A day in the life of Valence Park Activation
Sharing insights and reflections from a relational way of community building, from the ground up, in and around Valence Park.
On the way to Valence Park
After a team catch up in the Street Space studio, at about 10am I head over on the 368 to get to Valence Park. I know by now it hasn’t been that effective to advertise sessions on Facebook not least remind folk an hour before — but I put it on there anyway just in case, experimenting with the messaging. ‘Gym session warm up in Valence at 11 to get your recommended daily movement in’.
Off the bus at Bennett Castle Lane I pop into my second desk space at Community Resources/Lifeline house and fill up my water bottle from the water cooler there — I’m feeling grateful that there’s a place nearby to the park top up on cold water, and generally feel at home in.
I walk over to the park and through the Margery Road entrance. And when I get towards the play-ground I do my weekly park count. There is one lady in a white jacket sitting on a bench; someone in a black hoodie is sitting under the colourful cover by the basketball court and in the corners of the park about 6 dog walkers, plus a couple walking alone. I glance over towards the playground and gym and notice there is no one there. Three Muslim women walk through together in trainers and I go over to them to let them know I’m running a warm up and gym demo and that I work in the park — would they like to join in? They ask me about when its on, that they can’t make it this week and next week is half-term, but the week after they might come. Keep an eye on the Facebook page I say, but it’s Wednesday at 11. They ask me what the Facebook page is called ‘Love Valence Park’ ‘Oh like your hat!’. I’m wearing one of the Love Valence Activator bottle green caps we had embroidered to help people identify/trust some of us early-stage activators.
A little set-back
I go over to the painted yoga mats by the gym and do the warm up anyway speaking out loud as if people are there — if someone turns-up they could just join in. I finish the warm up and go over to the machine to do some more exercise on my own, which raises my pulse and my mood lift instantly. I count four more dog walkers. It’s a damp day and has been raining all morning so to even see this many people in the park is lovely, and a testament to how well it is used.
After about ten minutes a man and woman couple walk through the gym, and the man wanders off while the woman stays to join me on the equipment. She looks like she knows exactly what she is doing…we say hi and smile at each other on the equipment. I’m feeling a bit exercised out at the moment so I go and sit on the swing for a bit. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a familiar face walking by, ‘do we know each other I call out?’ and she smiles at me, I hop off the swing and she asks me ‘what have you been doing today?’ ‘I came to run the session but no one came, did some exercise and just fancied the swing!’ What are you doing, ‘I’m going to meet Catherine* for the gardening and then we have our gym session afterwards’, she says. I recognise her now — it is Margaret who was using the gym a couple of weeks ago with Catherine, another trained Outdoor Activator and a staff member of the Healthy Lifestyles Team who helps out with the Ageing Well programme and recently started running a warm up and gym session with some of the members of the programme.
Spontaneous decision to join in with gardening is so fruitful
Margaret says they’ll be there after the gardening, Gardening? Can I join in? Of course, she says. I run over to get my water bottle from the gym and introduce myself to the lady still on the equipment. Are you here every week I ask her? 5 times a week I do exercise she says, I have diabetes… Wow that’s commitment, I imagine you have to for your health but that must take discipline still, I tell her.
Margaret and I walk over towards Valence House and she says it’s a shame that all the gym stuff has only taken off now its autumn going into winter and it’s getting so much colder. I agree, I tell her about the funding for the Activator training — and how it opened at the start of summer but we didn’t find out we got it until late in August ruling out summer activities.
Margaret and I talk about how frustrating it is when people with the money aren’t in touch ‘with community reality’ she says. Maybe we could get some more dosh in January and use it in May for another project!
Margaret introduces me to Cherise a community gardener who I’ve seen around but not spoken to properly, we have a giggle and she shows me around both the herb garden I’ve seen, and the community allotment next to it -with the vegetable patch they’ve planted and the old WW2 bunker an educational tool next to it. It makes sense now why Valence House have had a gate placed across the dried out beck — only planted this year, loved and maintained by volunteers, the garden has seen a lot of vandalism from people crossing the beck out of hours.
Outside the café we have a cup of tea, coffee, and biscuits and I register as a volunteer.
Catherine arrives, Harry in his early 70s who I met at the Library’s Tai chi class a couple of months ago and nearly took the Activator training, and a couple of other men I haven’t met yet. There’s a lot of banter and I’m asked about the Outdoor Activator training.
Catherine mentions how her manager has emailed everyone in COMSOL about her taking the Activation training, and how she runs a Wednesday afternoon (roughly 2:15pm) session in the Valence gym. I think to myself how there are lots of ambitious individuals working at LBBD linked in to the bigger picture of getting the most out of our parks, and encouraging healthy lifestyles.
I give Catherine her laminated certificate. Remember Joanna from the training I ask her, one of the mums in the Mums walk a mile group I say, her husband has laminated and printed out everyone’s certificates! Wow tell him a big thank you she says. I can’t actually I think because I’ve never even spoken to him before or know who he is– but doesn’t community development thrive from these random acts of generosity from strangers?
