Regenerating Bradford and recapturing its ‘history of innovation’ was the theme of an evening at Bradford Cathedral last week led by Lord Andrew Mawson, recently appointed Chairman of Well North, a Public Health England initiative working with local authorities, social enterprise and private sectors.
Lord Mawson who was born in Bradford was the speaker at the second ‘Flourishing City’ seminar to be held at the cathedral.
Lord Mawson founded the charity Community Action Network and Andrew Mawson Partnerships, which takes on regeneration work throughout the country. He spoke about his experiences of regeneration projects in London in a session titled Back to the Future: how to recapture Bradford’s history of innovation and entrepreneurship.
Flourishing City is a series of seminars at the Cathedral exploring different things that need to come together for developing cities in the 21st century, including business, architecture, health, technology, sustainability, education and faith.
Lord Mawson explored Bradford’s history of innovation and looked at what could be done to return the city to its glory days. He shared his own story which started in a run down church and today has led him to play a leading role in the development of the Olympic Park.
He also said that an entrepreneurial and innovative approach was as important in East London, where he has worked for 34 years, as it was for the founding fathers of Bradford.
The session looked at the current context of Bradford and the potential of an emerging generation of entrepreneurs to transform the city once again.
"The vision for the programme of ‘Flourishing City’ events at the Cathedral is to provide some opportunities for stimulating thought and action for Bradford’s future," said the Dean of Bradford Cathedral, the Very Revd Jerry Lepine. "The Cathedral does not have money to support regeneration but it does have a public space and a convening power to offer events like this"
He added, "Lord Andrew Mawson is a Bradfordian. Many years ago he felt called into Christian ministry and ended up in Bromley-by-Bow in East London working with a small congregation in an area known for its serious deprivation and tensions. From the outset he went out into the community and talked and listened and sought out people who had some energy to do something, to make a difference. Initially, the energy came from a small dance school but as he networked, putting people in touch with each other and finding the necessary grants to develop projects the vision grew. Today, the Bromley by Bow Centre is known around the world as it supports families, young people and adults of all ages to learn new skills, improve their health and wellbeing, find employment and develop the confidence to achieve their goals and transform their lives – see http://www.bbbc.org.uk. It is a sign of hope but it has also created other regeneration around it.
"This is all about social entrepreneurship, producing healthy development for communities with the goal of connecting education, health and community relationships but having the overall affect of empowering and regenerating communities. Lord Mawson has written about this in his best selling text, ‘The Social Entrepreneur, Making Communities Work’ (Atlantic Books). Currently he is developing work in Girlington and other parts of Bradford, looking to see this city grasp its own future. ‘Its all about people and relationships… ‘
"In the Cathedral on 11th October we had people drawn from many backgrounds and work strands – architects, educationalists, social entrepreneurs, artists, politicians, doctors, civic leaders, clergy, business people, social workers, Yorkshire Cricket Club and even an opera singer! These are all people who are committed to working for the regeneration of Bradford but have probably never been together in the same space before. Lord Mawson evidently makes things happen. He does have a very practical, down to earth way of getting things done. He is currently involved with Well North, the Olympic Legacy and Bradford! There were loads of conversations going on after the address. It would be good to hear from people who have been stimulated to do something in their communities as a result of this evening."