Like many post-industrial areas across the UK, Twerton and Whiteway has a long social history of community spirit and action. In 2018, this grew once more when a group of local community activists began talking about a more joined-up approach for the area. As the country was plunged into Covid, the newly formed Twerton and Whiteway Community Network mobilised, preparing and distributing meals, medical supplies and children’s learning resources to where they were needed most.
This vital work galvanised the group. As life began to return to normal, regular monthly meetings created space to look ahead. The focus shifted to strengthening communication between groups across the neighbourhoods, and working together to make the best of skills and resources. Underpinning it all was a shared feeling that the area had too often been overlooked by authorities and seen as a problem to be fixed, rather than a community with its own character, strength, history and potential for self-determination.
This is an area rich in community life and inter-generational connections. Two active high streets, community sports, music and craft clubs, local organisations such as Time Bank Plus, Rose Cottage, Southside Family Project, First Steps, Bath City Farm, Bath City Football Club, sit alongside brilliant local businesses such as the Bakers of Bath, Rachel’s café, Jimmer’s Barbershop and Bath Funeral Directors. Add to that a wealth of green spaces and community assets such as Southside Youth and Community Centre, community-rooted churches and Twerton Village Hall, and it’s clear this is an area full of life and possibility.
The Network commissioned a local film maker created this video to demonstrate Twerton and Whiteway’s extensive community wealth.
Over the past five years, the Twerton and Whiteway Community Network has grown into a truly community-led initiative. A National Lottery Community Fund grant has enabled the employment of two job share community organisers. Community events like Whiteway Fun Day and Twerton Flower Show have flourished. A micro-grants scheme has supported resident-led ideas, while training in community organising has helped to support new initiatives, from a radical mums’ group to Auntie Mimi’s Real Foods on Twerton High Street. Bi-monthly Big Breakfast meet-ups have become a space to gather, share a great brekkie, build connections and stay up to date with what’s happening locally.
At its heart, the Network has nurtured hope and collective power. People in Twerton and Whiteway are no longer being ‘done to’, they are shaping their own future.
Until now, Bath City Farm has hosted the Network: holding and administering funding and employing staff on its behalf. But like a child that has grown, the Network is ready for its next step, establishing its own legal structure, one that allows it to flourish fully.
A Community Benefit Society (CBS) is a model that puts communities in the driving seat: it is community-owned and community-led. This will enable the new organisation to acquire, create and protect community assets; continue delivering events and activities that bring people together; carry out community research by and for local residents; and provide small grants to support local ideas. It will continue to strengthen neighbourhood communications through newsletters, noticeboards, social media and a dedicated website. Ultimately, it will keep building grassroots power and capacity, and continue to build on our strengths, so inequalities can be challenged and overcome.
We need a name for our new Community Benefit Society. Twerton and Whiteway Together has so far been the most popular choice but others such as the Twerton and Whiteway Action Group or Proud of Twerton and Whiteway have also been suggested. Please send over your ideas!
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Visit the website: www.twertonandwhiteway.org
This is your Community Benefit Society, we all deserve better, and together, we are stronger.
