Bulletin #13, October 2020
These continue to be testing times but we’ve found that the principles and actions in our Call to Action remain as if not more relevant; and we are attracting more and more people to the network.
You may have seen that Danny Kruger released his Levelling Up Our Communities report for the Prime Minister at the end of September, calling for a new era of ‘community power’ and a new ‘social covenant’ for citizens, civil society, businesses and the state.
Danny is a founding member of the Better Way, and it is therefore no surprise that his vision is for ‘a more local, more human, less bureaucratic, less centralised society’ or that his report echoes many of the points made by the network to him, including investing in social infrastructure, the importance of the connector role, and a commitment to subsidiarity, collaboration, and a strengths based approach.
We don’t agree with every idea it contains, but very much welcome the report. It’s an important reminder that community spirit cannot be taken for granted, and that government and businesses as well as charities and faith groups can and should play a part in helping it to flourish.
We think Danny would agree that his report is very much a starting point for change, and the beginning of a debate that needs to be had within and outside Government about how to achieve that vision. We hope you’ll engage with it and take the debate forward.
We’ve had a very active programme of events in 2020, which are continuing, including our annual national gathering on 30th November. Do take a look and sign up to any of these, if you are interested.
Please forward this bulletin to others who may be interested.
Caroline Slocock and Steve Wyler
National co-convenors
Better Way Discussions: would you like to join?
Our members, from across the country, have come together into five on-line cells, each exploring over a series of meetings a topic relating to the Call to Action we published last year. Please contact Alison@carnegieuk.org if you would like to join a cell or find out more.
Changing organisations by putting Better Way principles into action. Putting those we serve first, listening and reflecting them in everything we do. Next meeting: Monday 19 October 3.00pm-4.30pm.
Changing practices through relationship-centred practices and policies. How to put humanity and kindness into services, and also how to build connection and community through relationships, rather than just delivering services. Next meeting: Thursday 22 October, 3.00pm-4.30pm.
Sharing power by ensuring all voices are heard. Creating platforms and channels for everyone to influence what matters to them and building confidence and capacity for individuals and communities to take more power. Next meeting: Wednesday 28 October 3.00pm-4.30pm.
Changing the narrative which treats people as problems. Picking up the Better Way principle that it is better to build on strengths rather than focus on weaknesses, and that it is wrong to define people by the ‘needs’ or deficits. Next meeting: Wednesday 4 November, 3.00pm-4.30pm.
Collaborative leadership in place-based work. How to abandon organisational silos and become systems leaders, and develop common causes and shared outcomes, within and across sectors. Next meeting: Friday 6th November: 10.00am-11.30am.
We are also holding an online National Gathering on the afternoon of Monday 30th November from 12.00noon to 5.00pm, to draw together the threads from our recent discussions, provide a space for reflection, and produce a plan of action for the coming year. We hope to see you there!
Do check us out on twitter @betterwaynetwrk, where you can also see video clips from some of the discussions we have been holding. We have a forthcoming events page on our website which is kept up-to-date. And full meeting notes are in the Resources section of our website.
Better Way in the North of England
Laura Seebohm has taken on the role of Better Way convenor for the North of England and is keen to hear ideas about how to build the network across that part of the country. Do contact her at Laura.Seebohm@changing-lives.org.uk. We also hope to hold an autumn roundtable focused on issues of particular interest in the North and will be in touch about that soon.
What our members are saying
Organisations as communities. Ben Collins suggests we think of organisations as communities in which we nurture relationships and trust people more and stop thinking about them in hierarchical ways.
Are funders always doing good? Sufina Ahmad, Director of the John Ellerman Foundation, thinks not, and explores how charitable foundations can share, build and wield power more effectively.
It’s time to listen. The people are rising,’ says Margo Horsley, ‘They want to be listened to and know that their voices have been valued as the world around them changes; they want to shape that change; they want to hold institutions to account.
Working together. Caroline Bernard from Homeless Link reflects on a recent Better Way discussion about how we can behave better, and work differently, to build relationships in the light of Covid.
Common Cause – some links to what others are doing
Keeping social infrastructure on the agenda. In this article, Local Trust chief executive Matt Leach welcomes the renewed focus in recent times on community-level social infrastructure and calls for a long-term, generational commitment.
Centre-right think tank Onward has published a report on the State of our Social Fabric, which estimates the strength of community over time and in every local authority in the UK, focusing on five key threads: the strength of social relationships, the quality of civic institutions, the acceptance of positive social norms, the value of its local economy and the levels of physical infrastructure.
A New Local Government Network (NLGN) report on Community Mobilisation sets out four principles for public bodies who want to unlock the potential for community power: catalyse, don’t lead; listen; build something; and have clear goals.
Collaborate CIC and Nesta have published a report on Reframing Risk in local authorities, which they say would help to increase the ability of frontline staff to respond to the root causes of people’s needs and enable more sharing of power with citizens.
WeVolution are holding a series of talks by leaders from the Global South to help us recover and rebuild differently in a post Covid era, with the next one on 23rd October – details here.
And finally…
Here is an extract from Danny Kruger’s report which might whet your appetite if you haven’t read it yet:
For 40 years we have tried to drive economic and social progress by varying mixtures of the market and the state. We have relied on the power of government and of business to help the UK as a whole and left-behind towns in particular. It hasn’t worked, because there is something missing in the mixture. What is missing in our current model is community power: the role of local people, acting together spontaneously or through enduring institutions, to design and deliver the kind of neighbourhood they want to be part of.
Caroline Slocock and Steve Wyler
Co-convenors
A Better Way