Opinion: Are Birmingham's problems being solved?

It started in the late 1970s, when the group had some so-called "neighbourhood projects", one of which was in Lozells.

At the time, Birmingham Young Volunteers' philosophy was to engage in pioneering practice. There was social education work in selected schools, advancing active learning methodologies on contemporary issues, and community development work in selected neighbourhoods, involving local people and developing leisure, learning and vocational opportunities.

Initially, we had only envisaged staying in Lozells for three years, possibly renewable for another three. Indeed, our city council funding expected us to move on. So one of the first battles I had to fight was for the continuation of activity in Lozells. I vividly remember having breakfast, on holiday in the early 1980s, in a cheap hotel in Fort William in Scotland, and seeing from the front page of the Daily Star on a neighbouring table that Handsworth was burning. I drove home to try to establish how Birmingham Young Volunteers' work would respond to this latest "urban riot" or "community uprising".