Overview
Despite our love of formal training, much of the evidence suggests that learning happens between people and is best facilitated by peers. Creating a learning environment is key to all our work and, although never directly funded, our focus during our work in Newsham Park was to create an enabling network. This meant that we worked hard to foster relationships between different groups within the local community.
These differences in ethnicity, age, and socio-economic status were only reinforced by the ways in which funding was targeted at particular groups or particular problems. To overcome that, we deliberately sought to keep all activities open to everyone, not only on paper but in spirit. We also sought to create a safe psychological environment that enabled people to connect across perceived differences and find common ground between them.
The evidence of the success of this informal network can be found in the number of ongoing friendships between former participants and the extent to which the network-enabled people to share resources, help, experience and advice in ways that did not encourage dependency or foster shame.
The Enabling Network
NEWSHAM PARK
The following organisations and initiatives Tree House is either working to support or aligns with their values around social prescribing, social wellbeing, mindfulness and connectivity.
The following organisations and initiatives Tree House is either working to support or aligns with their values around social prescribing, social wellbeing, mindfulness and connectivity.
SERVICES
About Tree House
Project Delivery
Co-designing and Delivering Projects
As an organisation, we have very rich experience over five years of working in partnership with others to develop and deliver community-based wellbeing projects. We are experienced at developing strong delivery partnerships as well as providing proof of concept and buy-in from local people. We create evidence-based frameworks which provide a discipline for the work, clear measures of success as well as transparency and accountability to both individuals and communities.
Project Delivery
Our project portfolio includes a wide range of Newsham Park-based activities (Wild Play, Street Art, The Newsham Bandstand Restoration and Clean Up Flash Mobs) which were entirely conceived, developed, resourced and delivered by local people who had been initially attracted to the organisation through other activities. In addition, we delivered projects whose primary objectives were conceived elsewhere (Open Arms Red Cross). They include commissions for one-off activities and events developed in partnership with other providers resulting in a pooling of effort and resource or the extension of an organisation remit to include Newsham Park (Dog Days, Cinema Nights, Philosophy in the Park) as well as longer-term activity programmes (Yoga in the Park).
We have also been heavily committed to projects designed to respond to the climate crisis involving 100s of people in activities such as Tree Planting and environmental protection and enhancement projects (The Dragon Fly Pond Clean Up Days) as well as hosting Community Festivals. We have also hosted community discussions, and commissioned animation to try and communicate the sense of dislocation that many who are over-managed and mistrusted feel (The Normalizer). We have attracted active participation from people as young as 5 and as old as 85 and from every socio-economic and cultural group. We have worked in partnership with diverse organisations at every level, from across the sectors, in Liverpool, the UK and Europe. Navigating outdoor, community-based and wellbeing projects in this way requires experience, proof of concept, buy-in from landowners and local authorities, an evidence-based framework, measures for success, experience, and a mindful approach to both individuals and communities.
Our Experience
Gallery of Related Projects
Newsham Park
Since 2012, we have been facilitating our own projects and initiatives in Liverpool’s Tuebrook. Using Newsham Park as a focal point for our activities and using the natural environment as the basis for our activities, we have been successfully building connections with those around us to support and enrich lives.