Over £600,000 spent through Neighbourhood Working

New football goal posts, outdoor equipment for scouts, trees, alley-gates and allotment toilets are among the varied improvements across Brent over the last 12 months thanks to the council's Neighbourhood Working initiative.
 

The council's Neighbourhood Working project was introduced in 2007 and sees every ward in Brent given an annual budget of £20,000 to spend on tackling local issues. All projects are agreed and prioritised by ward councillors to tackle issues raised by local residents.  The money has to be used for extras, not for projects or services that the council already has an obligation to provide.

Under Neighbourhood Working ward councillors meet residents to discover how they want their local neighbourhoods to be improved and the team work with partners like the police and other departments to find ways of doing what people want through changes to existing services or to develop new projects.

This year the money has been spent on a wide range of projects targeted at all members of the community. There have been new youth services including homework clubs, youth cafes and sports equipment.  Money has been given to improve safety and security including alley-gating projects, personal alarms, improved lighting and the setting up of neighbourhood watch schemes.

Graffiti hotspots have been targeted through additional cleaning and projects such as murals to channel artistic enthusiasm into less destructive art forms. Older people are benefiting too through exercise classes and support for local groups and some of our parks are getting new play equipment, trees, benches and pathways that people said they wanted.