North Ormesby regeneration project

Since 2016 Thirteen has been working on a special project in North Ormesby to help make real changes in the area.

Thirteen has been working with Middlesbrough Council, North Ormesby Neighbourhood Development Trust, Big Local and people from the community to tackle social and physical issues in North Ormesby.

Zooming in North Ormesby

We hosted a special online Zoom event for people in North Ormesby in January.

More than 50 people connected with each other at a unique virtual market stall event. With no face-to-face community events, 18 organisations provided details about services they offer in North Ormesby.

This included Big Local, Middlesbrough Council, Middlesbrough Community Learning, the Citizens Advice Bureau, MFC Foundation, Cleveland Fire Brigade, Thirteen’s employability team and many more.

They brought people details about their services to help residents to understand what’s available for them, and access the services they need.

One event attendee said: “I would just like to say a massive thank you for the Zoom, my first Zoom! It was very good and me and my 16-year-old son found it very useful and will be taking up some opportunities. It was just what we needed after losing my mother to COVID - thank you so much.”

Projects in North Ormesby

Together, we have spent more than £1.6m to buy and refurbish empty homes in North Ormesby while training 40 people in construction.

Thirteen helped to fund the Citizens Advice Bureau at the North Ormesby Hub and Thirteen’s employability service worked at the hub to support people with jobs and training. We also helped people to volunteer their time in the local community.

Thirteen is working with the community to help re-develop Henry Street Park, and funding has been found to develop plans for the work.

Find out more details in the sections below or have a look at our short video:

 

Projects in North Ormesby

Buying and refurbishing homes

 

The North Ormesby project has seen £1.6m spent on buying and refurbishing empty homes. People in the community were concerned at the number of empty homes in the area so we worked in partnership to tackle the issue.

In total, 26 homes were bought by Thirteen, Middlesbrough Council and the local community through the North Ormesby Neighbourhood Development Trust and Big Local.

Forty unemployed people were given construction training to help refurbish the homes. Three were from North Ormesby, with the rest from within 15 miles of the area. More than half of the new construction workers either moved into work, education or training.

Homes before and after refurbishment

Homes before and after refurbishment

Projects in North Ormesby

Henry Street Park

 

Henry Street Park is an area that people in North Ormesby have wanted to improve for many years.

Led by the North Ormesby Health and Wellbeing Group with support from other residents, Thirteen has worked as part of a partnership to develop plans for the park's improvement.

This included a community information event in 2018 and Pocket Park funding to kick start the project. The partnership has worked hard to obtain £80,000 in funding towards the work and we're working to secure more funding to support the work and plans for phase two. 

External funding was secured to carry out some work and phase one is due for completion in Autumn 2020.

In phase two of the project, we'll be installing equipment for an outdoor fitness circuit, as well as 50 new trees through the Urban Tree Fund and plans for a wildlife corridor and improvements for nature.

You can find the latest plans for Henry Street Park.pdf

Projects in North Ormesby

Your Voice North Ormesby event

 

In 2018, we asked people and organisations in North Ormesby to help decide on the direction of the project, and give us their views and ideas about what they wanted to happen in the area. The event helped us to plan how we could work together and where to focus our work: the Henry Street park project was seen as one of the main areas for us to focus on.

Thirteen organised the Your Voice North Ormesby event for residents to come along and tell us how they think North Ormesby should develop in future.

Projects in North Ormesby

Citizens Advice Bureau

The Citizens Advice service at the North Ormesby Hub was due to end in March 2019 as no further funding was available. As part of another project, Thirteen funded the CAB  for another 12 months to give North Ormesby residents a local service.

From April 2019 to March 2020, 269 local people were helped, and 182 people secured additional benefits of over £666,000 – an average of £2,476 per client.

Projects in North Ormesby

Work, training and volunteering

As well as training people to refurbish homes in the area, staff from Thirteen’s employability service based themselves at the North Ormesby Community Hub to help people find work or training.

Seventy five people worked with the programme, with 16 people moving on to find a job.

We also helped people to get involved in a time credit scheme. Currently there are 28 volunteers registered who have accrued over 300 hours of volunteering in the local community between them. You can find out more about the community builders scheme.pdf

What's next?

We have a range of other projects going on in North Ormesby. To get involved, just get in touch with the contact below:

  • Veterans remembrance scheme: interested in helping to research World War 1 veterans from North Ormesby and developing a way to show appreciation to them as a community? This might include the design and installation of remembrance plaques or other community installations - if you have any ideas, please get in touch.
  • North Ormesby edible map: looking at pieces of unused land and helping to plant them with fruit, vegetables or other edible plants for people to pick and use.
  • Alley greening: we're always looking for residents who want to roll up their sleeves to make their alley an inviting space to use. Support is available for anyone interested in funding to buy items such as planters, flowers and benches.

More information

The project in North Ormesby is continuing so if you’d like more details or to get involved, contact Lyndsey Coe on 0300 111 1000 or email customerservices@thirteengroup.co.uk.