Bulletin #14, February 2021
Our new document Time for a Change, on which we consulted you at our national Gathering, is now launched.
It’s message is - we simply cannot go on as we are, but if we change the way we work, we believe that together we can build a fairer society in which everyone can enjoy a good life. We can do this by:
· Putting relationships first
· Sharing and building power
· Listening to each other
· Joining forces
These insights are, we think, both simple and far-reaching. The actions we set out can be practised by anyone, nationally and locally, and across all sectors. We know this because many of you are already doing this.
Time for a Change captures the thinking from the many discussions we’ve had over 2020, and we thank all of you who have contributed your experience and your wisdom, as well as your pain and your joy, so generously over the last year. We’ll be exploring this agenda further this year and sharing the results with you.
Do please take a look at the document, and if you like it, please share it with others.
Caroline Slocock and Steve Wyler
National co-convenors
Better way national events – would you like to join?
Please contact Alison@carnegieuk.org if you would like to join any of the following events or to find out more. New participants are always very welcome.
Time for a Change events
Over the coming weeks we will be holding a series of on-line meetings on each of the four themes of Time for a Change, to share experience, insights and tactics.
· Putting relationships first, as a society and in our services and organisations, because people cannot thrive without good relationships. Dates: 25th February, 6th May, 15th July, all 11.00-12.30.
· Sharing and building power, because power is held in too few hands now, and we all have more power than we think to change things for the better. Dates: 9th March, 5th May, 6th July, all 11.00-12.30.
· Listening to each other, particularly those least heard now, because that is the only way to find out what’s not working and discover what will. Dates: 2nd March, 27th April, 29th June, all 3.00-4.30.
· Joining forces, because most problems are too complex to solve alone. Dates: 4th March 1.30-3.00, 29th April 10.00-11.30, 1st July 1.30-3.00.
Fortnightly Wednesday "Drop in" meetings
Every two weeks we will hold an informal Zoom event for people in our network ‘family’ who would like to say hello, share news, exchange ideas, get something off your chest, and just check in with each other. It’s also a good way for people new to the network to get to know us and explore what we can offer. All meetings are Wednesday mornings from 9am to 10am. Forthcoming dates are:
· February 24th
· March 10th
· March 24th
· April 7th
· April 21st
Other events – what would you like?
In the coming months we will be arranging online roundtables on specific issues. If there is a topic you would like to explore with members of our network and our allies, or perhaps an initiative or experience you would like to share, please let us know!
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 is our Better Way convenor for the North of England. If you have ideas about how to apply Better Way thinking in any part of the North of England she would love to hear from you – please contact her at Laura.Seebohm@changing-lives.org.uk. And here is a note of the North of England roundtable we held at the end of last year on Levelling Up and Community Power.
What our members are saying
Replacing power as we know it. Lionel Joyce sets out a compelling vision of power reborn as connected networks, with caring services and places of genuine asylum when we need it.
The idea of a covenant. A new social covenant was proposed in Danny Kruger’s report for the Prime Minister on community power. But what does a covenant really mean? We explore this in an interview with Jenny Sinclair, founder and Director of Together for the Common Good.
The Power of People and Place. Nick Gardham from Community Organisers writes about the deep and innate need for connection and belonging that has been seen in places across the country.
At the Turning of the Year. David Robinson from the Relationships Project looks back at the lessons we have learned in 2020 and what they might mean for the year ahead.
All the Better Way blogs are on our website here. Would you like to write a blog for us? If so we are eager to hear from you!
Common cause – some links to what others are doing
Holding on to hope. In December the Carnegie UK Trust launched its report from the COVID and Communities Listening Project, which held over 80 conversations during the pandemic across the UK. Pippa Coutts led the project and says that the nightmare of the pandemic might be the catalyst needed to make change happen. A change which would put caring for each other at the top of the agenda.
Levelling up fund. In November the government announced a new £4bn levelling-up fund, which Rishi Sunak described as ‘funding the infrastructure of everyday life’. It has been criticised as insufficient and too much concerned with physical infrastructure. But could this perhaps be a first step towards a national renewal fund for vital social infrastructure, which we called for last year? And for some of the ideas which Better Way founding member Danny Kruger set out for the Prime Minister in his report on community power?
The Early Action Task Force hosted by Community Links has produced a new report ‘Being in a Good Place’. Written by Caroline Slocock it argues that some communities experience ‘civic inequality’, and that investment is needed in social infrastructure.
Community-led infrastructure. A report by Local Trust examines the role of community-led infrastructure (as distinct from more formal types of social and voluntary infrastructure). It concludes that this was integral to swift and appropriate responses during the pandemic and played an important role in co-ordinating local action.
And finally…
In his recent report It Takes a System, Sanjiv Lingayah asks what systemic racism really means and describes pathways to systems change. He notes that none of us have experienced a world where racial justice prevails, and says:
‘Advocates and activists have to step into a place of radical imagination and to fill in the blanks on what a system for racial justice looks like. If we don’t, the void will remain. And without a sense of the structures and mental models needed in order to sustain this alternative, the pull of a world transformed will be weak.’
It’s never easy to take that step, but as we say in our new Time for a Change publication, we should never underestimate the power of imagination and belief in a better world.
Caroline Slocock and Steve Wyler
Co-convenors
A Better Way
to improve services and build community
carolineslocock@civilexchange.org.uk
stevewyler@betterway.network
www.betterway.network
Twitter: @betterwaynetwrk
About a Better Way: We are a network of people across society exploring how to improve services and build strong communities. Together we have drawn up eight principles for a Better Way and published a collection of Insights for a Better Way, A Call to Action for a Better Way and now Time for a Change. The network is hosted by Civil Exchange, in partnership with Carnegie UK Trust and is also supported by the John Ellerman Foundation, the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, and (for our work in the North of England) Power to Change. You can find out more and also contact us and indeed join us, via our website here: http://www.betterway.network/. If you don’t want to receive future bulletins, simply send an email to let us know.