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Introduction: The broader determinants of health including a wide range of community assets are extremely important in relation to public health outcomes. Multiple health conditions, multimorbidity, is a growing problem in many populations worldwide. Methods: This paper quantified the effect of community assets on major health conditions for the population of England over six years, at a fine spatial scale using a data analytic approach. Community assets, which included indices of the health system, green space, pollution, poverty, urban environment, safety, and sport and leisure facilities, were quantified in relation to major health conditions. The health conditions examined included high blood pressure, obesity, dementia, diabetes, mental health, cardiovascular conditions, musculoskeletal conditions, respiratory conditions, kidney and liver disease, and cancer. Cluster analysis and dendrograms were calculated for the community assets and major health conditions. For each health condition, a statistical model with all community assets was fitted, and model selection was performed. The number of significant community assets for each health condition was recorded. The unique variance, explained by each significant community asset per health condition, was quantified using hierarchical variance partitioning within an analysis of variance model. Results: The resulting data indicate major health conditions are often clustered, as are community assets. The results suggest that diversity and richness of community assets are key to major health condition outcomes. Primary care service waiting times and distance to public parks were significant predictors of all health conditions examined. Primary care waiting times explained the vast majority of the variances across health conditions, with the exception of obesity, which was better explained by absolute poverty. Conclusions: The implications of the combined findings of the health condition clusters and explanatory power of community assets are discussed. The vast majority of determinants of health could be accounted for by healthcare system performance and distance to public green space, with important covariate socioeconomic factors. Emphases on community approaches, significant relationships, and asset strengths and deficits are needed alongside targeted interventions. Whilst the performance of the public health system remains of key importance, community assets and local infrastructure remain paramount to the broader determinants of health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the educational experiences of pupils at 'Lillydown Primary', a state school for 3-11 year olds, located in a former mining community in the north of England. It mobilises Avery Gordon's notion of social haunting to illustrate how experiences of school are shaped not only by current socioeconomic circumstances but also by historical class-based relations and performances that remain embedded in certain working-class communities. Whilst the multiple forms of violence inflicted by the neoliberal state on places like Lillydown have caused profound and far-reaching social and economic harm, our data suggests that it is possible, at least in some circumstances, to reckon with and draw on the past to harness the 'goodness' of ghosts. In particular, the paper illustrates how historical relations, which have typically worked as an apparatus for creating and maintaining relations of solidarity, trust and equality underground and in community life more broadly, continue to be transmitted and retraditionalised within the School. These historical transmissions enable staff to develop encouraging relations with their pupils and connect with them in ways that locate contemporary experiences of education in a socio-historical framework that recognises the richness and heritage of working-class culture, as well as the pain and loss. The echoes and murmurs of the past that remain to haunt are reckoned with and harnessed by staff, we argue, through their shared working-class histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws upon our experiences as non-Muslim researchers working on two local studies with Muslim communities in North London. The paper aims firstly, to consider issues of access and trust in the context of the current political climate, secondly, to critically explore the relationship between academics and community organisations, and thirdly, to discuss the opportunities and challenges involved in employing peer researchers. Our discussion utilises the concept of positionality to analyse the insider/outsider status of researchers (both peer researchers and academics) and its impact on the research process. In so doing, we analyse the complexity and multiplicity of identities and positionings and suggest the ways in which religion, ethnicity, gender and age may impact on the research process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper explores alternatives to the mobile library service in providing a public library service to rural communities in England and the impacts of best value, public library standards and social inclusion policy on provision. A questionnaire survey was completed by librarians in public library authorities in England with rural hinterlands. The data derived were supplemented by follow-up case studies. It was found that achieving