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Ooley Development Trust (ODT) operates in a neighbourhood which is primarily characterised as being in transition. The area of Ooley was historically an area of local authority housing, with a relatively high level of socio-economic

disadvantage. However, following the gradual deterioration of the housing in the area, plans were developed in the 1990s to regenerate the entire area. This involved the complete demolition of all the existing housing and, following a deal between the local authority and a private housing developer, the construction of a new neighbourhood comprised of a mix of social and private sector housing.

The original tenants were offered the opportunity to remain in the area after a period of temporary accommodation elsewhere whilst new housing was built. The current mix of housing tenure is approximately 50-50, with around 200 social housing properties and a similar number of private properties. The long-term aim is for around 1100 private properties to be built in the area, alongside the 200 social housing properties.

Hence the area is characterised by transition in a number of different ways. Firstly, the physical appearance of the area is completely changed and continues to change as new properties are built. Secondly, the 'community' of Ooley is

progressively growing in size as new properties are built, with the majority of new people coming into the area from other neighbourhoods. Thirdly, the

socio-economic mix of the area is changing as the proportion of private sector housing increases, with a particularly stark change from the previous make-up of Ooley as an area entirely comprised of relatively poor quality social housing.

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174 This transition process has implications in terms of the accurate characterisation of the area, since it is not possible to rely on the usual sources of statistical data regarding socio-economic status. Whilst the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) indicates that Ooley is in the most deprived 5% of areas in 2012 (Scottish Government, 2012c), this cannot be relied upon as an up-to-date measure of deprivation for the area. Many of the underlying indicators for the SIMD are based on data which was at least a year or more old at the point when the 2012 Index was compiled, so the ongoing change in the population of Ooley, with most of the new houses only built in the last few years, is not captured accurately. Moreover, as the social housing was the first to be built in the new Ooley, it seems likely that the area will be progressively becoming less deprived in statistical terms as the private sector housing is completed and occupied. This socio-economic shift is made somewhat more complex and unpredictable, however, by the mix of housing being built. Whilst all the new housing being constructed is for private sector sale and the houses have a clause in their contracts preventing buy-to-let purchases, the same is not true of flats, many of which are quickly entering the private sector rental market.

Hence for the purposes of this study, Ooley is assumed to be neither a very disadvantaged, nor a particularly affluent area, although clearly it has interesting characteristics because of the combination of social and private sector housing in the area, and the merging of previous and new residents.

ODT were originally established following a public meeting set up by the local authority, with significant early support from Council officers. The Council’s intention was that a Development Trust could take on a church building (which is one of only two pre-development buildings in the area) as a community centre, replacing the existing temporary hut. The board of ODT consists of a mix of long-standing residents of the area and new residents coming into the private sector housing.

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175 6.5.4 Introduction to Cavendish and Cavendish Wellbeing Ltd

Cavendish Wellbeing Ltd Ltd describes itself as 'a community anchor organisation and community access mental health service whose focus is on the needs of local people and communities' (Cavendish Wellbeing Ltd, 2014a). In constitutional terms, CWL has recently made the shift from an unincorporated organisation to a company limited by guarantee, in order to provide a greater level of security for its volunteer board members. The board is drawn largely from people who have used the service, augmented by activists from other local community organisations. It employs two full-time staff, pays a small number of others on a sessional basis and also utilises a range of volunteers, providing a range of therapies to enable people to manage mental distress, ranging from anxiety, stress and low mood generated by the challenges of life in poverty, through to diagnosed mental health conditions. In addition, the organisation takes a community development approach to tackling some of the underlying problems which create challenges for people in the area, organising a range of events and activities with other local organisations.

Technically CWL provides services for anyone living in a large area, covering a third of the city, since the funding is provided on this basis. However, the

organisation is based in the Cavendish area, which is an area of concentrated deprivation, being almost entirely within the 15% most deprived areas in the SIMD, with the vast majority of the area being in the 5% most deprived (Scottish

Government, 2012c). Whilst there is one other area of concentrated deprivation in the north-west of the city, this is some distance away, and the areas adjacent to Cavendish are significantly less deprived. Not surprisingly, therefore, the majority of CWL’s service users come from Cavendish and the majority of the community development work is also focused on this area.

The area of Cavendish has undergone significant change in the last few decades, with the population reducing by more than half since its peak in the 1960s. As with most working class areas of Glasgow, Cavendish was heavily affected by

processes of deindustrialisation from the late 1970s onwards, resulting in high unemployment and all of the problems associated with poverty.

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176 Table 6.3 below provides a summary of the key characteristics of each participant organisation and the communities within which they operate. This table is also replicated on the accompanying bookmark, to assist the reader by providing an aide memoire for the subsequent chapters.

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Table 6.3 – Summary of key characteristics of participant organisations and their communities

Organisation Type of

Trottside Parish Council Parish Council Parish Councillors x10 (not all involved in research)

Development Trust Staff – Centre Manager, (Admin Worker, Maintenance Officer)

Community Councillors x15 Influencing services – planning, crime and grime

Affluent

Ooley Development Trust Development Trust Committee members x7 Community self-help – facilities and activities

Middling /mixed Cavendish Wellbeing Ltd Non-profit

company limited by guarantee

Staff – Manager, (2x Admin, 5x Therapists)

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6.6 Ethics

Before finalising the agreement to be involved in the research with any of the participant organisations, ethical approval for the research was obtained from the University of Glasgow’s College of Social Science Ethics Committee for Non-Clinical Research Involving Human Subjects. The approval form from the Ethics Committee is provided in Appendix B.

Application for an amendment was made subsequently, as it became apparent that the research would involve observations, as well as the focus groups and interviews which had been included in the original application. The approval form for this amendment is also provided in Appendix C.

For the most part this study presented relatively few ethical challenges, since the participants were all community activists, or local authority staff or Councillors, all of whom are likely to be eminently capable of taking a critical and informed view of the research before giving consent to participate. Moreover, since the research focuses on community organisations, it is largely dealing with activities and information which are in the public domain, so there are few concerns about sensitive data. Indeed, although all community organisations and activists have been anonymised, to avoid any potential issues, a number of participants

expressed the view that such anonymity would be unnecessary, given the public nature of their work.

However, two significant ethical risks were identified at the outset. Firstly, for community organisations and local authorities, there was a potential risk that involvement in the research process might generate unwelcome learning about lack of impact or limitations in approach to community participation. This was explicitly addressed in the initial negotiations with all participant organisations, although the general confidence of organisations in their own work seemed to outweigh such concerns in every case. In practice, as discussed in more detail in Chapter 9 below, the participant organisations proved to be skilled at finding positive messages in the data, even where the evidence of impact was relatively limited, perhaps reflecting the positive attitude necessary for community activism.

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179 Secondly, there was a particular risk for local authority officers and Councillors, since the level of confidentiality was inevitably more limited. For example, in order to explain the role of particular officers in relation to participant organisations, enough information would be provided that anyone within the authority may be able to identify the individual, or at least narrow it down to a very small number of people. This risk was explicitly highlighted in discussions with each individual prior to their participation, but none of them felt that this would be a significant issue, since the subject of the interviews was relatively uncontroversial. Whilst there may have been some instances in which interviewees chose their words carefully, which potentially has a minor impact on the research, clarity regarding the potential risks clearly outweighs such considerations.

A research diary and supervision discussions were also used throughout the research to aid reflection on ethical issues.