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 the programme a bit too middle class, but loved the idea of coming off timetable / job description to do what we’d always wished we’d been able to do if the job description didn’t get in the way. We both believed in some of the ideas, after all, they weren’t new, and also soon came to learn how radical some of the most simple ideas were when the system turned against us when we started to tell the truth that some power holders found difficult to hear.  I left Wigan Council before Gill, absolutely ruined, exhausted and poorly.  Gill left later and tried to feed back her concerns to the CEO of the Council in 2017 before leaving, but was denied the opportunity.  Apparently they were too busy and were replaced by someone in the senior leadership team.  We’ll never know if that was a strategic plan by the CEO or a plot by the subordinate Director.  The problem with triangular power structures eh?

Anyway, we got together to do what we could see was possible when we were left to our own devices.  This here is the story of what happens when you’re trusted to get on with it and you’re able to say no to conforming and yes to possibility.