May 9
From the low tide of the sea to the highest mountain tops
Last night I attended a launch event at the House of Commons for what must surely...
Apr 23
Big Society Capital – playing the long game
I still have a paper written in 1999 by Iain Tuckett from Coin Street Community Builders,...
Apr 12
Purchase power – communities buying in bulk
In this guest blog, Chris Pomphret from Community Buying Unlimited talks about the benefits bulk buying compost brought to a village community
Mar 28
Learn to lead – new course on charity management
Guest blog from Anglia Ruskin University about their new course on charity and social enterprise management
Mar 26
Moral Principles and Material Interests
The other day I came across this little fable by the American writer Ambrose Bierce: ‘A Moral...
Mar 14
Locality members inspire the Netherlands
Kristel, Henrik and Nicole from the Dutch National Residents Association recently came to England to gain ideas and inspiration from our community enterprises. They visited three Locality members and wrote this blog about their experiences.
Mar 14
Sowing the seeds of social justice
As you know Locality works right across the political spectrum, seeking out allies wherever we can,...
Mar 9
Surviving and Thriving in the Arts
Blog on Locality's Kick Up the Arts event at Kirkgate Arts in Cockermouth, Cumbria on 1 March. Performing arts organisations from across the UK with speakers from Keswick's Theatre by the Lake, STEP development trust and Kirkgate Arts. There were examples of resilience with a building project, a new business oriented model and success story of using volunteers.
Mar 2
Great event, wrong name
At the Village SOS event, Locality's head of enterprise Neil Berry, found that energised and enthusiastic local communities are not drowning but waving.
Mar 1
Social media isn’t new anymore!
Social media is now mainstream - make sure you're not left behind
Feb 27
Private greed masquerading as social purpose
At least Emma Harrison has had the decency to resign. Last week it was reported that A4e, the welfare-to-work company she set up, one of the prime contractors for the Work Programme, was being investigated for fraud. It also came out that, over the last year, she had paid herself a dividend of £8.6m. So she resigned, first as David Cameron’s ‘families champion’, and then as Chairman of A4e.
Big Society, Community Allowance, Social action, Speaking truth to power, Work programme
Jan 31
Cranleigh Village Hospital – 150 years of localism in action
A common discourse surrounding the government’s version of a Big Society is the proposition that localism...
Jan 30
Best to start from where the people are
A week ago I was in Helsinki, in sub-zero temperatures with thick snow all around. Yes, I know snow’s nothing special for all you Northerners in our movement, but for us soft Southerners it’s a fairy tale treat.
Jan 20
Feeling inspired?
How do you know if an event that aims to inform and inspire people has done...
Jan 16
Keep public sector contracts as small as possible!
A report, from a Select Committee led by a leading rightwing bank-bench Tory, celebrating the power of the community sector and locally determined services, and proposing commissioning from pooled funds, with contracts as small as possible
Jan 12
Oliver Letwin MP praises development trusts
Oliver Letwin, MP for West Dorset commends the crucial work of development trusts in his column for the Bridport News. He highlights the Lyme Regis Development Trust's fantastic Fossil Festival and the Bridport Development Trust's revival of the Bridport Literary and Scientific Institute.
Jan 9
New Year’s resolution: expose the incompetence which is failing our communities
In 1891 a young barrister named Frank Tillyard began offering free legal advice at the Mansfield House settlement in West Ham in East London. He became known as the Poor Man’s Lawyer, and within a few years similar services were running at Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel and in many other places.
Jan 9
Community enterprise in Songmisan, South Korea
By Geraldine Blake, CEO of Community Links. I visited Seoul with Locality as part of the delegation...
Dec 19
Villages of co-operation
Last week I spoke at a conference about Village SOS, a Big Lottery Fund initiative which is stimulating community enterprise across hundreds of rural neighbourhoods.
Co-operatives, Collaboration, Community shares, Enterprise, Rural, Sustainability
Dec 14
Library closures inquiry – 12 days after Christmas is all the time you have
12 days after Christmas is all you have to respond to the Government's library closures inquiry
Dec 5
Small scenes of everyday humanity
Yesterday I went to the Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge to see an exhibition of paintings by...
Nov 22
Are you a free radical?
Locality's network - mavericks and free radicals?
Nov 22
The Goose on the Common
On 15 November the Localism Bill received Royal Assent and is now an Act. Of course it...
Nov 21
Localism needs strong leadership
When the Secretary of State told the Communities and Local Government select committee in September that...
Nov 10
Destroying the myth of the financial elite
Did you read the article by George Monbiot in Tuesday’s Guardian: The 1% are the very best destroyers of wealth the world has ever seen?
Nov 7
A just route through transition
Last week over 560 people gathered from across the UK, and indeed internationally, to attend Locality’s...
Oct 24
We hope therefore we are
Our movement in England and in the UK is sometimes described by people in government, and sometimes by ourselves, as a world leader. And yes, we do have a lot to be proud about.
Oct 20
Day three of UNCA conference
UNCA, United Neighbourhood Houses of America, Asset Development, Washington DC, Community
Oct 19
Day two of UNCA conference
Clare Gilhooly, CEO of Cambridge House Settlement and a Board Trustee of Locality, provides a guest contribution to...
