Issue 17 | Spring 2003

Huyton SRB - Seven Years of Success

Carol Makes a Difference
Huyton Today talks to Carol Wiggins, one of the key fegures behind the community-led regeneration programme

This month sees the end of the seven-year SRB programme to regenerate Huyton. Since it was set up in 1996, £106 million public and private sector money has been invested into making Huyton a better place to work and live in.

Huyton SRB has supported key projects such as the building of the River Alt Centre and its network of satellite centres, the regeneration of King George V playing fields and the computer suites in Huyton and Page Moss libraries. It has helped fund almost 500 local projects.

The Partnership’s main priorities were bringing more jobs to Huyton and increasing the chances of local people getting jobs by focusing on education and training. Through the programme 1392 full time jobs have been created and 1722 jobs have been safe guarded. 842 people have got jobs through training.

The local community has driven the regeneration from the outset. Special working groups, led by community representatives, were established to ensure that their input was fed directly into the Partnership.

Huyton SRB has helped bring business and jobs to the borough by investing in CCTV, refurbishing Huyton town centre and developing Kings Business Park, which is now home to Vertex Data Services. Huyton Business Park has also undergone refurbishment, making it a better site to both retain and attract businesses.

SRB has also helped to fund major projects to help improve school and leisure facilities. These include the learning campus at Bowring Park School. Last year, almost 2,000 local residents attended programmes at the school. The “raising standards” project at St Bridget’s Primary school achieved a major turnaround in pupils’ performance, earning the school Beacon Status. In total, Huyton SRB has invested over £2 million in the area’s schools.

By funding the Sheila Kay project SRB helped people to get proper childcare at affordable prices, which is allowing parents to get back into the jobs or training market. The SRB has also funded many small projects, which have made a difference to the local community, such as the regeneration of Sawpit Park.

Cllr Ron Round, Chair of the Huyton SRB partnership, said, “Huyton has seen a great many changes and improvements in the past seven years that have had a marked effect on bringing more jobs and new businesses to the town. The key to this success, without a doubt, has been due largely to the local community who have enthusiastically taken up the opportunities provided by the SRB funding. Now that the programme has come to an end, it has laid the foundations for a more prosperous future for the town and its communities.”