significant shift in youth work practice (e.g. development of youth work programmes facilitating social inclusion) as a result of community cohesion

All respondents agreed that community cohesion has both identified the reality of ethnic segregation in Oldham and enabled a significant shift in the practice and assumptions of youth workers in the town. Despite the concerns over superficial one-offs, the shared understanding of community cohesion as 'meaningful direct contact' has enabled the development of determined and purposeful youth work programmes that bring young people of different backgrounds together.