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 700^th .

How did they do it?  Well, they put into practice the principles set out years ago by Aneurin Bevan, and which their website proudly quotes: “For us, empowerment meant the use of collective action to transform society and to lift all of us together”.

Nothing exemplifies this better than Creation’s timebank. With its 1,925 members, its own local currency, and a street ambassadors scheme, the timebank has become a means to achieve maximum possible benefit from every asset in Blaengarw (people, buildings, natural resources), and to build common solidarity. No wonder the trust is now advising others around the world about this model.

There were other thought-provoking contributions at the symposium. I liked Janet Battye’s definition of community as a “place within pram-pushing distance”.  Janet, the Leader of Calderdale Council, has shown that even in a time of huge financial pressure on local authorities, it is indeed possible for a council to develop a forward transformative agenda with its local community, through programmes of asset transfer, investment in social enterprise start-ups, and service co-design. A really good example, and a huge embarrassment to all those slash-and-burn authorities.

I also want to mention Indy Johar, a brilliant and provocative social entrepreneur, architect, and visionary, who described a future direction of travel from the “big economy” to the “micro-massive”, in which the economy is localised and driven by human relationships, in which people produce and not just consume to validate themselves, and in which all of us, including the charity sector, will need to ask ourselves whether we are part of the solution or part of the problem.

David Robinson from Community Links, recently appointed to the Board of Big Society Trust (set up to ensure that the newly launched Big Society Capital keeps true to its mission), gave a stern warning. Social investment, he said, must not be seen as a replacement for core public services, which do still need to be paid for by the public purse. And David urged the importance of early action interventions, building fences at the top of the cliff rather than providing ambulances at the bottom, investing to transform, and thereby laying the foundations for the “ready for anything” community.

I left the Symposium thinking that, despite all the problems and pressures and pitfalls, our movement is extraordinarily resilient and creative. Almost uniquely, it seems to me, we are developing a positive forward narrative, intellectually strong and grounded in first-hand practice.

Finally, in the next few days, our members will be receiving an invitation to Locality’s first AGM which will be held on 2 November, at our national Convention in Manchester. The inspirational Micheal Pyner will be standing down as a trustee, and our Board has decided that rather than simply appoint to fill the vacancy it would be good to hold an election. So if you are from one of our full member organisations, do consider whether you would like to stand for Locality’s Board, and please do make contact with me if you would like to discuss this further.