Cumbria Community Foundation - Furness: Opportunities and Challenges 2021

F U R N E S S – O P P O R T U N I T I E S & C H A L L E N G E S 11 Low Furness Barrow-in-Furness faces challenges but there is also resilience and energy for change. The pandemic has generated a wave of determination, innovation and community activity in a borough already known for its collective spirit. Some believe Barrovians may now have a chance to make fundamental improvements for the whole community. Sam Plum, CEO of Barrow Borough Council, said: When you work and live here you soon recognise there’s a real strength of community in the borough. “One of the things I was struck with is the strong community connection and the amount of community organisations, and just basic neighbourliness. People come together and look out for each other.” Innovative community organisations have long been a feature - for example, ArtGene with its allotments project on Walney Island, and Love Barrow Families which brings local people together to tackle disadvantage. Early in the first wave of the pandemic Cumbria County Council set up district resilience forums to tackle critical issues such as providing food parcels. “It came together quickly and has gone from strength to strength,” said Sam. “There are about 100 different organisations in the borough area and they are still working together a year later.” There’s much to be positive about in the town. Barrow successfully bid for £25m from the Government’s Towns Fund. The investment plan, named Brilliant Barrow, outlines seven projects including a university-style education campus, business support, housing renewal, events and performance spaces, and new cycle and walkways. An example of the keenness to make a better future and of people’s willingness to embrace innovation is Barrow’s New Constellation. Barrow was the first place to take part in the Lottery-funded project run by ‘creative incubator’ New Constellations and working with social entrepreneur Hilary Cottam who has written about the welfare state. Fifteen locals were recruited, including a tyre fitter, police superintendent, GP, shipyard worker and tug skipper, and they spent a week thinking about Barrow and its future. An array of ideas for improving the town were developed and are now being pursued, such as replacing car parks with playgrounds, turning the town centre into a Covent Garden-style bazaar for independent businesses, and community-run farms to tackle food poverty. Sam said: “If there was a Furness community investment fund, if people wanted to turn an unused space into a community garden and they need £5,000 - let’s do it. There’s a real opportunity to do some really different things. “We have had poverty and deprivation in Barrow for generations. Indeed, the council recently declared a poverty emergency. Whatever we’ve been doing isn’t really working. We want to go forward with something that is better, kinder and more compassionate.” “Barrow is absolutely crammed full of potential, and so many people who have got so many fantastic ideas, and they just need a helping hand to turn their ideas into reality.”