Background

The Steel Valley Project (SVP) is a countryside management partnership scheme that seeks to work with local people to care for and understand their local environment.  As such it frequently acts as agents for landowners mainly CORUS Engineering Steels and Sheffield City Council.

The Steel Valley Project is based in Stocksbridge and is active in the Upper Don Valley Zone of the South Yorkshire Forest serving an area that is approximately five miles wide and ten long.  Bordered by the Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council boundary to the North and the Peak National Park to the South it is a fascinating mixture of rural agricultural environment with small settlements along side the river to the suburbs of Sheffield. 

Stocksbridge is however a town of more than 13,000 people that is dominated by the CORUS Engineering Steel works that in the last 20 years has seen a reduction of its work force from 7,000 to 600 people. 

As such there are a range of problems facing the communities living and working here, not least those presented by health, employment and geographical isolation.  However there are the positive aspects of a very active base of community groups seeking to counter these problems and lead Stocksbridge and the surrounding area into a new millennium.  The Steel Valley Project is working with these groups to support projects that develop mutual objectives.

Partners in the Steel Valley Project are:

The Steel Valley Project actively works in collaboration with the above as well as other agencies and organisations to achieve mutual objectives.

History

Launched in April 1988 the Stocksbridge Steel Valley Project, was a result of the British Steel Engineering Steels, (now CORUS Engineering Steels) environmental project on non-operational land beneath the new Stocksbridge by-pass. 

This involved improving access to the countryside, planting hedgerows, wildflower meadows and 100,000 trees, half of which were planted by the local community with the support of Ian Bowes, the Community Woodland officer employed by the Project.

In 1991 the whole scheme was reviewed after three years and Andrew Warren was employed as Project Officer to replace Ian who left for a new post. 

August 1995 saw the project extended past the Stocksbridge Town Council administrative boundary to include the whole of the Upper Don Zone of the newly designated South Yorkshire Forest.  Representatives from Ecclesfield and Bradfield Parishes joined the Steering Group of the Project along with South Yorkshire Forest Partnership.  To reflect the larger operational area, the Project was renamed the Stocksbridge Steel Valley and Upper Don Project.

December 1997 saw long standing volunteer Newman Booth employed as Assistant Community Projects Officer co-ordinating all practical activities and supervising an Environmental Task Force team established through the Governments New Deal initiative.

Andrew Warren left for a post with Thames Water and was replaced by Matthew North as Project Manager in 1999 who has stayed with the project to date in this role.

The name of the project was changed back to the Steel Valley Project in 2004 after it became a charity limited by guarantee.

Current Staff

Matthew North - Project Manager

Roles and responsibilities –

 Background –

Originally from a rural community in South Shropshire, after studying conservation management and environmental studies, worked for BTCV in Cardiff, Field Studies Council in Epping Forest and lectured in St Albans College of F.E. He then joined the Scottish Wildlife Trust managing a conservation team in Angus working on a range of habitats on local and national reserves. After three years he left to join Groundwork Creswell’s Training Unit, working with volunteers, trainees, community groups and teams of people with special needs on environmental projects in the East Midland Coalfields.  During the course of this work he developed, delivered, assessed and verified NVQ’s and other awards as Lead Training Officer.

Tara Ball  - Administration & Finance Officer

Roles and responsibilities –

Background –

Tara joined the Steel Valley Project after a developing a career in finance and accountancy.

Sarah Edwards - Environmental Projects Officer

Roles and responsibilities –

Background –

After joining the Royal Navy after leaving school in Rotherham, Sarah worked in agriculture on Yorkshire farms and started a landscaping business until deciding on a career in conservation.  After gaining qualifications with Huddersfield Tec College and experience managing projects with BTCV in Sheffield, she joined the Steel Valley Project in 2001

Jez Platts - Community Development Officer

Roles and responsibilities –

Background – After changing careers from Project Management in the world of banking, Jez retrained and gained experience in environmental conservation at Sheffield Environmental Training, the National Trust and Sheffield Countryside Conservation Partnerships before joining the Steel Valley Project in 2004.

Nicola Thorpe - Heritage Trails Project Development Officer

Roles and responsibilities –

Background – From Sheffield, Nicola is a trained archaeologist working on a range of projects in Yorkshire and Derbyshire with experience in event management including the arts. 

Aims and Objectives of the Steel Valley Project

 Activities

All activities are based around the objectives stated above.  Within this frame work there have been a number of very different projects developed with a range of different partners. These included activities based around wildlife conservation, social inclusion, health, employment training schemes, education, community gardening, economic regeneration, youth work, environmental art and music events.

For example, in the financial years of 2002/3 to 2003/4:

74 groups, organizations and agencies, that are local, regional and national, were supported or worked with in order to achieve mutual objectives.  These have ranged from cub scouts achieving merit badges to assisting Stocksbridge Futures Partnership develop the integrated Development Plan towards the regeneration of Stocksbridge

10 local schools have been supported through working with teachers and pupils to develop projects improving school grounds; planting trees and orchards, living willow sculptures and herb gardens.  In addition teaching staff are supported in using the local environment to deliver the national curriculum, as well as delivering lessons in the classrooms and near by sites managed by the Project. 

In addition to other groups and organisations, local individuals have joined the project in order to work with the SVP as volunteers, trainees and work experience students.  These local people have formed the bulk of the work force in achieving practical projects based around the above as well as guided walk leaders, supporting community events and gaining work experience in countryside management skills through developing school grounds; habitat (woodland, heathland, grassland and wetland) management; footpath maintenance; repairing dry stone walls; native wildflowers propagation; laying hedgerows; building ponds and planting living willow sculptures.

In addition to these skills and abilities, this team of volunteers and trainees have also received training and achieved certification in first aid at work and the use of power tools such as chainsaws, strimmers and clearing saws.  This is in order to enable these participants to be more effective in their activities on SVP projects as well as gaining more skills towards employability.

Local residents are also involved in understanding and caring for their environment through supported activities such as community events and environmental projects.  A programme of guided walks and family learning events for all abilities and interest are regularly delivered by the Steel Valley Project.

Future Projects  

Overall summary

The SVP is a project between private enterprise, (CORUS), local authorities and representatives from local community groups and environmental organisations.  The development of this approach has allowed the transfer of skills and objectives between this diverse group in order to steer the project effectively now and in the future.

Long term inclusion of the local community both practically as well as in understanding the value of its local environment and how it is managed, facilitates cheaper maintenance and less vandalism to the relevant projects generated.  This also helps engender a sense of place and pride in an area undergoing great changes in its employment base founded on heavy industry.

The approach used by the SVP shows that a very large number of organisations, agencies and groups, that at first sight can have very different aims, can identify and explore mutual objectives.  Working together to achieve these can enable effective in-roads to sharing resources, strengths and skills to achieve such goals.