Community Led
Today we hosted the second of the community led afternoon teas, and it made me think about that term ‘community led’. I suppose we define it locally as centring those who are usually recipients, f
Care Full Communities
One of the dreams that we have here is developing care full community alternatives, particularly to the current social care system for children and families. When we say community alternati
Erosion of Trust
There are a few incidents over my career that have eroded my trust in the idea that if we just reform public services, move them closer to neighbourhoods, then all will be well. And whilst communities
Copyright © & the Commons
So it is true that Gill and I designed a plan for a neighbourhood vision that may take a generation or more to reach, if we ever do. We didn’t design that plan in a vacuum, we drew on the w
Purple Trees
When people are trapped within paternalistic systems they can find it difficult to see the difference between the work they are doing and liberatory practice. The latter often has to be experienced an
Attractor Dynamics
Yesterday was the second session of the systemic action research training hosted by the Institute of Development Studies with some fab folk from across the GM System Changers eco system. I listened to
Volunteering-A Class Act?
I’ve been thinking about volunteering a lot this week, mainly because it’s volunteering week and wherever I look there are volunteers holding placards up, usually at the bequest of infrastruct
Participatory Budgeting
Between December 2021 to April 2023 Northern Heart and Soul CiC convened an experiment in the Wigan Borough, bringing communities together, who were interested in participatory budgeting. The report i
Origin Story
Gill and I, the founders of Northern Heart & Soul CiC met on the ‘LIFE experiment’. In Wigan, it was loosely based on Hilary Cottams ideas, as described in Radical Help. We found
Infrastructure Organisations
In Wigan we don’t have a CVS. Apparently, fingers were burned so badly last time we had an infrastructure organisation that the baby has been thrown out of the bath water. Although, the CVS in W