Although most of our Projects are facing challenges and changes because of external pressures,
it is Blackwater Task Force, our second oldest Project, which is facing perhaps
the greatest challenge of its life, in the coming year.
Blackwater Task Force celebrated its 21st Birthday last year. It started life as a small day Project doing garden work and some furniture movement and has grown into the diverse Employment Project based at Knightswood in Southminster that you see today. It is that change and growth that has caused something of an ‘identity crisis’ for BTF. Many people, including some of the existing members of the Project, still see BTF as that small ‘day service’, but the challenge is going to be for BTF to continue its development to respond to the new Employment Commissioning Strategy for North Essex after 2007, after European Social Funds end.
Some may see this as change to ‘chase the money’, but national research has shown (and this is backed up by our own experiences) that the sooner people can have the opportunity to think about returning to employment after illness, the quicker their recovery will be. Of course there will always be people for whom open employment will not be an option, but the need to have a worthwhile daily activity is still strong. Recent Government policy is about “Inclusion” and not isolation and we believe that this is a right and practical movement if it is properly funded. Because of its unique position in the district, we feel that BTF can be part of the tapestry of services which can prevent people losing employment through mental health problems and can give the training and activity to support them back into work. One of the options we will be looking at is the possible development of a Social Firm, based on green principles.
In looking back over the last year it is good to see that despite the uncertainties that continue to be a feature of life at BTF, there has been lots of progress.
- The improvements that Essex County Council have provided have made the buildings much more user friendly and accessible, but there is still a long way to go.
- The yard and the site are much tidier and a huge amount of work has been done over the year to organise the barns and the greenhouses and visitors comment on the change.
- There has been a move towards self sufficiency and a healthy diet and staff and members have readily agreed that they will contribute towards their lunch and beverages although Volunteers lunches will still be free.
This has largely been because for the first time in some years there has been a decent period of staff stability and also a gradual growth in Volunteers again. Our Lottery funded Mini bus and Lorry are getting very elderly and we have plans to replace them soon – we just need to raise the money! We continue to work well with our neighbours in the Dengie Project Trust and we have joint dreams to develop the Knightswood site together for the benefit of the community.
The commitment and hard work of Josie Mitchell and the Team have shown how well Blackwater Task Force can rise to the challenges and we have high hopes that these positive developments can continue over the years to come.
