Interview with Ralph Willcox part 1

From his work in Hatfield Ralph had developed an interest in new towns. He was offered a post as Senior Community Worker in MKDC, in March 1970. He first managed the team in London who interviewed settlers before they moved to MK, and set up the team of Arrivals Workers. He found MKDC ‘was a thrilling place to be’. Ralph admits that there were problems in community work and recalls some of the difficulties; community workers needed to be advocates for the residents. Noting that Executive Management Committee (EMC) perhaps felt Social Development (SD) was of lesser importance, he points out that many voluntary organisations – Marriage Guidance Council, Samaritans, Age Concern – were started by gentle pushing from the community workers, who saw residents’ needs developing. Other Social Development (SD) initiatives were youth projects and Inter-Action (with Roger Kitchen, then a Community Worker). Ralph was church liaison officer – but in his opinion the church at that time had little imagination outside the traditional building-based model. Nowadays, he sees the church is quietly involved in a great deal of welfare, such as the successful community activities of evangelical churches. Ralph recalls regular meetings with churches to brief them on MKDC; but SD could only facilitate a church’s activities, not offer funding. He talks of the developing diversity in MK, recalling resettling 30 Ugandan Asian families, Vietnamese and Pakistanis; he finds this diversity enriching.

Ralph gives his views on the physical and social achievements of Milton Keynes, in general feeling that they are positive. But he says: ‘in terms of being a green city, I think it’s fantastic’. He believes that SD might have worked better as a separate organisation outside MKDC, saying: ‘I think MKDC was rather paternalistic in its operation’. Nevertheless, he enjoyed his MKDC years, saying: ‘…we sought to be, in SD, something different from the other new towns’. Finally, Ralph remembers taking Jock Campbell to Beanhill, with black bags; Jock initiated a litter pick on the estate! He says: ‘it was good that … this significant gentleman was prepared to meet the people’.