Doorstepping for jobs: (Simon Pellew and Pecan (Peckham Evangelical Churches Action Network).

Since 1989 Pecan (the Peckham Evangelical Churches Action Network) has trained over 7,000 people in one of south-east London's most deprived innercity areas. In 1992 the area had the highest rate of knifepoint robbery in the UK. Street robberies rose from 80 per month in 1992 to 200 a month in 1994, and unemployment soared.

Pecan recruited for its courses by sending volunteers to knock on doors on the `no-go area' estates of Gloucester Grove and North Peckham. Thanks to their efforts--and to a major government regeneration scheme--unemployment in one ward has fallen from 26 per cent to 10 per cent in the last decade. Pecan was cited by the Bishop of Southwark on BBC Radio 4, in the aftermath of Damilola Taylor's killing, as one organization that was successfully addressing Peckham's problems.

In 1996, the government embarked on the [pounds sterling] 70 million regeneration scheme, which began to demolish the old estates and build new homes, nearly all with gardens. It enlisted Pecan to run the community induction project, visiting over 635 homes since October 1996.

I visited Pecan to interview its managing director, Simon Pellew.

Lawrence Fearon: What do you see as the root causes of exclusion?

Simon Pellew: I think it's a mixture of economic deprivation, very poor education, very poorly constructed and designed housing, and family break up. And I would say that family break up is a crucial part of the mix. I think they all feed into each other.

LF: What do you have to share from your own experience of addressing exclusion?

SP: Exclusion is a hard nut to crack and you've got to break in somewhere. We focussed on employment, one of the easier areas.

I'd love to know how to address the problem of family breakdown but I haven't got a clue how to, it's so deep into society. I don't know how you stop employers being racist. I think improving schools is difficult but the Government's doing it.

But there is something that smaller charities can do to help employment. We can provide people with the skills to get jobs, we can provide them with the training they need and to some extent we can also help them overcome some of aspects of racism as well.

LF: Why do you do what you do?

SP: I was brought up in Epsom, which is a very wealthy area. When I was about 18, I was travelling by train up to London and out of the window I could see all the tower blocks. I felt how much God hated these places for what they were doing to people. I had a sense that they were a real abomination, an appalling and destructive thing in people's lives. I've never had any other sense of calling but that sense, that these things were evil and pernicious. That is why I do the kind of work I do now.

I really believe God wants people to live in decent accommodation, to have decent jobs, to have good education and to live in families that aren't ripping themselves to pieces. Those things seem to be worth giving your life for.

LF: Has Pecan been an expression of what you wanted to achieve?

SP: We still work with some of the most needy people in the country, particularly refugees and people with mental illness. That's what I think Pecan should be about.

One thing we at Pecan do differently is that everyone is paid the same. Partly that's to reject the market value approach to people, to say that you're worth far more than what you're paid.

LF: How has the involvement of different sectors helped in building a more inclusive community?

SP: In the 12 years that we've been working in Peckham, crime has fallen, unemployment has massively fallen, many of the atrocious housing estates have been demolished and education is improving.

This is partly down to a holistic approach: private companies have built houses, the local council has done a lot of work, charities including ourselves have been involved, the police have got their act together, and the faith communities have been involved.

It shows that cities can be transformed but it's expensive and hard long-term work.

LF: Could Peckham be an example to other parts of the country in terms of different groups working together in partnership?

SP: Yes! Although I'm reluctant to use the term partnership. I think partnership should be restricted to peers working together.

Partnership is attractive if you make it work but it's very time consuming, very expensive, and usually government programmes can't wait that long. What the council usually means by partnership is a consultation exercise. A real partnership is where they give up their power and in my experience that doesn't happen often.

Pecan can be contacted at 1-3 Atwell Rd, London SE15 4TW.

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