Community Development

From the start Cordale Housing Association has been committed to building communities – not just houses.

This has required investment in both the physical infrastructure and in the community itself.

The physical benefits are clear to see with much needed commercial and health facilities being built in the village.

Although the community development has been more subtle, this investment has had a significant impact on the lives of the people of Renton.

It has been varied in its content aiming to reach all sectors of the community. One of Cordale’s early initiatives was to fund the Art of Inclusion which invested in a range of activities from music lessons to drama classes run by the Carman Centre.

Within six months there was a drop in youth crime and an improvement in educational achievement. An evaluation of the programme showed that a high percentage of young people who took part learned new artistic and social skills plus a belief in their own abilities.

Other community projects followed which delved into Renton’s impressive history and established links with several famous Scots Tobias Smollett and a World Cup winning football team.

These historical connections have given Rentonians of all ages a sense of pride in their community and their heritage.

The Renton Community Development Trust (RCDT), was established to continue the investment in the people of Renton.

Archie Thomson MBE, community worker for the RCDT, said: “We wanted people in Renton to appreciate their past as a means of regenerating and shaping their future.

“Cordale and the Carman Centre worked closely with local school children to raise the profile of Tobias Smollett within the community - this man was credited with being one of the founders of the modern novel but he is barely known in the country of his birth, we have changed that.”

The investment in community development by Cordale, RCDT and the Carman Group is now reaping real measurable dividends.

Crime rates in the village have dropped dramatically, Renton is no longer in the bottom 15% of most deprived areas in Scotland and there is increasing employment.

An evaluation of the financial impact Cordale has made shows that an annual investment of £89,000 by the Association has been instrumental in generating £412,000 of savings/benefits in the community each year.