Page 58 - Barrow Town Deal Board Agenda 14/4/2020

community of Ormsgill were invited to be part of the research. Our translator played a key role in

identifying and accessing the Syrian families in Ormsgill. She was able to book home visits for herself and
the lead researcher to interview the families within their own homes at a time that was convenient for

them.

Men Women Boys Girls

Figure 2: Gender breakdown of community researchers

Community Walks and Photovoice

The young community researchers were also involved in community walks which included photography
as it was felt that this would help the children enact their citizenship and understand their community.

This again is different from the traditional Connected Communities approach, where community surveys
are the predominant methodology with intermittent contact between the research lead and community

researchers. Young and adult community researchers, and also family members previously not involved
in the project, put themselves into groups and set about the streets of their local community. They used

digital cameras or their own mobile phones to capture young people’s perceptions of their community,
expressing what they likes and disliked through this medium. Adult community researchers engaged in

conversations with the young community researchers during this time, gaining valuable insight into why
certain areas were deemed good or bad. This was recorded using a clipboard while on the community

walks. These photographs and the accompanying views were presented at to the community through an

art exhibition during the Ormsgill Community Shout Out. They were also due to be presented to a meeting
with Barrow Borough Council and other partners. Unfortunately this was postponed due to the
Coronavirus outbreak but will be rearranged hopefully in the summer of 2020.

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