Sharrow Community Forum

Sharrow Community Forum (SCF) is a small forward thinking charity working within one of the most deprived wards in Sheffield. Established in 1997, we have been working within the local community and with strategic partners to promote cohesion and drive social change and economic regeneration. The ward has high concentrations of ethnic minority groups (46.3% against a city average of 19.2%), high rates of mental health hospital admissions, and a high number of lone parent families (30.1%), and children living in poverty (24.1%). It also has one of the highest crime and antisocial behaviour rates in the city. We have achieved impact and affected change through a combination of the development and provision of effective community engagement activities (including creative and family events, fundraisers and supporting local volunteer-led groups), services for children and young people, supporting community activism and promoting the voice of local people to local and city-wide agencies and local government, underpinned by a wide range of employability and volunteering opportunities and programmes. We have built up a key Facilities Management offer which provides affordable space for local people and groups across a range of buildings we manage in the locality, including council services and small charities. These collectively along with a community café provide a focal point within the community and hub for the provision of support services – over 3500 people use our buildings each month.