Women’s revival

There’s Judith Armitt, chief executive of the Thames Gateway Forum, Baroness Ford, chair of English Partnerships and Pam Alexander, chief executive of SEEDA – regeneration is one industry that has women in high places. It is tempting, therefore, to assume that it has got the gender balance right.

Alexander is doubtful. She says: “Regeneration isn’t doing well if you look at the proportion of women represented in other industries.” But she acknowledges that women are attracted to regeneration more than to other activities in construction. She warns against the obvious gender stereotyping, but points out: “Women are often interested in building communities, not just bricks and mortar. They are attracted to pulling together different strands and improving the quality of the environment.”

Happily, there are plenty of women entering the sector, including Anne Tillett, a former teacher who was hired by Redrow four months ago as a community officer for the company’s South Yard Enclave regeneration project in Devonport. Her role is to bridge the gap between the community and the developer. Although she doesn’t think that a woman is best suited to the job, she says her previous experience in the education and charity sectors enable her to tackle the issues better. She says: “Women are comfortable listening to and talking to people. Society has allowed them to do it better.”

Regeneration schemes involve a lot of changes among a community. Tillett says the most challenging aspect is to manage people’s expectations and help them understand that the result might not be the perfect vision they had in mind. This month Redrow opened an information suite at Devonport to create a visible presence in the community. Tillett wants the centre to become “a place where the community feels happy to come for a chat and a cuppa”. She thinks that a woman can appear less threatening and more accessible, features that might help to establish dialogue in an environment where ethnic minorities and women are the main target of the regeneration.

Women are comfortable listening and talking to people

Anne Tillett

Tillett says women are more likely to be at home raising their children and therefore more directly affected by the disruption of a regeneration scheme. These women can play a major role in influencing the community into accepting changes and that is why they have to be involved in the process.

Meanwhile, Alexander wants to see women being the beneficiaries and the leaders of regeneration. Last year, she was appointed co-chair of the Women’s Enterprise Taskforce which aims to grow the number of women in business, help them develop their existing businesses and in the process aid regeneration.

The details of the taskforce are still being finalised but its aim is to bring about 750,000 more women into the workplace. The approach will consist of workshops organised in a way that women find accessible to develop business ideas, presentation skills and boost their confidence. Alexander says money is available for businesses, but that women don’t always know how to access it. She’s convinced that in the long term making women the agents of regeneration can only benefit the whole community with a cut in unemployment and benefit savings.

Alexander and the members of the taskforce are also setting out to identify role models who are already involved in community work and can turn their talents to help regenerate the broader community. “The project taps into the pool of unused talent,” she says. “We expect the key person to energise, magnetise, bring the community together to revive it.”