Oct 18
A view from across the pond: United Neighbourhood Houses of America
Clare Gilhooly, CEO of Cambridge House Settlement and a Board Trustee of Locality, provides a guest contribution to...
Oct 10
The circling sharks
Over the last three weeks I have had the dubious pleasure of attending all three Party conferences. The mood at each of the three conferences was certainly different. Labour apologising for past mistakes, through clenched teeth. The LibDems squirming with the thrill of power. The Tories acting exceedingly benign and exceedingly authoritarian.
Community Organisers, Localism, Multi-purpose, Policy, Public Sector Cuts, Social action, Speaking truth to power, Work programme
Sep 26
Transforming Communities
The theme of Locality’s first national policy symposium last week was “transforming communities”. As a demonstration of just what was possible we heard from Dawn Davies, from the Creation Development Trust from Blaengarw in South Wales, which in ten years has lifted its community from the below the 150th most deprived place in Wales to above the 700th .
Big Society, Collaboration, Development trusts, Enterprise, Policy, Public Sector Cuts, Settlements, Social action, Sustainability
Sep 20
Mike Swain – a frontiersman for our movement
After a struggle with cancer, Mike passed away on 14 September 2011. His many friends throughout the community enterprise movement will miss him.
Sep 13
The riots – our movement’s response
My last message met with a mixed reaction. Many of you agreed that the prison sentences...
Aug 30
The real moral relativism
In the last few weeks, across the country, judges and magistrates have sat in overnight sessions, handing out “exemplary” custodial sentences as a conveyor belt of young people appear before them.
Big Society, Localism, Policy, Public Sector Cuts, Social action
Aug 11
Ready to be Radical?
Thanks to everyone who responded to my last blog entry. Fortunately few Locality members seem to have...
Aug 9
Aug 1
The kind of allies I want for our movement
Last week I met Martha Lane Fox, the internet entrepreneur who set up Lastminute.com. Now, as...
Development trusts, Enterprise, Housing, Policy, Settlements, Social action
Jul 19
A New Moral World
We expect 500 people to come to Locality’s first national convention in Manchester on 1-2 November. There is a discount if you book early, and Locality’s Board has agreed that this year, with many members in financial difficulty, we will offer a bursary to cover the whole convention fee for members who would otherwise be unable to attend.
Assets, Localism, Multi-purpose, Policy, Public Sector Cuts, Work programme
Jul 4
Be bold, take risks, invest in the future
The Burton Street Project has several claims to fame. A disused school in Sheffield, it was used in 1997 as a film set for The Full Monty. Ten years later it was a pioneering example of asset transfer when the school was handed over by the council to community ownership, and it was the site for the launch of Barry Quirk’s landmark report on community assets. Fortunately, Barry kept his clothes on.
Assets, Development trusts, Enterprise, Multi-purpose, Policy, Public Sector Cuts, Settlements, Social action
Jun 20
Place Matters
Last week I spoke at the launch of a major new study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on ‘Low-income neighbourhoods in Britain’. I am often uneasy about the poverty industry, especially when it holds posh receptions. But thank goodness for the JRF!
Assets, Community shares, Policy, Public Sector Cuts, Social action
Jun 16
Landowners and Lords to clobber community right to buy?
Community Right to Buy, asset transfer, community assets, localism bill
Jun 6
Pushed to the Edge
As many of you know, when the current government scrapped the Future Jobs Fund and replaced it with the new Work Programme, the one thing they didn’t get rid of was the prime-contracting model.
Assets, Big Society, Development trusts, Enterprise, Localism, Policy, Social action
May 26
People in Glas houses
It seems there has been a small stir about comments which Lord Glasman made in Parliament...
Big Society, Development trusts, Policy, Settlements, Social action
May 23
A crisper focus for Big Society needed
Last week I attended the launch of a report on the Big Society which, for once, made some sense. The report came from the Big Society Commission, set up by Acevo. It found that 78% of the general public think government has failed to give people a clear idea of what the Big Society is. And only 13% think government has a clear strategy in place to implement the Big Society programme.
Big Society, Development trusts, Impact, Policy, Public Sector Cuts, Social action
May 9
Speaking truth to power
When I spoke to minister Greg Clark recently about the Localism Bill, he asked me to meet the Countryside Landowners Association, to try to soften their opposition to the Community Right to Buy.
Apr 21
A community right to reshape
In February I called on government to act urgently to prevent the slash-and-burn approach to community sector funding. I pointed out that the cuts were wholly disproportionate, and I set out a proposal for a ‘right to reshape’, in other words a moratorium period in which councils and other public funding bodies would be required to explore alternatives with community groups, and attempt to co-design fresh approaches.
Apr 13
The spirit of the Chartists lives on!
Every fortnight I will be updating the Locality blog with the latest news and reflections related to our movement. From...
Assets, Development trusts, Enterprise, Mergers, Policy, Settlements, Social action
Apr 7
Locality launch
We had our launch party last night at the House of Lords
Apr 3
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