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PEOPLE
Do Or Die in Wythenshawe
01 August 2004
It was deemed unsustainable to renovate the building as a place of worship, but Greg Davis had a vision of creating something else that would bring the community together.
When GREG DAVIS heard that the Methodist Chapel in Manchester he had attended since childhood was facing closure he had no hesitation in taking it on. ‘It was a do or die situation,’ he says, and do he certainly did. It was deemed unsustainable to renovate the building as a place of worship, but Davis had a vision of creating something else that would bring the community together. And so the United Estates of Wythenshawe (UEW) was born, a unique social centre at the heart of Benchill, the most deprived council estate in England.
Wythenshawe, a poor area on the outskirts of Manchester, became infamous in the 1990s as the home of the UK’s first 12-year-old mother and, amongst other disturbing figures, also boasts the highest male suicide rate in the country and almost a third unemployment.
Davis grew up in Wythenshawe himself and after finishing at the local college began working as a bouncer in pubs and clubs in Greater Manchester before setting up his own security company, Diplomat, in 1989. Diplomat developed into one of the biggest and most successful providers of door staff in Manchester, before he sold it in 1996 with plans for a quiet family life in the country. So what tempted him out his early retirement? ‘There was an empty building needed filling,’ he says with characteristic straightforwardness, before admitting that he was craving a new challenge.
When the project began Davis had no idea of what it was going to become. He began by talking to the local leaders and getting them involved, aiming to use their influence over the rest of the area. Davis is keen to stress when he talks about local leaders that he is referring not to the Council-paid community leaders but to the ‘people who live in the only house on the street that has not been vandalized or broken into. The people with real influence on the estate, who are usually neglected by Council-run regeneration projects.’
Davis feels passionately that change and regeneration should come from within the area and involve the local people. The UEW building was renovated entirely by the local community without the help of contractors or consultants, and in 1998 they managed to replace the dilapidated roof for less than a quarter of the £80,000 professional quote they received. The hard work and community spirit demonstrated by all those involved makes this one of Davis’ proudest achievements—that and the fact that the roof is still holding up!
The UEW gym.
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Today the United Estates of Wythenshawe houses a gymnasium, a crèche, a community shop, a hairdressing salon, a complementary therapy centre, a local newspaper and a small café, to name but a few of the initiatives up and running. A dance studio and theatre workshop are in the pipeline and they are currently looking for funding to start a boxing club. Any profits are put back into the community and, most significantly, all the business ventures are managed by local people.
UEW is also home to FareShare; a business that collects unsold food from supermarkets then redistributes it amongst local charities. The business provides much-needed employment for ten local young people and they have used the scheme to encourage the development of a work ethic. ‘You have to understand,’ Greg explains, ‘that if your parents have never worked you don’t expect to have to get up at half past seven every morning, five days a week, and go to work. It’s not your culture.’
Davis is committed to providing opportunities that would not normally be open to the people of the area, in terms of employment and skills, and most importantly to fostering selfbelief. ‘I feel we’ve created a place where people can bring their dreams,’ says Davis, ‘I think we’ve pulled off something big... but I see it as unfinished business, there’s still so much to do.’
Sarah Calkin
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COMMENTS
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the gym is a verry good thing for our area.we have got the chance to go to the gym and just be our selfs.i no the people that run the gym they no all about all the youths in wythenshawe.they was the same when they was youths as we are naw nothing to do just get in to trouble.greg has put something in wythenshawe that we can do and not get in to trouble. thanks.
by cawley from benchill
steven cawley, 18 March 2007
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Iv'e been going to this gym now I would say aorund 4 Months Ive nown of the place a lot longer but only as of recant started to useit and I love it I have always been inot excersize of all kinds but carnt afford the massive gym fees that r required in these so called fitness first places etc and well to be onest thier isn't much if anything they have to offer that u carnt use here the way I see it is the most succesfull of athletes never used great facilities Joe Frazier Mohamid ali n so on and if for some reason you were to be stuck and needed edvice then it's frely available nutritional training advice etc. I couldnt imagine being without the place I can just turn up when and how I feel anytime no presure at all and leave when Ive finsihed and hopefully Ive gained something from it.
John Wheatman, 05 September 2007
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I realise I'm responding to a three-year-old article, but never mind. I've just read the article in 8-Dec Telegraph magazine.
The initiative shown by Greg Davis in not just setting up this incredible and hugely needed project, but also in keeping it going, is an example of God's love and grace working in him - what an example! As coordinator of the 'medium-Hope2008' happening at St Paul's Church in Spalding, I am inspired by the determination and vision of this guy. St Paul's is on the edge of my town, also on the edge of a council estate. It covers a socially deprived area, albeit angelic compared with Wythenshawe. I want to use some of Greg's enthusiasm, which has rubbed off on to me, to develop and establish something like this in our town. Do you know about Hope2008? If not see www.hope08.com
Please can you pass on any particular advice and problems to do with setting up this mulit-facility venture, given that we have a listed church building [and all the restrictions attached to that status] with a leaking roof that needs some £500,000 to fix, and a faithful congregation of about 50?
I look forward to your comments and wish you God's continuing grace and inspiration to keep UEW on the go.
Love and blessings ~
Ros
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