Over the last twenty years, Back on the Map has worked together with the local community to tackle some of the biggest challenges in Hendon, including an economic inactivity rate of 50% and other disadvantages. Working to turn the tide and create a more positive narrative for the local area, the organisation has had a transformative impact creating spaces for the community and young people to meet and connect, improving living conditions by providing residents with better quality homes, providing good access to healthcare, and reviving the high street.
Building community
Back on the Map is directed by what their community needs. In 2009, they began buying up homes, setting themselves up as a commercial landlord with a social purpose as a way of tackling the poor-quality homes available for rent in their area, often owned by absent landlords who didn’t maintain or improve their properties. With 130 homes under their management, Back on the Map are now both providing good quality rented homes to their community, and making a profit, which is gift aided to the Back on the Map charity, and funds their social support package.
The heart of Hendon
As part of Power to Change’s Community Improvement Districts pilot, launched in May 2022, Back on the Map developed their engagement with their local high street, Villette Road. They’d heard and understood from their residents that the state of the declining high street was a key concern, characterised by a block of properties with vacant ground floor shops.
After the year-long pilot came to a close, Back on the Map bought the vacant block of shops on Villette Road, combining some of the organisation’s own reserves to match fund an award from the Community Ownership Fund, and a 0% loan from the Rank Foundation. Their new units are now fully occupied, bringing in traders to provide the shops and services the local community wants and needs.
Alongside the existing shops, including a family-owned bakery that has been a fixture on the high street for over 60 years, two new businesses have opened their doors to the local community – a baby boutique and gift shop. A fruit and veg co-op will move in soon bringing their focus on healthy eating and reducing food waste to the high street, and addressing food insecurity.
The work of the Community Improvement District continues through a Trader Representative Trustee who sits on the Back on the Map board, ensuring that the Heart of Hendon is part of the organisation’s long-term strategy.
Hopes for the future
Back on the Map describe what they do as creating the social infrastructure Hendon and its residents need, working with the local community and the people who use their services to encourage active citizenship and pride of place. With a range of social infrastructure established and in development, they are now evolving their focus to work with local people aged 18-45 who are under-employed or currently out of work.
Back on the Map’s Head of Communication and Engagement, Mark Dawson, said, “Now that we have a strong foundation and infrastructure in place within the neighbourhood, we want to engage with more people to continue our ongoing mission to make Hendon a place of opportunity to live, work and thrive.”
The team would love to do more work on housing in the area. While their positive relationship with the local council has helped secure a new housing development on derelict land where contractors have just broken ground, they strongly believe more funding needs to be made available to retrofit old houses into new homes – and return vibrancy back to local areas.
