Unity in Our Community is a collective response to everyday and chronic challenges faced by various groups of people in the area.

Young people between the ages of 12 and 19 have been working to encourage agencies in the area “to work more closely together, to have joined up thinking and to recognise the role they have to play”.  At the same time, they have acknowledged that they are the catalyst to changing their quality of life.

 Said Kayleigh Barnes (18)  “Unity in Our Community is about a group of young people joining together to say that we have had enough of being negative.  We are tired of moaning and getting nowhere.  We want to do something different to make living in Leasowe better, more fun, more inspiring for everyone.”

 Encouraged by this positive attitude, Leasowe Community Homes and Leasowe Development Trust engaged the Youth Charter to support, advocate and identify an integrated approach as part of the Youth Charter’s Citizenship in Action 2002 Commonwealth Games legacy. 

This resulted in dozens of new initiatives including: a WHY group (Women Helping Youth) so that mums and grandmothers can lend support; the hosting of two adventure weekends; community events such as the Fun Day, Big Lunch and a Halloween party; the introduction of a Leasowe Charter for young people; visits to London and Norway in association with the British Council; the development of a programme of furnished homes for young people; the appointment of a resident involvement officer; the introduction of a dedicated job club; and the agreement of a strategy for employing young people through committed funds for any new projects in Leasowe (eg Future Jobs Fund, LCH Brick Wall programme).

Another project was the Unity in Our Community annual report, which was designed and co-written by Leasowe’s young people for children and teenagers to understand how their community is changing for the better and how they can become part of the change.

 As Mary Quigg, managing director of Leasowe Community Homes explained:  “This intiative has seen a turn-around in the attitude of young people on the estate.  There is still so much to be done, but we are confident that if we continue to work together in this honest and open way, much more can be achieved.  As much as we are helping to guide progress, we are all learning, too.  It is a fascinating process and I feel privileged to be involved. The Unity in our Community initiative will go on to include all indivduals, such as the ederly and vulnerable residents as it is about us all coming together and making things better for our community”