‘Community up’ regeneration: philanthropy in action in Salford

Irlam and Cadishead – a district on the edge of Salford – is where I was born and grew up and where I founded my first business.  From this small business the telecommunications company, TalkTalk grew, a large part of which remains in Irlam today.

As a child, I remember the area being busy and vibrant. People lived and worked locally and the steelworks was the anchor industry. My own father was working there when its closure was announced in the late seventies.  The closure was a terrible blow – taking 5,000 jobs out of the area.

While unemployment wasn’t high for long because people got jobs elsewhere, the loss of such a major employer changed the feel of the district forever.  It also left it in a kind of limbo – far from prosperous but also not ‘poor enough’ to attract government social deprivation funding.

In my opinion, the loss of the steelworks was the beginning of a slow decline. Followed by a changing demographic and new shopping habits (including Tesco’s first superstore in the UK), the result was a year on year downturn in the appearance of the high street. The place was getting tattier. Pride in the area was being lost.

So why get involved? Having grown up in the area and founded my first business there – on the site of the former steelworks – I felt I owed it to the community to give something back, and I wanted to fight against what could have become an inevitable decline.

I felt the answer was to found a charity, which is called the Hamilton Davies Trust, which would act as a partner and a catalyst for regeneration. In all £10m has been committed to the trust which will fund local projects of all sizes.

The aim of the charity is to support everything from grass roots initiatives (a new scout hut) to major landmark projects such as a new sports centre and the establishment of a new sixth form college to improve educational opportunities for young people. Partnerships were established with the local authority and numerous local bodies, with regeneration of the high street co-ordinated through the Irlam and Cadishead regeneration committee.

As the work of the trust has evolved, we’ve coined a phrase to capture the approach we bring to regeneration: ‘Community Up’.

At its heart, ‘Community Up’ regeneration is about cultivating a sense of local pride by ensuring key assets such as high streets and landmark buildings are well maintained. This encourages local businesses to invest in their own improvements and creates a positive knock-on effect. By improving the look and feel of the area, we can improve wellbeing. Jobs come in, wages go up, people get healthier. You bring pride back.

A good example is the series of improvements to the high street that have taken place over the last couple of years – including a very successful ‘high street in bloom’ initiative this summer, run jointly with the local rotary club.  These have already made a measureable difference to the look and feel of the area.

Our next project is more ambitious. Through a £600,000 renovation project, we are about to transform the derelict Irlam station house, which lies on the Manchester to Liverpool line.  Our aim is to give a more positive impression to the 200,000 people who start and finish their journeys there each year – as well as providing a new community resource.

Like our other projects, this one is a partnership between the public and private sectors and the charity. The derelict building has been acquired and will be refurbished by a development company that I own, while the trust will pay for environmental works to the surrounding area and will support the running of a new community section of the station.

Transport for Greater Manchester has funding for a car park on the site and other partners – including Northern Rail, Network Rail, Salford City Council and the Friends of Irlam Station – are also playing key roles.

When it’s complete, I believe this project will really put Irlam and Cadishead back on the map – as well as boosting local pride and creating a new focal point for the district.

I am passionate about the place where I grew up and believe that the lessons I learned in business can be applied to community regeneration.  The Hamilton Davies Trust doesn’t do things because they are easy, we do them because they need to be done.

I think that our ‘community up’ model is one to be shared, and could provide a new route for regeneration for other towns and localities.