The collapse of the British coal industry had a devastating impact on the village of Grimethorpe, Barnsley, perhaps best known as the inspiration for the 1996 film Brassed Off.
From the start of the decline in the late 1970s to the closure of its colliery in 1993 Grimethorpe’s community lost over 6,000 local jobs; unemployment was three times the national average and poverty, crime and social deprivation increased as the economic, social and physical environment deteriorated. Migration saw 20 per cent of the population leave.
Barnsley Community Solutions’, Grimethorpe Health and Social Care Centre – due to open this year – is an important part of the regeneration strategy for the community and has been achieved by close working between Grimethorpe Regeneration Board, Barnsley Council, Barnsley primary care trust and local stakeholders.
As well as providing easier access to more local health and social care services, the very existence of the centre means a disused brownfield site in the village centre is being brought back to productive use.
Employment opportunities have been created for local people in the construction of the centre and will continue through on-going facilities management and in the provision of health and social care services.
The centre will be a “minihub” in the locality, hosting a large group general practice and providing access to a wide range of community health and social care services, including physiotherapy, chiropody, speech therapy, social welfare, mental health and community nursing under one roof. Improvement to the health of the local population will, in turn, provide a better local labour supply.
Also under the centre’s roof will be local art, commissioned as part of the wider community consultation and another indication of how the centre is helping, as part of the village’s broader regeneration strategy, to restore pride.