We [charity] moved here a few years ago. I suppose what I\u2019ve noticed is how much derelict space there is. . . There\u2019s a big care home that\u2019s closed down in the last six months, it\u2019s all boarded up and it\u2019s next to a big bit of derelict grounds that no-one\u2019s doing anything with, it\u2019s just an overgrown jungle. . . there\u2019s lots of big gaps, it\u2019s like teeth have fallen out. And there\u2019s lots of old buildings that are looking derelict. . . So, to me, it feels like it\u2019s getting a bit more empty, things have closed. . . it still feels, there\u2019s a lot of tumbleweed areas. . . there\u2019s a lot of rubble, and things have been flattened and haven\u2019t been cleared away very well. . . That must have an impact on children and families growing up in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s so much spare ground in West Tunbrooke, there\u2019s so many places that are dilapidated. . . only recently I\u2019ve seen new houses go up. It was as if they were ripping everything down for ages and not putting anything up. There was so much spare ground. Ripped down the high school, primary schools, ripped down the special needs school, ripped down the community centre. And it was just as if they weren\u2019t building anything in its place for a long time. . . It does just look kind of forgotten about. It looks as if no-one is putting the effort in to make it look better. . . It feels like it\u2019s just spare ground everywhere. It\u2019s like a self-fulfilling prophecy: we think that people think it\u2019s bad, so we think it\u2019s bad, so nobody really bothers to do anything about it. (Maria)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The [empty houses] along here, their windows are all smashed so, somebody like yourself that\u2019s not from Tunbrooke, to walk down the street, it looks rough. . . this place could be better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The drugs started. . . you had been finding needles everywhere at one point. . . they\u2019re all intae [taking] the tablets now. . . you see people in their 40s and 50s in wheelchairs [and] walking sticks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Drugs are] the worst thing about [living] here, they\u2019re everywhere. . . Aye. I\u2019d say that\u2019s the worst out of everything, out of all the gangs and all of that, [it\u2019s] the drugs. . . it\u2019s not as if it would be hard to, like, try and get a hold of, like, green and Valium and all of that, they all take it now. . . Like, smack and everything, anything you wanted, just, just definitely, so, you could go along Main Street [pseudonym] and get it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously the increase in drugs in the community. . . alcoholism\u2019s increased. . . increased selling drugs on territory. Ah think that\u2019s more prevalent in the community now than actual gang fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tunbrooke doesn\u2019t have much to offer. The only draw I\u2019ve got is my family is close by. There is no opportunity for jobs, you have to commute. . . It drives people away. . . there is no opportunities. There\u2019s no industry that Tunbrooke is right on, supplying workers. It is a place that there isn\u2019t really any community infrastructure. . . So a lot is, the working generation are moving on from the place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There isn\u2019t enough opportunity, generally, for anyone of working age. And again, it goes back to that [lack of] investment. The community\u2019s been forgot about. There is very little opportunity for employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s no opportunity for them [school-leavers]. . . There\u2019s not really any working facilities here, ye\u2019d need to go outside Tunbrooke. There\u2019s the industrial estate, but there\u2019s very few things in there now. . . You need to travel. And to travel, you need to have money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To be fair to people that get involved in low level crime, if you\u2019ve got a choice of sitting without any power and food, or doing something about it, I don\u2019t blame them for doing something about it. It\u2019s logic, I\u2019d hate to think what I would do if faced with that. You either die, or you do something about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s too many people out there on the border of the poverty line that will take the wee fiver (\u00a35) here or there, their mum and dad might be struggling. We don\u2019t know the ins and outs of it. . . Some can earn anywhere between \u00a350 and \u00a3150 a day. You\u2019re talking about a 14-15 year old. That\u2019s more than a good job [pays].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember meeting a wee guy, he was about 6 or 7, who used to spend him nights on Main Street, directing people to the houses to buy drugs. . . And that was his opportunity to make money, he\u2019d get five pound here or there. His mother was an alcoholic, his dad wasn\u2019t there, he had a wee brother and sister, he was making the money. . . There\u2019s young people getting pressured ino it, there\u2019s opportunity to make money. I\u2019ve offered young people apprenticeships, and they say \u2018you\u2019re offering \u00a3120 a week when ah can make \u00a3100 in an hour on the street\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Teenagers] probably think \u2018why would you want to go to a job that pays half the money if you can only stand along there and make double it in one day and you\u2019re not really doing anything, you\u2019re just standing about\u2019. . . I work and I\u2019m (poor) all the time. . . if I didn\u2019t have this job I\u2019d probably have done it, to get money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re living hand to mouth, it\u2019s tough being from an area where there\u2019s no opportunity. You don\u2019t really realise it until you\u2019re older that there isn\u2019t the opportunity to move up in society, there\u2019s no upward social mobility. People just do what they can to get by. And folk just get put down, when you\u2019re so close to [neighbouring affluent area] and, ye could drive to the supermarket there and ye drive past fancy houses, flash cars and ye think, well, why should I not have that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018West Tunbrooke\u2019s a bywater, there\u2019s no through traffic. If you\u2019re in West Tunbrooke, you\u2019re either visiting somebody or doing something you shouldn\u2019t be. You don\u2019t go to West Tunbrooke to socialise.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is some level of stigma, because the press is always full of the negative stories. . . I think people do feel the stigma of that. . . it\u2019s an easy sell to say there was a drugs raid in Tunbrooke. . . [people reading these stories think] \u2018oh well, that\u2019s just Tunbrooke\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not helpful when you see murders, gang fights on the front page [of newspapers]. . . it\u2019s very difficult to get other groups to come into the area, based on the reputation. . . it\u2019s not just crime, it\u2019s incomes, health. . . other groups know that the area has a reputation, and they won\u2019t come in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve seen so many people donating food in this area. [There are] a lot of good people, that don\u2019t have much, they\u2019ll find a wee bit to give. There\u2019s a woman about half a mile away, walks up here with a shopping trolley, she\u2019s about 80, to drop off a couple of tins. That\u2019s there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people are more involved in the community as well, people are more involved. There\u2019s certain people standing up and saying they want better. . . There\u2019s some individuals do take it on. My papa campaigned a lot, was on the community council. . . See to be fair, I think it\u2019s getting better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a lot of brilliant work, brilliant people, but you never hear that good news story. . . And, as much as there are issues going on in the community, it is a thriving community. . . I could quite easily have left, and went to live somewhere else. But I chose not to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[When] you\u2019re from a scheme, you\u2019re starting from nothing, your ma and dad don\u2019t own businesses. I take pride in where I come from. I\u2019m the first to say it\u2019s a shitehole. But it\u2019s my shitehole. You walk about and ye know the people in the street, half of the families, and you can go and have conversations with them. So you can take pride, but you have to take it the other way as well, that this place could be better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We [charity] moved here a few years ago. I suppose what I\u2019ve noticed is how much derelict space there is. . . There\u2019s a big care home that\u2019s closed down in the last six months, it\u2019s all boarded up and … Continue reading