Who we are and what we do
Cordale is a community-based housing association, based in Renton, West Dunbartonshire. For the last 15 years we have been at the heart of community-led investment here, which has turned our once notorious urban village into one of the most popular places to live in the area.
As a housing association and charity, our main role is providing and managing social housing to meet people's needs. But we have always believed that housing associations must take a broader view, which gives social and economic development equal priority with the housing role. We are involved in a number of initiatives that link housing investment with health, jobs, education, the arts and building community strength.
Chairman, Archie Thomson, sums it up:
"Renton was once home to a thriving bleaching and dying industry, as well as supplying many workers for the Glasgow shipyards. But those jobs are long gone. Since then, poverty has been a 'binding glue' for people here. So, when we set up Cordale we decided that we were not just going to provide good quality homes for people to enjoy their poverty in."
How we got going
Cordale has been led by local people from its beginnings in the early 1990s. It started in 1991 when a group of active council tenants came together to take on the management of some of the council homes in Renton. Two years later and with help from a housing association in Glasgow, 50 community members met to discuss taking on the ownership of these homes; our housing association was born.
How we organise ourselves
Since those early days, Cordale has grown to become a thriving social business. But we have always kept our focus on Renton and its surrounding communities. Our eight staff are accountable to a growing membership of 300 local people; each year they elect our 15-strong voluntary management committee - a balanced mix of tenants and owner occupiers with experience in all walks of life. Demand to join our committee is such that we have had to hold four elections in the past six years.
We hold a residents' conference every year. In 2008, the local drama group prepared and performed sketches at the Ma Centre youth club, highlighting issues with housing allocations. Cordale's success has led to a low turnover of properties, but a high number of applicants. Called 'How kin ah no get a hoose?' the sketches tackled head on some of the myths about allocations and gave people the chance to talk through the issues.
Where our funding comes from
Our main source of income is from our tenants' rents - now more than £1 million a year. Our new housing schemes have been financed by a combination of Housing Association Grant, invested by the Scottish Government and topped up with private finance. But we also attracted significant investment from our local council, other public agencies and charitable trusts and foundations, to complement investment by the Scottish Government. Having a broad spread of investment is always important.
What we've achieved so far
We have built or modernised more than 400 homes in Renton. Alongside our new homes for rent and sale, we have refurbished ex-council homes, transferred following a near unanimous tenants' ballot, and we now have 40 recently-completed Extra Care apartments.
Cordale has been centrally involved in completely changing the heart of the village. The village supermarket, chemist and post office were all built by our housing association's commercial subsidiary. We have also set up a Community Development Trust, a Social Enterprise Centre, a Healthy Living Centre and a Youth Centre - all meeting important local needs.
Our Social Enterprise Centre is the heart of the village. Originally built as a social centre for elderly people by West Dunbartonshire Council, the centre is now run by and for the benefit of the whole community, on a 99-year lease. All but one of the staff are local people taken on not just because they were local, but because they were the best people for the jobs.
As well as hosting community activities, including a community café, the centre also runs Cordale's housing support work, which includes looking after our new 'extra care' apartments.
Ma Centre is a large youth building, formerly owned by the council, but now firmly in the hands of Renton Community Development Trust and particularly the many young people who use it.
Macca is one of the young people involved in the Renton Youth group. He explains how it works…
"Eight teenagers run the centre. It's open every day. Louise is the oldest. She gets paid and the rest of us are volunteers. We take bookings for all the activities, staff the café and keep an eye on everything. Archie sorts out any problems, but we don't get many."
The problems we've overcome
In the early days, we struggled to get support. Many didn't believe that ordinary folk could get together and change their communities. We spent many years trying to convince them that they were wrong. With hard work and dedication, we've overcome the scepticism.
Wherever you go in Renton these days, you find people with a real pride that the transformation of the place has been achieved by their own community. There is a sense of togetherness which was not present a few years ago.
Joyce Findlay is a typical Cordale tenant. She moved into the village nine years ago; a single parent at a very low ebb, looking for a place to live. The social enterprise centre encouraged her to take an assertiveness course - now she is a receptionist in Renton's Healthy Living Centre, her home has been modernised and her future looks secure.
"My street was previously the most unpopular in Renton. I used to be scared to walk through the village, but I wouldn't live anywhere else now. I love the community spirit here; I've never felt like an outsider."
With nearly £38 million invested in Renton in the past 15 years, Cordale has helped pull the community out of the poverty index for the very first time - something we are particularly proud of.
Getting builders to take on local apprentices was initially difficult, but they have come on board now. It has enabled us to give a real boost to the local economy. A recent evaluation suggested that, with our partners, Cordale helped create more than 150 local jobs between 2001 and 2006.
What we've learned
We have learnt much in the past 15 years and we are still learning. Owning assets certainly gives a community status and power, but it is important never to look inwards. We have spent a lot of time coming up with new ways of doing things and this has paid off in terms of outside support. Community leadership is vital and needs to be embedded in the local culture, not least amongst young people. The next generation must be able to keep things going when the pioneers start to run out of steam.
We have also learnt that, to be successful, you have to build practical partnerships with other organisations - you can't do it all on your own. Despite the early tensions, we now have a good working relationship with our local council. They respect what we've done for Renton and are now a key partner.
Bill Clark, the council's Social Work and Health Director, sees Cordale's work in Renton as a very positive example of how community-led partnerships can transform people's lives…
"When regeneration involves social, economic and physical change, it makes local people feel better off and more caring of each other."
What's next for us?
Our work in Renton is far from done. Development of 279 new homes for rent and sale is now getting under way on a former contaminated textile mill site beside the River Leven. It followed extensive discussions with residents through a series of six focus groups, helping to plan the scheme and ensuring it meets local needs and expectations.
Cordale has now been asked to get involved in the adjacent village of Alexandria, working with the local tenants and residents association, the Chamber of Commerce and Traders Association on a major regeneration scheme.
We have also pioneered a new partnership approach to funding the regeneration of primary schools, which keeps the financial benefits in the community. Working closely with the local council, we are hoping to use this model in Renton, bringing schools together on a single site.
Cordale's Director, Stephen Gibson, is confident about the future…
"We don't just talk about community-led regeneration - we do it and have been very successful. But there is much more to do. With continued investment from the Scottish Government we will build more new homes for rent in Renton and Alexandria and use housing-led investment to stimulate our local economy. In partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council, we intend to create new business opportunities that will retain as much social and economic benefit as possible in the area. We are very clear that we don't just build houses, we build communities. As well as pursuing new shopping opportunities, we are looking into the potential to diversify into schools regeneration and extend the boundaries of community ownership."
Want to find out more?
We think we have an inspiring story to tell about community empowerment in Renton. If you would like to know more, you can contact us at:
Cordale Housing Association
1 Red Row Renton Dunbartonshire G82 4PL
Phone: 01389 721 216 EmailWeb