Thamesmead 5-year evaluation: Reflecting on immersive research

What did we do

In Autumn 2018, Arup and The Social Innovation Partnership embarked on a five-year evaluation of Peabody's work in Thamesmead. Peabody’s 30 year regeneration plan for Thamesmead recognises that under investment in the area in recent decades has created insufficient facilities, poor transport links and inconsistent governance. Peabody’s plans therefore aim to reinvest in the area, not only through housing, but through a placemaking approach. Peabody aims to work holistically with communities and partners to understand and respond to what they need and want from the town, and ultimately ensure Thamesmead fulfils its potential. The evaluation uses a combined quantitative and qualitative approach, seeking to test and challenge Peabody’s regeneration objectives for Thamesmead.

This project includes a multitude of stakeholders and a vast monitoring and evaluation framework which has been deployed to find insights and produce recommendations to Peabody. Over the past five years, we have gathered and analysed various data sets in order to measure the impact Peabody’s placemaking programme has had on local life, including residents' experience of living in the area, Thamesmead's landscape, its culture and arts offering, community involvement and cohesion and regeneration activities more broadly. 

How did we do it

As part of our work, we are motivated to ensure that the voices and experiences of community members and service users are heard, as they are an integral part of conducting balanced research, measuring real-life impact and designing practical interventions. We want to ensure that more people who are living in a place, and who are experiencing the challenges that institutions are trying to “solve” in that place, are more involved in local research. Through this we hope that they have an increased sense of ownership of social projects that come out of that research. The community research approach has offered huge opportunities and benefits to achieve these aims.

Why did we do it

As part of our work, we are motivated to ensure that the voices and experiences of community members and service users are heard, as they are an integral part of conducting balanced research, measuring impact and designing interventions. We want to ensure that more people who are living in a place, and who are experiencing the challenges that institutions are trying to “solve” in that place, are more involved in, and have greater ownership of, both local research and the social projects that come out of that research. The community research approach has offered huge opportunities and benefits to achieve these aims.

What have we learned?

• Each community researcher journey will look different. Although the researchers all took part in training around qualitative research, ethics, interviewing, analysis and reporting - each of their journeys took a different path based on their natural aptitude and interests. Creating space for the researchers to build their skills and responsibilities in an area that was of their choosing was the key to the success of the model.

• The power of positionality! In Year 4/5, I travelled down to Thamesmead to conduct some spot surveys with the community researchers. A moment I won’t forget is having residents walk past me - not wanting to engage - to meet one of our researchers and happily take part in the spot survey. There is no doubt that this example exhibits the importance of the community researchers programme. The researchers know the area, know other residents and are therefore able to overcome some of the challenges external researchers would face when coming to the area. 

• With positionality comes great responsibility - as our community researchers are local residents of the area we are conducting research in, the importance of the feedback loop cannot be emphasised enough. Ensuring that the timeline for research, information about follow up action and results of engagement are transparent and clear - allows for the community researchers to feel equipped answering questions and queries from their own communities. Prioritising the feedback loop is essential - and should be built into the programme from the start.

Testimonials from our community researchers

 “I’m an Artist and Researcher. I moved to Thamesmead in 2017 with Bow Arts as a guardian under their ‘affordable homes for artists’ scheme. It immediately struck me that the area was not like other parts of London and how it had many similarities with the area in South Wales where I grew up: a sense of a place forgotten, horse and carriage as a common fixture on the main road, people saying thank you to the bus driver and that surprising harmony between waterways and concrete! I have a deep respect for the communities of Thamesmead and am grateful that through this work, I have had the opportunity to meet with so many of them, to hear about their experiences and to position their voices at the centre of the evaluation. It has also been a great pleasure to develop the approach to community research alongside such a vibrant team. As a learning experience, it has been challenging, dynamic and highly rewarding. With the space for many ideas to be tested, I have carried a significant number of research methods forward to new participatory projects in the area.” 

- Joseph

“Moving from Cyprus to London was a new beginning for me in 2002. The borough where the first meridian is became my new start and home. My daughters have grown up in Thamesmead, and I pursued my MA degree at the University of Greenwich, which ignited my passion for research. I have established my business in Thamesmead and currently work as a Family Hub Coordinator, serving across Thamesmead and Abbey Wood. Working in the Community Researcher team was a great experience for me where I felt rooted in the community I live in, also Joseph’s organisational and leadership skills were very helpful to my growth.”

- Ozge

 
“I’m an architect with particular interest in research and community development. I have been involved in community research within Thamesmead for the past four years. The main focus of this particular research piece has been on a) engaging with different communities, fields, and networks; b) building methods and capabilities for the work; and (c) partnering for collaborative research and action. This story highlights our evolving practice of community research and action—individually and collectively—emerging from the recombination of community ideas and methods discovered through community engagement in a wide variety of contexts aiming towards community development.”

- Sanaa

Reflections from our partner Arup

“TSIP and the Community Researchers have been an essential part of the success of this project. We were incredibly lucky to recruit truly passionate and hard-working researchers, and their knowledge of the local area and local issues was integral to unlocking and unpicking the complexities of Thamesmead. Without them, we would not have got the findings or insights we did.”

- Laetitia Lucy, Project Manager, Arup