Case Study: Sparkhill 2017/18

• 23 undergraduate students offered their time to support the organisations.
• 4 postgraduate students were recruited to mentor the students, offering business guidance.
• 4 organisations were assisted: Ashiana Community Group; ORARA; Unity Streets and CREME.
• Training and additional learning support was offered by staff from Careers Network and Development and Alumni Relations.
• Supporters of the Programme were CREME and Citizens UK.

Students

• 23 students gained valuable work experience and witnessed at first hand, the life of volunteers, community managers and self-employed directors.
• Professional behaviours and enterprising skills were developed. Students identified organisation, project management, diplomacy, relationship building, time management, communication, resilience, persistence, initiative and emotional intelligence - all sought-after capabilities by graduate recruiters.

Organisations

• Ashiana Community Project was able to try a new way of raising funds to support youth services: students created a campaign and launched a crowdfunding platform to generate funds for a children’s nature garden.
• Ashiana Community Project was able to test the feasibility of wellbeing services in GP practices through the students' research. The students may have the opportunity to present their findings to GPs shortly to guage their interest.
• Ashiana Community Project benefitted from a report on the advantages of community gardens in order to look at developing new services for the community's well-being.
• ODARA welcomed the creation of an Events Planner and action plan to help the founder and her team plan and run events more effectively and profitably.
• ODARA gained templates outlining an electronic process for recording client referrals and students put together a catalogue of forms and documents for managing client contacts, having researched other providers.
• Unity Streets received marketing guidance and practical templates to reach more people in the community. Social media analytics were performed to help her evaluate her marketing strategy.
• Unity Streets benefitted from business development recommendations including information on forming a social enterprise or charity. Ideas for generating revenue were also provided.
• CREME were given a social media strategy to help them communicate their research to the local community in a more informal and friendly style. Practical examples were provided.

According to Index of Deprivation (2015) by Birmingham City Council, the Sparkbrook ward is one of the most deprived in Birmingham, based on indicators covering: income, employment, education, health and disability, crime, barriers to housing and services and living environment.

By collaborating with Monder Ram from CREME, University of Birmingham and Mosese Dakunivosa from Citizens UK (who have been building links within this community in order to assess the strengths and challenges of owning a migrant business), we utilised their networks to meet with key community members and assist them further.

We tried to uncover the real stories of living and working in Sparkhill, with the aim of identifying potential scope for mutually beneficial cooperation between students and the community groups.

Sparkhill is in the ward of Sparkbrook, an area in Birmingham that is situated 3 miles south of the City Centre. It’s located around the Stratford Road (A34). Positioned in the famous Balti Triangle, where (probably) the highest concentrations of restaurants serve the Balti curry, it’s a cultural fusion, with shops specialising in Asian jewellery, fashion and food, attracting visitors from across the UK. Culturally diverse, Sparkhill has a population around 90,000 (2011).

• Economic key facts from 2011 census
• Map of Sparkhill in Birmingham
• Past and present memories of Sparkhill

The community organisations working in Sparkhill and surrounding area offer their perspectives:

• Sparkhill - about the Community
• Barriers facing the Community
• The impact of community work in Sparkhill and Sparkbrook
• Students can make a difference - volunteering