plan Programme Management Team was able - based on strong programme performance - to to negotiate an increase in the grant amount initially allocated to the programme by Government Office for the West Midlands, (the original grant offer was £4.6 million); this included additional European Social Fund grant and financial resource to enable the team to provide additional Technical Assistance for projects.

The objectives of the Hillfields Action Plan were to:

  • Strengthen the local community and foster community leadership
  • Provide support for local people and help them realise their potential
  • Give people living in Hillfields a strong voice and a stake in the future of the neighbourhood
  • Reverse the economic and social decline 

Programme Impact

The programme has left a physical legacy in the area with the provision of five new community facilities, the reclaimation of two derelict buildings and over 100 individual environmental improvement, ranging from street clean ups to the creation of award winning street scenes. 

Whilst it is difficult to isolate the impact of the Hillfields Action Plan programme within the wider package of neighbourhood activity targeted at improving the area, over 3,800 people experiencing social disadvantage had benefited from Hillfields Action Plan activity.  The impact of the work will also live on beyond the life of the programme with nine out of the twenty seven projects having been mainstreamed, including the Neighbourhood Wardens and Southfields Community Learning Mentor Schemes. 

Hillfields

Hillfields has a dynamic population of over 10,000 with significant numbers of local residents from balck and minority ethnic groups.  People from at least 65 different countries benefited from programme activity.  The area has undergone and continues to undergo very significant physical and social change with the development of the Swanswell Initiative, the demolition of high rise blocks and increasing levels of refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants and significant population changes. 

 The Hillfields Objective 2 Action Plan

The Hillfields Action plan is the framework document which was produced to provide the reasons why extra resources were needed to continue the regeneration of Hillfields.

The Action plan was submitted to Government Office for the West Midlands in July 2002.  The Action Plan asked for a grant of £4.6 million from the European Union to support projects between 2002 - 2008.  The Action plan was approved in Janaury 2003 and a call for projects was issued in February 2003.  A total of 56 expressions of interest were received and many of these were invited to submit detailed application forms. 

An appraisal process was led by members of the local community and 27 projects were approved to deliver services of benefit to the local community. 

The Hillfields Action Plan was part of the £575 million regional programme for the West Midlands and contributed to regional targets for the regeneration of priority neighbourhoods in the region under Priority 3 - Regenerating communities.   

Priority 3  focused on areas with a combination of problems creating social exclusion (problems such as unemployment, low skill levels, low incomes, poor housing, and high crime rates).  The Hillfields Action Plan sought to address social exclusion through supporting projects to deliver services in four measures. 

  • Measure 3.1  Developing social capital and enabled communities,
  • Measure 3.2  Developing employment opportunities,
  • Measure 3.3  Building sustainable and connected neighbourhoods
  • Measure 3.4  Upskilling communities

A description of these projects and their achievements is given in the Projects section of this site.