Film group helping shape community regeneration

fILMfAM was set up to offer film and photography training to people in Gleadless Valley

One year on from the scrapping of a multimillion-pound regeneration scheme in Sheffield, a film and photography group are helping to shape development in the neighbourhood.

fILMfAM, which was set up to help teach film and photography skills to people, has been commissioned by the new Gleadless Valley Regeneration Board to help them understand residents concerns about the area.

It follows the scrapping of Sheffield Council's £90m masterplan to regenerate the estate last year, with the authority citing cost increases due to the Covid pandemic and Brexit.

Chair of the regeneration board Alexis Krachai said the group's films had captured "authentic voices" with "lived in" experience.

fILMfAM have been interviewing people in Gleadless Valley asking for their feedback on the area

Filmmaker Laura Ward, who was given Arts Council funding to set up the group, said it was "vital" their documentary-style films interviewing people in the area were being made by those who lived and worked locally.

"If you're trying to regenerate an area you need to spend quite a bit of time there, speaking to people with honest conversations that last more than half an hour," she said.

"You need to see things first-hand.

"You might hear about piles of rubbish but when you actually walk about and see how often they're there and somebody can tell you a story about it, that's different to just having a conversation with somebody in a closed environment for a short time."

The Gleadless Valley Regeneration Board have described the group's films as "authentic" with "lived in" experiences

Mr Krachai said the film groups' work had helped "influence" the board, which includes decision makers such as council leader Tom Hunt, Louise Haigh MP and other local councillors.

He said: "What the films have done in a really powerful way is remind us why we are doing this work.

"It's easy to think of complex work like this in terms of reports, spreadsheets and numbers. We cannot lose sight of the real people here".

Despite the original masterplan, which was originally developed in 2017, being scrapped, the council have committed £40m to the regeneration of the area, focussing on supporting housing refurbishment and green space improvements.

However, Mr Krachai admits "it's not enough".

"I really understand people's frustrations at the delays here," he said.

"What the group's films show is that anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping, informal parking are blighting peoples lives so we have to focus on those things"

"Gleadless Valley has declined over decades so we can't turn it around in a couple of years.

"The money has been allocated for improving existing homes, but to deliver improved parks and playgrounds and the facilities across the valley clearly we need more."

The Council still has £40m to spend on housing refurbishment in the Gleadless Valley

Community artist Jack Owen from the Heeley City Trust has been lending his expertise to the film group and believes the regeneration board have to manage expectations.

"People need to see something happening on the estate," he said.

"They need to see tangible progress, because there's been a lot of disappointment [and] a lot of anger.

"I think the council probably needs to do better at communicating with residents about the intricacies and the detail of developing a regeneration programme, because people don't understand and they feel very frustrated that they don't see any progress on the ground."

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