Quick bite in Oasis Café
We all work hard at the gardening for a little while and others join us raking up the fallen autumn leaves — after a while we down tools and call it a job well done. I haven’t eaten lunch yet so I pop into Valence House’s Oasis Café — ‘the soup has gone up, the lady behind the till lets me know that it’s not the ideal price for soup here in this museum, but its out of our control. I go for a cheaper option and leave my comments about the prices in the box on her gentle nudge.
At the cafe I bump into Verity, an artist working closely with the community whose Banjo on the Banjo project the Street Space team took part in earlier in the summer. Sometimes I feel the success of this role through the number of relationships begun or developed in a short period of time —it’s possible that I bump into more people in public spaces here than I ever have anywhere I’ve lived and that feels positive.
The week before we were having a workshop in Valence Park on jazzing up the streets, as part of our ‘All Roads Lead to Valence’ project to improve the way-finding in and around Valence Park. I had mentioned to one of the Valence House staff members about a competition we were running for school children to design local superheroes to influence the designs at each entrance. She told me about the 4000 year old Dagenham idol, a superhero of sorts who lives in the museum. We popped out over to the museum to see the Dagenham idol, a pine human figure and one of the oldest human representations in Europe found with a deer skeleton during excavation for sewer pipes in 1922 — though a famous find, I would never have known without chatting then. We agree that the Idol ought to feature in a future project about reclaiming local history.
Running a gym-warm up at last and some connecting
I’m in the front of the group demonstrating a warm up on the painted yoga mats with Catherine, Harry, Margaret and Lily following my lead.. It is a bit chilly but we soon warm up! Catherine chips in with tips and I look at my sheet of exercises on the floor when I get stuck. Not all of us are wearing quite the right gear, but it doesn’t matter to anyone, we’re all having a good time. We adapt all of the exercises and notice when each other have got out feet in an awkward position, with lots of hilarity!
After we finish our warm up and go to the gym equipment a policeman who works out here every week (I met several weeks ago) nods in recognition. ‘You’re doing a great job he says! He suggests taking the warm activity to a care home — ‘you could get loads of inactive people there people moving’ he adds. As we are exercising on the different pieces of equipment, I notice the park is filling up around us. There are a group of young men playing basketball on the courts and the playground is getting busier with young children enjoying the swings and climbing on the equipment.
On the gym equipment we meet Abhi who is using the bench press and naturally joins into our low key bantering, sharing our exercise tips together we strike up conversation. We collectively marvel at Margaret’s strength and skill on the pull up bars, which none of us can manage even those of us much younger! I ask Abhi how often she’s down here by the gym, and she tells me that recently in the last few months she’s been coming to exercise here often but there was a period of time over a few years when she was barely leaving her house.
After a good twenty minutes or so of exercising, having gone around most of the pieces, we decide it’s time to wind down. ‘Static cool down stretches?’ Catherine asks. Harry’s infectious laughter and sense of humour has won Abhi over and she joins us for the cool down stretches which I have a go at demonstrating too. A young girl runs towards the gym and does some gymnastics on the equipment whilst her grandma watches her from a bench in the playground.
As we complete the session and all say our goodbyes, I pop over to bench where her grandma is sitting, smiling, watching our session. I tell her when it’s on and ask would she like to join next week? ‘My granddaughter was telling me to join in’ she said ‘but I wondered as you were already there, if it was a closed group?’ I feel really glad to have come and spoken to her and clarified she is always welcome to join.
Catherine goes back and has another conversation with her, letting her know about some of the other Ageing Well programmes on offer all of which she is interested in and looking for. Personally, I’m feeling very pleased about the success of joined up activity and meeting people on the way — tea and coffee, gardening together and a gym session to round it all off.
A testament to talking and knowledge sharing
A couple of weeks ago we had been in Valence Park on the picnic tables doing some engagement holding a mini jazz up the streets design workshop. We had photographs of some of the paths leading to Valence Park and asked people, if you were holding your wedding in Valence Park, how would you ensure guests found their way there? Harry, Margaret and Catherine had been there that day after their gym session and Catherine had shared a story about a frustration the week before when she had been on the phone, struggling to communicate about which entrance to meet a new gardening volunteer at. The new volunteer had never been to Valence before had travelled quite far to get there.
When I realise it was one of the women we meet today who was the volunteer Catherine had arranged to meet at one of the gates, I get excited and tell Catherine how the jazz up the streets project has developed!
‘Exciting next steps had come out of that insight about the entrances being hard to describe and meet people at’ I tell her. A young local artist has created some superhero templates to be brought to life and transformed into the designs for the entrances.
The Parent Support Worker at Valence Primary school had introduced us to the young local artist, and her mum and we have supported them to launch a competition for students at Valence Primary school beginning after half term. The competition invites students to design on the superhero templates — the winning characters will be turned in to designs for four of the park’s entrances. Watch this space, literally. Catherine is pleased to hear!
At Street Space we have previously looked at the link between improvisation and engagement, and how the three principles of improv (curiosity, compassion & courage) can be useful tools in the work we do.
Engagement is often the creative uncertainty of working towards an unclear goal, it feels naturally unpredictable — messy and often frustrating, but on days like this it feels like the threads of the story and the many different people who make up a community, and share the same public spaces, come together.
*All names have been changed
