Community Group of the Year nomination – Portland Inn Project
Community Group of the Year nomination – Portland Inn Project
An arts project has had such a transformative effect on one of the most deprived areas of Stoke-on-Trent that it’s being used as a template for other parts of the UK.
The Portland Inn Project is a creative arts CIC with the aim of achieving community cohesion, economic, social and cultural development by involving residents in the development of a pioneering community space, cultural hub and social enterprise.
It has tried to combat local problems through a range of creative community projects and at the heart of this has been the regeneration of the once-neglected Portland Street including the transformation of a boarded-up pub into a thriving arts space and social enterprise. This will enable the organisation to scale up and diversify its offer to a larger audience.
Since 2019 the organisation’s headquarters has been in a shipping container however it is set to move into new premises – the old Portland Inn public house – in November.
The Portland Inn Project is a collaboration between University of Staffordshire’s Professor Anna Francis, professional artist Rebecca Davies and the community of the Portland Street area.
Anna and Rebecca are part of a team of nine staff, plus a host of volunteers, who have spent years curating and creating a programme of events and projects. Despite facing a wealth of challenges they are now seeing their hard work rewarded by a new sense of community and ownership among local residents.
Anna said: “One of the main challenges has been to change not only outside perceptions of the area, but those living here too.
“Many residents were possibly wary and suspicious at the start, as they felt ignored. A big part of our plan was to build bridges and then relationships with local services – something that wasn’t really there at that time. But once that started to happen and residents saw that we too were a part of their community, trust in what we were looking to do has grown.
“That trust has increased as we have created an inclusive, safe space for decision-making where people can make change and their voices are heard.”
Rebecca added: “We can’t wait to move into the new building as we and the community recognise the opportunities that this represents.
“It’s been fantastic to have the support of neighbours who are now our friends. Having a new base will hopefully allow us to widen the work we do in the future, too. But we’ve also had lots of interest from all over the country about The Portland Inn Project too.
“It’s great to see a neighbourhood-focused project gaining support and awareness and having potential impact from further afield.”
The Portland Inn Project has been nominated in the Community Group of the Year category of the Your Heroes Awards.