David Peat on community spirit

David Peat

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It occurred to me the other day that just as TV soap devotees have Coronation Street, in East Lancashire we have Howard Street. But instead of the Rovers Return being the centre of everything that moves, we have Howard Street's community health centre.

And before you ask, we don't serve pints of foaming ale, just tea and toast.

It is different from most health centres in that it acts as a vital hub for broader and wider activities than the concept of health in its narrowest and purest form.  

Most folk in south-west Burnley pop in there at some time or other during the week, often for a chinwag while they help out at a mother and toddler group, or meet up with pals at an over-50s keep-fit session. My colleagues tell me it does wonders for their sense of health and well-being and that is fine by me.

A widower bears his loss a lot better, an old lady who felt isolated increasingly feels part of the neighbourhood action, a single mum knows other people have the same problems and is given a boost in handling life's challenges.

The local residents even have their own community garden that has transformed the derelict patch of land around the centre into a little oasis. Whisper it quietly, but we don't have any vandalism either. It is their building, their garden. It belongs to them and everyone knows it. I would not like to be the one that spoils it for the majority. They would soon feel the wrath of local residents.

Limited life expectancy

So what is the point I am making? It is this: we all have our big projects, our grand plans and super strategies but it is often the little things that can make a massive difference in people's lives. Put those "little things" together and you have a major initiative and hopefully a major success.

To me, that is the beauty of Howard Street. It is a down-to-earth example of what we are trying to achieve with our grand strategy to help end health inequalities in Burnley.In an area of limited life expectancy, it helps with our health inequalities campaign to save a million years of life within five years. More to the point, it helps people now in their everyday life.

It started with a citizen's jury of local residents a few years ago. They told us what they wanted and we, in conjunction with our partner organisations, acted on their requirements, taking the wider view of "health".

We converted a run-down nursery into a community health hub and we introduced a drop-in nurse service and an NHS dental surgery, as well as the full range of health-related initiatives. But we based it all round the "tea and toast" principle of offering a friendly and relaxed place where local people wanted to come.

Self-help and the principles of ownership and local pride was fostered by our staff, together with those of our partner organisations.

Lightly buttered

Howard Street's Halloween party attracted more than a hundred local people and the Christmas fayre was a big hit with young and old alike. And without fuss, the food on offer was influenced  by our "cook and eat" sessions. It is widely acknowledged that the area is coming out of an all-time low, with a greater sense of belonging returning to this area of traditional terraced houses, an area that not so long ago began attracting drug users and other related problems as it dipped towards rock bottom.

The Howard Street revival was not totally planned and mapped out. It evolved and it happened, in large part due to the calibre of our staff, and those of partner agencies, being there for local residents.

Not so long ago, NHS chief executive David Nicholson handed Howard Street's staff the annual NHS Involvement to Impact Award. He was delighted with its success. No doubt he liked the tea and toast principle, too. No sugar and lightly buttered of course.