Community Spirit Awards: Jo Beacroft-Mitchell on community, connection and making a difference
Jo Beacroft-Mitchell was shortlisted for the Outstanding Individual award at this year’s Community Spirit Awards in recognition of her dedication to the Mixenden community and her work supporting local people.
From helping to save a village park to her work at Holy Nativity Church, Jo has spent decades putting community at the heart of what she does. We caught up with her to find out what motivates her, what she has learned along the way and why listening to communities is so important.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what inspired you to first get involved in community work?
Funnily enough, what really inspired me was getting a parttime job at the Community Foundation about 22 years ago. I was just looking for a little admin job and when I got there I was blown away by the work that was being done.
It really sparked something in me. I wanted to start serving my community in the same way that I saw so many people at the Foundation doing. My husband was also on the local town parish council, so there were lots of opportunities to get involved in things locally.
Then I accidentally ended up buying a park with some other mums from the school my son was at, which really catapulted me into community work. It was a piece of land that had been used as a cricket ground at the bottom of Scout Road. The local Methodist Church needed to sell it and there was a fear it would become a housing development. It was the only piece of flat green space in that part of the village and the kids loved playing there. My children were very small at the time, so I got together with a group of other mums. We worked with the National Playing Fields Association and bought the park. I always say it was by accident because we really didn’t mean to do it, but it was great. We renovated it and it’s still going strong today.
What sort of community work are you involved in now?
I currently work for Holy Nativity Church in Mixenden. We’re a seven day a week church open all the time, doing a whole range of things around the community.
On Mondays we have our community café, with amazing homemade food, come and try the pies! Alongside that there is health support, mental health support, advice and a food pantry for people in crisis. We’re relaunching the pantry in September and looking at opening as a social supermarket.
On Tuesdays we have a thriving youth group, which I help lead. We do youth work with kids who come to church, but most of our youth work is aimed at children from all across the estate. We play games, do crafts and art, and every summer we take them camping to Whitby.
We’re now working with Ash Green School to have a second community café on Wednesdays, and activities on Thursdays include Scouts and toddlers. There is absolutely loads happening and plans for much more.
My job is to find funding and work with community partners. We always say that we’ve got a great building, but we don’t have all the expertise that the community needs. So we work with partners such as Healthy Minds, Newground Together and other charities who can come in and provide support. We provide the space, the tea and the cake!
You've got a reputation for identifying a need and then acting quickly. How does that work?
We’re really able to move quickly. We’re a very small team and because our Church Council is made up of local people who know they’re area well and are clear what the needs are, we can often make decisions quite quickly about what we’re going to apply for funding for or spend our money on.
A recent example is expanding the café because we knew there was a demand. There hasn’t been a luncheon club in Mixenden for quite a while and we knew there was a need for older people to have places to go and things to do.
It has come about partly through our relationship with Ash Green School, which can provide the food, and through conversations with local people and other community organisations.
I’m very much of the view that I’ll work with anybody. If an organisation wants to come and meet people in the community, we’re able to make that happen.
People feel that we’re a trusted and safe space. They might not want to go into a council building or a doctor’s surgery, but they’re happy to come and have a cup of tea and a piece of cake and talk to support workers in a relaxed none judgmental environment.
How did you move from your earlier community work into the role you're doing today?
It was really through my relationship with my church and my faith. I had been doing lots of secular community and charity work, as well as working at the Foundation and becoming more involved in fundraising. I then worked for the Diocese, supporting churches to think about fundraising and how they could reach out into their wider communities.
I also worked for a national charity connected to St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, encouraging churches to become more community focused. At the same time, I was volunteering one day a week at Holy Nativity Church, helping to set up what has now become the community café and food pantry.
My vicar Robb and I would often say, “If only we could work out a way for you to come and do all the great stuff you do for other churches here.”
