'I want Thorntree to make the decisions'

A PLAN has been discussed for a £20m trailblazer investment at the heart of a Middlesbrough community.

- By DANIEL HODGSON

Thorntree was announced as one of the 25 ‘trailblazer neighbourhoods’ that were confirmed as part of the spending review, earlier this year.

Along with the East Middlesbrough neighbourhood, Central Stockton and Portrack was also confirmed as the other Teesside area that would receive up to £20m over the next 10 years.

Mike Milen, chief executive at Community Ventures, which is based in Thorntree, sat down alongside local ward Councillor Graham Wilson and the Local Democracy Reporting Service to speak about the potential use of the £20m.

Over the conversation, there was discussion of the history of Community Ventures, and why both he and Cllr Wilson believe there is a strong argument for the charity to be involved, as well as a three-point plan for what the money could be used for over the course of a decade.

Mr Milen said that in the 1980s the Community Ventures project was spun out from Middlesbrough Council. There were lots of council housing high rises in the area and significant antisocial behaviour taking place.

A “forward thinking guy” at the council believed that the local authority was not best placed to deal with the issues, but thought people in the area could be helped to solve the problem.

The 62-year-old CEO said: “We started as a project that took long-term unemployed local residents and trained them up in security.”

Security services could then be delivered in the properties, with the resulting business growing over time, with approximately 50 people working for them at one point.