Lowick Cluster of Social Enterprises

Social costs and benefits

The local community has developed as a result of being involved in the whole process, but it has also been a bruising process for many local participants.  The campaign to halt the closure of the School and the subsequent decision to re-open it as a co-operative social enterprise appear to have had painful and negative effects on many of those involved.  

These all appear to be linked to the closure of the school, and are related to the fact that:

  • The community has dissipated a huge amount of energy.  So many people now feel bruised and unwilling to take any risks or get involved in community activities.
  • The parents’ own networks were dismantled when the school finally closed – with the result that contact between them is rare except between close friends, and all the children have gone to a variety of schools and rarely meet
  • Some families chose to move school early in the battle that created bad blood early on and split in loyalty within the community.  These wounds are only just healing.

However when examined in more detail, there appear to be some significant benefits including that the volunteers:

  • Learned which individuals in local politics can help make things happen and who are ‘jobs worth’ men.
  • Understood better educational political processes both local and national
  • Improved their abilities to read complex procedural documents
  • Gained experience in public speaking and contributing at public and smaller community meetings
  • Improved their knowledge of ways of challenging political decision making processes
  • Developed friendships and an understanding, skills and expertise
  • Developed an organisation that can keep the major community asset in community management and that potentially could have supported the long-term sustainability of the school and the community.

There is thus a clear division between positive and negative aspects:  the negative aspects relate to the loss of the village’s asset – the school – while the positive aspects relate to the attempt to consciously increase the community’s own capacity and cohesion in response.  This division between positive and negative aspects demonstrates clearly a tension and debate amongst those seeking to promote social enterprise development more widely: is it the social enterprise that is the objective, or is it the process of setting the enterprise up, itself the key to growing community capacity.  This is exemplified by Rose’s comments in respect of the social enterprise and its role in the future: ‘We are now hoping that Community Learning Lowick will be the catalyst and focus for activities run for the community.  It can now be used to heal wounds and build bridges within the community and externally and, if the demographics and politics change in the future there is the potential for a new school to be created.’

The Lowick Educational Trust researches and manages activities that can be developed into longer-term sustainable social enterprises and community-focussed projects under the Community Learning Lowick umbrella.  Since 1999 the community in Lowick has been testing activities that can be established as components of a sustainable social enterprise programme to be located at the school’s premises.  It was the community’s original intention that this programme should all established with the objective that these activities could contribute positively to the running of the school’s premises and facilities.  Following research carried out by the Trust, a number of social enterprise developments are underway.  One of the more developed enterprises is the Natterjack Arts Project that provides a mix of community activities and educational services to local schools.  Another is financed by the Arts Council and employs a former member of the primary school staff who offers 4-18 year olds in the area music and arts workshops and performances on weekends and school holidays in association with South Lakes Music Links and Gener8or.  The third offers schools access to an arts and learning network, which could conceivably also link to a local community heritage organisation.  This organisation is, in turn, discussing plans to co-locate its activities into the school’s site in order to develop joint community and educational services in the South Cumbria and Furness area.