The Living Room – Rowanfield
The Living Room grew out of an intensive community listening campaign in Rowanfield, Cheltenham. We knocked on every door in the area and listened to more than 600 residents, asking people about their community, what mattered to them and what they would like to see change.
As we brought people together and analysed what we had heard, some strong themes began to emerge. Residents told us there was nowhere locally where they could meet their neighbours, take part in activities or simply spend time together. There was a real sense that Rowanfield had been forgotten as a community.
There was, however, an opportunity. A vacant shop on Rowanfield Exchange offered a space that could become something shaped and developed by local people. Residents chose the name The Living Room, reflecting their ambition to create a welcoming community space that felt like it belonged to them.
Turning ideas into action
The conversations also helped us identify local people with ideas, skills and enthusiasm for making things happen. Further analysis highlighted potential community leaders and ideas for projects that residents felt could benefit the wider community through The Living Room.
Our role was to support people to develop those ideas and turn them into something achievable. This often included helping to identify small pots of funding that could provide the initial support needed to get an idea started.
Projects were led by local people who brought their own passion, skills and knowledge. We used community organising approaches to help them involve others, build wider support and think about how their projects could become sustainable.
The aim was never for Community Roots to run everything ourselves, but to create the conditions in which local people could take the lead and projects could continue long after we had stepped back.
Life at The Living Room
The Living Room became more than a community space; it became a base for people to meet, learn, develop ideas and take action together.
Regular social mornings and activities gave residents opportunities to connect with neighbours and build relationships. The space also became the base for much of our community organising training, including the delivery of the Level 2 and Level 3 Awards in Community Organising. Two of Community Roots’ directors, including our current Lead Trainer, were trained through this programme.
The Living Room also provided a base for wider community engagement work in the area and Community Roots supported the early stages of St Peters and the Moors Big Local through early engagement conversations.
One initiative to grow from the space was The Revival Room, a resident-led project that helped local people turn unwanted items into an opportunity to learn new skills and generate income. Residents learned how to photograph items, write adverts, list goods for sale online and track sales.
Like many of the projects that developed through The Living Room, The Revival Room started with an idea from local people and grew through residents sharing their skills, learning from one another and taking the lead.