social inclusion objectives and the results of best value reviews were the greatest motivating factors for much of the development of alternative library service delivery in rural areas, and that village halls were the most popular place for co-location of library services. ICT was felt to have impacted positively on rural library service delivery and its use was demonstrated in co-location facilities and learning centres. However, some authorities fail to consult users and non-users in rural locations. This paper provides public library practitioners and researchers with a picture of public library service provision to rural area communities and shows the impact of Government-driven policy. It appears that there is varying appreciation by public library authorities of rural communities' distinct nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the role of sheltered housing following the introduction of new community care arrangements in 1993 and examines the continuing uncertainty about its exact role as community care continues to develop. It reports on a study conducted in Shropshire, using a postal survey and interviews with older people and service professionals. The study highlights the importance of sheltered housing for older people, particularly in relieving them of concerns about maintenance and repairs, social isolation and security. These factors were crucial for their overall peace of mind and quality of life. While only a small proportion of tenants received help under social services' community care arrangements, the additional support, monitoring and service coordination provided by wardens helped some of them to remain in sheltered housing when residential or nursing home care might otherwise have been necessary. Sheltered housing was overwhelmingly popular with older people -- but their satisfaction was closely associated with the availability and quality of the warden service. Although sheltered housing is not currently in vogue in housing policy, the paper argues that it plays a vital role in local provision for older people and needs to be more closely integrated into community care policy, while at the same time preserving the characteristics that make it popular with its residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Alderley Sandhills Project (ASP) was designed to archaeologically explore the transformative roles of industrialization and de-industrialization on the working communities of rural England. Collection of oral histories was an intrinsic element of fieldwork, with project participants including elderly former residents and neighbors of the excavated cottages. Their narratives provided a crucial source for understanding social meanings of the archaeological objects and places within this study site, particularly over the inter-war decades of the early twentieth century. Drawing from elements of this multi-year project, this paper will explore the dynamic maintenance of community life through the composition of social memories, and the materiality of social belonging, to illuminate the inner world of the Hagg Cottages of Alderley Edge, Cheshire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been suggested that community centre practice offers important possibilities for addressing the complex needs of families. This paper arises from a larger study of the Aintree Community Centre. The goal of the research was to understand better the multi-faceted ways in which community centre practice contributed to family and community change. Discussion is structured around the consideration of a single case study of a family seeking support at the Aintree Family and Community Centre. It pays particular attention to the early period of engagement between the family and staff. This focus allows us to explore the contribution which psycho-dynamic and systemic approaches made to practice in the centre and also to think about other characteristics of centre practice that assisted the family to embark upon a journey of change. The complexity of the practitioner/client nexus and the role of the support relationship in client/family change are examined. Through this the value of community centre practice in the delivery of support to families facing complex troubles and the nature of the change process as gradually accumulative can be appreciated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this articleis to describe and analyze the characteristics of decision makers in an American and an English city. it has been repeatedly asserted that business men exert predominant influence in community decision making. This is the central hypothesis under test. Two cities with similar economic, demographic, and educational characteristics were selected for research, namely Pacific City in the Pacific Northwest, U.S., and English City in Southwestern England. Business men do exert a predominant influence in community decision making in Pacific City and Southern City. However, in English City the hypothesis is rejected. The key influentials come from a broad representation of the institutional sectors of community life. Two major factors seem to explain much of this difference. The first is the difference in occupational prestige values between the U. S. and England. In contrast to the U. S. the social status of industry in England, and so of its captains is low by comparison with the law, medicine, and the universities.

