When a teenage friend was stabbed to death 14 years ago, Darwin Bernardo was inspired to become a youth advocate against violence. He founded Nutmeg, an organisation aimed at deterring young people from knife and gun crime.
“Recently there has been a lot of discussion about freedom of movement in the context of Europe and how the idea of feeling restricted would affect people,” he says, “But some young people on estates don’t have freedom of movement within their own neighbourhood at all.”
Bernardo decided to focus Nutmeg on those living in social housing, running a variety of schemes including a sports programme. “Initially I wanted to combat violence by raising the profile of positive local role models and offering personal development opportunities, but I quickly realised it’s hard to do that on your own,” says Bernardo, now 32. “You need to involve other local organisations like the council and external housing groups. Many of the young people getting into trouble were from housing estates with serious deprivation so it made sense to forge links with local housing management teams.”
Bernardo says he realised that it was important to have everyone on board, and for local people to feel they had a stake in their area: “When they do, you can set standards and social values and establish pride in an area. If people don’t have that, they don’t care what happens where they live, and behave accordingly.”
In 2010, Bernardo forged what has become an ongoing relationship with Barnet Homes, an Almo (arm’s length management organisation) that is part of the Barnet Group, a local authority trading company in north London, which has taken on much of the housing services in the borough – managing and maintaining 15,000 council homes. “I was encouraged when Barnet Homes approached Nutmeg,” he says. “They wanted to talk to residents not just about maintaining their tenancies but entrepreneurship, healthy living, mentoring, and instil the message that they were not just there to collect rents but also to invest in residents’ personal development – which, for me, is the model of responsible development.”
His aims for the collaboration have grown: “As we move ahead, we need to think about the way we design estates. Can we design out crime? This is important and achievable by doing things like installing better lighting, having a community centre which serves as an information hub, and allowing residents to benefit from access to information that meets their needs regarding employment, health and wellbeing, housing and education.”
Bernardo’s Nutmeg organisation focuses on those living in social housing, and asks questions about the way estates are designed
Beyond Nutmeg, Bernardo now also has a wider remit working for the mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit. “Young people are still dying on estates and it’s all linked to housing and the attendant social issues,” he says. “I can take the lessons I’ve learned and relay it to City Hall. I’m working with housing associations putting crime and housing on the same agenda, asking questions like: ‘How do we make residents safe in the area?’; ‘How do we engage the local police.’”
Meanwhile, Barnet Homes is overseeing a £700m renewal project on Bernardo’s own housing estate, Grahame Park, in Colindale, north London, a 1970s brutalist project, parts of which are rated as among the most deprived in England.
Working with 25 organisations across the borough, the scheme will integrate affordable and private housing in a mix of tenures, including social rent, shared ownership and private sales. There will be a supermarket, and additional retail and community facilities. A £6.5m youth centre, Unitas, opened in 2019. Local people were consulted along the way, with the scheme gaining a high approval rating.
“It makes a huge difference when a housing organisation is based on the estate because those running it have a clearer view of what’s happening on the ground,” says Bernardo. “Barnet Homes set up a local hub here so staff got to know residents and got involved in community projects. They can make changes from the ground up, tailoring services for the demographic.”
There were pop-up exhibitions so that people could see what was being planned and give their input. Bernardo attended many of the consultation meetings. “Young people also had a say. We went to Wigan with councillors and the chief operating officer of Unitas to look at its youth centre. We had never had anything like that and it was exciting.”
In the face of national lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, Unitas has been working hard to support the most vulnerable young people and the wider community with video calls, one-to-one chats and online activities. It has also turned the centre into a food hub and waived the 50p entrance fee until further notice. During normal times, the centre is run by youth workers and volunteers, offering dozens of activities, such as music workshops, dance workshops, healthy cooking and sports.
“It’s the sort of thing needed on many estates in the UK,” says Bernardo. “There are some popping up in Croydon, Dagenham and they can be very effective if local young people are engaged from the beginning. In fact all community projects, regenerations and services need to be co-designed with residents before any paperwork or mock-up designs are presented.”
Bernardo notes that his work with City Hall has given him an even bigger platform to push for this kind of progress: “There was a time when I couldn’t get to CEOs and directors but I can do that now, and I’m still relaying the same message. It’s all about engagement in the end.”
Building a better future
Nationwide Building Society is working with communities to support local housing and build a better society. Take a look at the work it is doing
