July 2010: the Aylesbury estate, Walworth, London
With Donna Grant, Space and Activities Coordinator at Inspire at St Peter's, Walworth.
Donna Grant has lived on the Aylesbury estate for almost forty years, moving in as a child shortly after the building was completed in 1971.
The Aylesbury - one of the largest housing developments in Europe - has one of the worst reputations for crime, deprivation and poor living standards, partly influenced by the physical decay of the buildings themselves. We wanted to find out what life was really like behind the glaring headlines and stories.
The Aylesbury started out as a vision of 1970s architectural modernism, and for Donna's family, it was a luxurious step up from sleeping five to a room in their cramped flat. The biggest change was having a fitted bathroom with hot water on demand. "All you did was put the plug in the hole and turn the taps on, and it filled up!" Donna recalled. "And when you'd had your bath you could pull the plug out and the water ran away, so we had no shovelling of water. We thought this was a miracle." For a child used to bathing in a tin bath, in shared water that had to be emptied by bailing it out with a bucket, it was a dream.
"[When we moved in] it was brand new. There was no graffiti, no litter; it was absolutely wonderful. But then - in my opinion - when the council got rid of the caretakers, that's when the estate started going downhill, rapidly."
Donna is currently on a fifteen-year waiting list to be re-housed as part of the Aylesbury regeneration scheme. "I'm fed up with it, but I don't want to move [from the area]. I've got really good neighbours, and I think that's more important."
The community has played a major part in Donna's life, both on and off the estate. When Jean Bartlett, an active member of the tenants' association, suggested that Donna join them, it gave her confidence. "If it hadn't been for Jean getting me involved, I don't know if I'd been the same person I am now. Before, I was so shy and quiet and I'd never talk. Now, people can't get me to shut up!" Donna's voluntary work with local charities and with the tenants' association lead to her winning a Civic Award and being nominated as Southwark's Woman of the Year in 2008.
After 24 years working locally for an electroplating firm, Donna lost her job and was unemployed for almost a year. Registered blind, but with partial sight, she worried about her chances of finding a new job. "I think that was one of the worst experiences really. I hated the job and wanted to leave, but I thought 'it's going to be harder for me to find another job'. The experience of going to the Job Centre - that was absolutely horrendous."
Eventually, a friend spotted an ad in a local paper for a part-time vacancy at Inspire, a community cafe and art space, and encouraged Donna to apply. "I was a total wreck, because I hadn't had a job interview for 24 years. When I got the phone call to say they were offering me the job, I screamed down the phone."
The new job - making sure that someone was available to open the building for morning bookings - gradually developed, and Donna now manages the centre's activities and facility bookings. "I've got the best job in the world; I absolutely love it because I meet so many different people."
