I visited the Coventry area where people are ‘afraid to go out’ and saw the behavior that affects the community

People in Wood End are ‘scared’ to go out at night because of anti-social behaviour. Young people set off fireworks, throw eggs and ride bikes on sidewalks, voters told us.

Coventry is in the top 10% most deprived in the UK. It recorded one of the lowest turnouts in the city in 2019 at St Chad’s Church polling station.

The Local Democracy Reporter visited earlier this week, so see what’s on people’s minds before the polls open on July 4 and whether they’re more likely to vote this time around. Here is what three residents of the area said.

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I spoke to Beauty, a support worker, at Dr Phillips shopping centre. A group of boys were sitting there, some of them riding small motor bikes on the sidewalk.

She told us: “I think the main problem is how you can see how loud it is but you can’t do anything about it.” Children throw eggs at doors and stay outside at night “throwing things” at passers-by, she said.

Beauty said she was “too scared” to go out in the evening. “It’s worse when it’s time for fireworks and stuff like that. You can’t go out and feel safe,” she told us.

“Sometimes a water thing, they’ll open it up and let it flow for no reason. I think it’s awful.” As I was talking, a car ran down the road and skidded around a corner.

“We have children,” said Beauty, pointing to a street with children. “How safe is it?” On politics, she said you can vote expecting change and then find out there isn’t.

“But you just have to think that one day it will all work out,” she added. The beauty still hopes things can change and says she has always voted and always believed her vote counted.

“I’ve always voted Labor for a reason, because I think at times their policies are more relaxed. I think Labor is for poor people, while this Tory (sic) is for people who are rich, and when it’s you. poor like me, it’s not easy either”.

On the cost of living, she said she is “getting by” because she has a job, but said there are others who want to work but can’t find any. More jobs would help those who are struggling, she said.

We met Karen at a park picking up trash, which she volunteers to do twice a week to help make the community look better. She lives in the area with her family.

She said her street was ‘quiet’ but added: ‘I think here, people don’t go to the shops at night because you have groups of boys throwing eggs and stuff at vehicles.

“Leaving the fireworks, usually when it’s warmer,” she added. “You’re probably talking from six, seven in the evening until late at night.”

Asked if it stops people from leaving the house, she said yes. “I wouldn’t go for a walk, my kids wouldn’t walk around here.”

Karen also plans to vote in the election and I asked why she thinks people might not vote. “People probably don’t trust the government anymore,” she said.

Does he trust the government? “No, I’m certainly not going to vote Tory to send my child to war,” she said.

Asked if anything had happened to make her lose faith in them, she said: “All the Covid and being told not to go to parties, but they were partying all the time, you know.”

Karen knows some, but not all, of the candidates vying for the constituency next week. But that won’t affect her decision — “it just comes down to what’s best for the community,” she said.

Asked if she was hopeful that things might change after this election, she said: “Probably not, no.

“We’ll have to see who comes in and what they do, but I don’t see a big change.” She added: “I think that’s the way we are these days, it’s not going to change, it’s probably going to get worse because of the supermarkets putting all their food in, even though they’re making all the profits.”

The cost of living has been difficult and they’ve had to cut back on a lot of things, but they’re “just about” getting by, she told us. Karen also said “quite a lot” was being done to tackle deprivation in the area, but it was up to people where they spent their money.

“If you want to spend it on smoking, drinking and whatever, but don’t complain that you can’t eat or put the heating on. I mean I don’t drink or smoke at all because I wouldn’t be able to put my heating (on) or food on the table.”

Back at the shopping center I met Paula, who has lived in Wood End for two years. She said it’s usually quiet “apart from the guys on the bikes and when they’re setting off fireworks, but usually not too much trouble.”

She also said that eggs are thrown into cars and buses. Paula believes it would be “much better” if the area had more shops – currently only two are open in the local centre.

She thinks it would be nice to get “something for young people to get together with their bikes instead of riding up and down the sidewalks.”

“Like a dirt track, something like that.” Asked about the government, she said they were “okay” but was critical of their policy on bully dogs.

Paula will vote in the election because not doing so “is a waste,” she said. “Then I will choose the best one to vote for. It would be good if there were a few more, the ones for this area, if they became more known so people could approach them.”

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