Then, about three years ago, we were approached through NHP about the UK Shared Prosperity Fund money available for core costs and salaries. They asked us what we could do with it, and we already had a plan. That’s how I ended up working there full-time.
“It’s never about fixing people. It’s about relationships. It’s about knowing and loving people and then identifying where you can help.”
Was community work always the path you expected to take?
Not at all. In a previous life I did a degree in law and always thought I was going to be a high-flying civil rights barrister!
I worked in corporate law for about 10 years after graduating, but my values as a person didn’t really fit with my role. I was looking for something new, which is how I ended up at the Foundation and eventually at Holy Nativity.
Is there one person or moment that has particularly stayed with you?
I always come back to the same story. We have a youth group for children from school Year 5 to Year 9, supporting them through that sometimes complicated transition from primary school into secondary school.
There is one young lad, when we went on our annual summer trip to Whitby, we always try to do a boat trip and, that year, there was a pod of dolphins playing in the sea.
The dolphins came alongside the boat and I just turned and looked at this kid’s face. I will never forget it. He was just full of joy. And now, as he’s coming to the end of his time at the youth group, he’s taking responsibility for leading games. This is a kid who we’ve watched grow up, and now he’s stepping up and leading games and thinking about how he can make a contribution.
What do you think is particularly important about building relationships with people?
It’s about getting to know them and listening to them. I’m never going to say it’s all me, we have some brilliant volunteers. David Capon, who is a Scout leader and our churchwarden, also helps lead the youth group. He’s got a real gift, particularly with the children who are a bit more challenging. They trust him and respect him.
For me, particularly with some of the girls, it’s about recognising that growing up isn’t easy. Sometimes, when everyone else is running around playing games, some of the older girls don’t want to join in. They’ll sit on a bench and we’ll talk about their lives and what’s going on. It’s really nice to be able to talk about life experience and reassure them they’re not alone and we care and can support them.
You often talk about being part of a wider community rather than doing things on your own. Why is that important to you?
It takes a village to raise a child. I feel privileged to be part of that village raising all these kids.
Mixenden is an amazing community. I know that in some spaces it’s still seen as somewhere that’s a bit edgy or run down, and it does have problems. Absolutely, it does. But in terms of community, people coming together, making things happen, sorting out their own problems and resilience, I think Mixenden has a lot to teach other communities.
What do you wish more people understood about the work you do?
It’s never about fixing people. I don’t live in Mixenden. I’ve worshipped there for more than 10 years, but I don’t live there. For me, it’s never about some well meaning person coming from outside and telling people how things should be, or simply showering them with money. It’s about relationships. It’s about knowing and loving people and then identifying where you can help.
What are you most proud of?
My children. All of this has been happening while I’ve been raising my kids and they are very socially aware because of the work I do. They see the power of community and they want to make a difference too. I love that about them.
What would you say to somebody who wants to get involved in their local community?
Listen. Hear what the need is, rather than just coming up with a great idea and saying, “Right, we’re going to do this.” If it’s not needed by the community, you’re just creating hard work for yourself. Start by listening. What are the needs where you are? And if you’ve identified a need, what matters to you? That’s what happened with the park. We knew we needed flat space for children to play, so we identified the need and went with it because it mattered to us.
What keeps you optimistic about Calderdale?
The people. There are some really inspirational people who never cease to amaze me when I come to Foundation events. There are incredibly creative and inspirational people all over Calderdale. And again, it comes back to people doing the things they love for their community. It’s happening everywhere, and it always blows me away.
Quick Fire Questions
Tea or coffee?
Coffee.
Sunrise or sunset?
Sunset.
Favourite place in Calderdale?
The Piece Hall.
Three words to describe Mixenden?
Community, resilience, hope.
Best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t sweat the little things.
Do you have a hidden talent?
I can make better chapatis than the takeaway down the road!
Favourite comfort food?
It depends on the time of year, but probably spaghetti carbonara.
What makes you smile instantly?
Camping.
