Has anyone heard of the Urban Regeneration programme The Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.

If so what is your experience of it? negative or positive?

I've found it to be generally quite positive, tho very slow and sufferring from a lack of any kind of democratic control - too many professionals voicing their opinions about how an area needs regenerating, and not enough of an input from people who actually live in the area.

better than a(nother) kick in the teeth tho

It is good in principal, nothing wrong with it's aims or ideals, and money is never a bad thing, but as already stated, there is not enough community participation with projects like this, so sometimes it can get muddled, take time, and end up slightly unproductive.

I used to work for a charity and we had some experience of the NRF. Basically it is trying to do good and not too bureaucratic, so go with it.

I agree with CP above though - nearly all these "initiatives" and schemes and funding regimes and so on suffer from the same syndrome. The committees are run by workers rather than the people they will impact upon. Not blaming anyone for this - it just seems to be the way it works. In practice, this means that the decisions are made by well-dressed and educated fortysomething women who go home to semi-in-Fulwood comfort at the end of day, rather than those living in the "difficult" areas themselves. (Ooh, these home truths about Sheffield... how they HURT!)

There was also always this undercurrent for me of "well, nothing's *really* going to change." Let's face it, all this talk of "closing the gap" and there not being any undesirable areas in Sheffield, etc - it's pie-in-the-sky rubbish. (I felt I wasn't allowed to say this while working for the voluntary sector, so I take great delight in doing so now I have left...) There are far too many people in influential positions who like things just the way they are.

While I am for urban regeneration as much as the next man, I do sometimes wonder if the affluent areas of cities *need* the imagined horrors of Pitsmoor and Parson Cross just because everyone needs bogeymen - and to make them feel good about their own areas. Look at the schools, for example - Tapton and High Storrs, with results of around 65-70%, would be nothing special in many other towns and cities, but they look great as long as Waltheof, Abbeydale Grange and Chaucer are there with their "rubbish" results.

Okay... so call me cynical! :)