Throughout their recent history suburbs and suburban society have been characterised by a number of writers - including historians - as being dull, detached, monotonous, lacking in community spirit and devoid of cultural activity. The aim of this article is to challenge these negative stereotypes by examining the reality of community life in the classic suburban town of Surbiton before 1914. It sets out a framework within which communities can be defined and analysed and argues that the criteria used to identify working class communities in the past are not necessarily applicable to more middle class suburban communities. The historical evidence for community life and identity in Surbiton before 1914 is provided by the existence of clubs and societies; sporting and leisure activities; participation in cultural events; support networks when necessary; multi-class activities; and enlightened middle class leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent geographical interventions have begun to question the power relations among lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people, challenging assumptions that LGBT communities have homogeneous needs or are not characterised by hierarchies of power. Such interventions have included examinations of LGBT scenes as sites of exclusion for trans people. This article augments academic explorations of trans lives by focusing on 'the gay capital' of the UK, Brighton & Hove, a city that is notably absent from academic discussions of gay urbanities in the UK, despite its wider acclaim. The article draws upon Count Me In Too (CMIT), a participatory action research project that seeks to progress social change for LGBT people in Brighton & Hove. Rather than focusing on LGBT scenes, the article addresses broader experiences of the city, including those relating to the city as a political entity that seeks to be 'LGBT inclusive' and those relating to the geographies of medical 'treatment' that relocate trans people outside the boundaries of the city, specifically to the gender identity clinic at Charing Cross Hospital in London. It argues that trans lives are both excluded from and inextricably linked to geographical imaginings of the 'gay capital', including LGBT spaces, scenes and activism, such that complex sexual and gender solidarities are simultaneously created and contested. In this way, the article recognises the paradoxes of the hopes and solidarities that co-exist - and should be held in tension - with experiences of marginalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies over the last century have portrayed the liberties of medieval England as entities which enjoyed little autonomy and were of limited local significance: in Helen Cam's phrase, they were ‘cogs’ in the ‘magnificent machine’ of royal government. In the last decade important works on Cheshire and Durham have done much to modify this picture. They have described liberties with vigorous institutions and communities which fought hard to preserve their independence from royal demands, and set much store by their distinctive political cultures. This article builds on such studies by presenting new evidence of the vitality and popularity of Durham's court of pleas in the later Middle Ages. It argues that final concords made by the liberty's inhabitants provide some index of this popularity, and demonstrates that the lost palatinate archive of medieval feet of fines can be reconstructed to a significant extent from later sources. The reconstructed archive leaves little doubt that the liberty court was widely used, even in the district of Sadberge, where the authority of successive bishops of Durham was weakest. The paucity of final concords relating to the liberty in the archives of Common Pleas also suggests that Durham's inhabitants rarely chose the king's court over the bishop's. The Durham court was a genuine boon for local people that provided a solid institutional foundation for the development of ‘community’; the same may well have been true in other liberties. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article considers the high number of Somali community organizations in both London and Toronto. Drawing on interviews in both locations with Somali women refugees and discussions with those involved in their resettlement, evidence shows that many Somalis continue to feel marginalized in terms of service provision and that collective representation is limited, despite the high number of specifically Somali organizations that exist. Through a comparison of the Somali community organizations in London and Toronto, this article highlights factors which have inhibited the development of a united, collaborative Somali voice. Contributory factors are shown to derive partly from the persistent clan dynamics among Somalis and the solutions Somalis find, and partly from failings in service and funding provision. It is argued that, in the Somali case, exclusionary dynamics undermine the role of community organizations in rebuilding community and belonging and providing a safe and empowering setting in which individuals and communities may regain confidence and begin the process of integration within the receiving society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we consider community well-being and new approaches to reinvigorating partnership working for older people's services. In particular, we focus on improving transport for older people. We draw on findings from a series of public consultations, group discussions and interviews with older people in 10 purposively selected localities in England. Although there was great diversity in the issues raised by older people on the subject of transport, both across and between the sites, we point to a number of core analytical themes which could assist commissioners in developing a citizens' framework designed to address this traditionally 'wicked' issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a pilot survey of the country village of Much Marcle in Herefordshire, England conducted in 1949. The objective of this survey is to investigate how the village of Much Marcle maintained both its population and culture. Much Marcle lies almost midway between Ross and Ledbury, at the foot of the Eastern ridge of the famous Woolhope Dome and almost on the borders of Gloucestershire. Though the population has not, strictly speaking, been maintained over the last fifty years, there has been an increased demand for labor in the parish and were is not for the housing shortage, the population during the last ten years would have increased. Some general conclusion may be drawn from the survey. First, as far as cultural or recreational institutions and meetings in Much Marcle are concerned, the people from whom the leaders of the village are drawn are factory leaders, farmers, leaders of religious organizations and the big house owners. Second, a rural factory is intent on providing institutions that will satisfy the needs of its present and potential labor force. The modern industrial conception of the importance of welfare of labor is apparent. Three, farmers rarely come forward to lead community life.