For our first spotlight of the year, we sat down with Mark Dawson, Head of Communications and Engagement at Back on the Map. Mark joined the organisation just over a year ago to support it with its communication and engagement strategy. With a strong background in marketing and journalism, Mark wanted to make a difference in his own city and found Back on the Map to be a natural fit.
Back on the Map is a charity based in Hendon, Sunderland. This is one of the most deprived communities in the area, but Back on the Map’s work is slowly shifting the dial. Initially founded in 2011, it was a small community organisation aimed at serving the needs of the community. When new possibilities emerged through Labour’s New Deal for Communities, the charity took the moment to rethink its purpose and direction, evolving into a renewed and more ambitious version of itself. It set out to move beyond a traditional charity model and instead become a genuinely resident‑led organisation, deeply rooted in the place it works in.
With this in mind, Back on the Map started raising funds to build a small portfolio of housing. It revamped the spaces, making them comfortable places to live in. It started renting them out at an affordable rate to people in the community. Alongside this, it also offered ‘My House, My Home’ training to residents: an opportunity to learn how to look after their home while also instilling civic values such as respect and neighbourliness. This allowed Back on the Map to ensure the tenancies were sustainable and residents were able to make this their long-term home. Its portfolio of housing kept growing, and it now has over 130 houses in its possession. It also has retail and commercial units on the high street, renting them out to local business owners.
It would be a disservice to paint Back on the Map as solely a landlord. It aims is to be a resident-led, place-based social and economic regeneration charity. Therefore, the profits made from its housing stock go back into projects developed for and with the community. In its community space in the middle of Hendon, they host a youth centre, a community centre and an urban garden, alongside a range of activities focused on wellbeing and advice. At the core of its ethos is the belief in consistently engaging with the community, both in long-term planning and in everyday conversations. This is an ongoing dialogue and Mark’s role is to make sure that this is done consistently and strategically.
At their core, Back on the Map has the mission to make Hendon a great place to live, work and thrive. To achieve this, they have three guiding principles:
- Stronger communities: genuinely engaging with the community, supporting them with health, welfare, and the things they ask for.
- Creating a local voice: being a voice for local people, identifying opportunities and advocating outside of the community.
- Better Place: investing in the housing market to provide affordable rental accommodation, commercial properties and a few retail units. Their work also involves improving the high street in their community and developing other physical meeting spaces in the area.
Thanks to their work in the community, Back on the Map has created strong bonds with other institutions and is able to be a significant player in local decisions. Mark particularly emphasised their relationship with the local authority, which sees Back on the Map as a partner working in Hendon. Partnerships are core to what Back on the Map does, not only because it is in the fabric of how they work but also because of the recognition that one organisation cannot deliver everything. Therefore, they work actively with other partners, including crisis services, to deliver the best outcomes for residents.
Of course, this type of work does not come without its own challenges. Funding, like for many other charities, remains an issue for Back on the Map. As Mark points out, it’s not necessarily the lack of availability that is the issue, but rather the type of funding: few organisations are willing to cover core or capital costs. The other issue, and the reason why Mark was brought in, is the ongoing engagement with the community. There are people in the community who are ‘harder to reach’: they may not leave the house often, have multiple challenges and do not engage in community activities. In this scenario, it’s important for Back on the Map to work alongside crisis services and follow people on the journey they are on. But when they succeed, the results are transformative.
Mark shared Ben’s* story, a resident who was leaving the house only two or three times a year. He was struggling with his mental health and other challenges. The team at Back on the Map worked actively with him to support his journey to get better. Along the path, they noticed some really valuable skills Ben had, and he joined Back on the Map as a volunteer. Now, he has a paid role in the organisation and does fantastic work in the community. Mark says this is the kind of magical stuff that he wants to do more of.
Back on the Map continues its journey, eager to connect with other organisations that are still finding their feet. The team believes strongly that their model can be replicated, while also recognising the fantastic work already happening elsewhere. And just as importantly, they see plenty of space for their own growth too. If you would like to have a conversation with Back on the Map directly, reach out to Mark via email: [email protected]
*Not his real name
Picture by Von Fox Promotions