Home 5 Case Study 5 One Voice Blackburn

One Voice Blackburn

Growing the aspirations of young people in one of the most diverse and disadvantaged places in the country

Blackburn has some of the poorest wards in the UK. 34% of its population is Black, Asian and minority ethnic, in particular South Asian families, as well as a recent influx of refugee communities. Many families live in overcrowded housing. Despite those depressing statistics, the parents in the area have huge aspirations for their children and so ten years ago they took matters into their own hands.

The CEO, Zaffer Kahn, was involved from the start. A former journalist, he’s a public relations and marketing professional. “I was made redundant in 2013 and One Voice Blackburn was a great project for me to use my skills and support my community,” he said.

How did they do it?

In 2011 a group of parents in the area came together who were deeply concerned about the future prospects of their children. They wanted to involve the whole community to find out about the wider concerns and so they ran a series of focus groups. They found out that their neighbours most wanted to tackle health inequalities and focus on leadership and empowerment of young people. Out of that, One Voice Blackburn was born.

One Voice Blackburn

What is their social impact?

One particular area of impact is that of gender inequalities within the community. For example, the girl’s group West End Girls, which includes everything from forming their own bands to setting up a YouTube channel, gives them an opportunity to express themselves in a way that would have been more difficult in a mainstream setting.

Covid-19 has been a huge challenge for the organisation. The BAME community has been disproportionately affected, and Blackburn has experienced more stringent longer-term restrictions than other areas of the UK. “We went digital straightaway,” Zaffer explains, “so we were ahead of the game. Then we found out there were inequalities, in that people couldn’t afford the technology to work from home. Not everyone is comfortable with it, especially vulnerable groups but we are making progress in these most extreme of times.”

How is it community led?

One Voice is a membership organisation and is open to all the diverse and multi-ethnic communities within Blackburn.

Trading

for the benefit of the local community

Reducing

isolation

Improved

physical and/or mental health
Empowering Places

Empowering Places

Empowering Places was a unique five-year programme designed by Power to Change to explore ways in which ‘locally rooted’ anchor organisations, operating in areas of high deprivation, could be supported to ‘catalyse’ new community businesses. The programme hypothesised that this, in turn, would contribute to an overarching vision of more prosperous places, with more jobs and opportunities for local people.
Giroscope

Giroscope

Founded by a group of young radicals in Hull in the 1980s, Giroscope’s self-help housing is regenerating the neighbourhood with a new generation of young people.
Sunderland Homegrown

Sunderland Homegrown

A community nursery and garden centre training vulnerable young people.

Other articles you may want to read

New report reveals struggling high streets across Britain and highlights community businesses leading regeneration efforts

New report reveals struggling high streets across Britain and highlights community businesses leading regeneration efforts

A new report from Power to Change looks at regions which have seen the biggest increase in rising and persistent vacancy rates.
Community led approaches are breathing new life into Britain’s high streets

Community led approaches are breathing new life into Britain’s high streets

Our high streets and town centres have faced significant decline in recent years, but a new community-led approach, pioneered by Power to Change, could be the key to unlocking powerful regeneration of our high streets.
The future of civil society infrastructure funding

The future of civil society infrastructure funding

Common Vision's ‘Futures Playbook’ explores how building and resourcing infrastructure can support civil society to be impactful, resilient and adaptive in the future.