The Small Societies that make up the Big Society

The sometime chaotic but highly interesting life of an UpRiser has some strange tales; on the evening of Thursday the 17th of March I was enjoying the very lavish Vinspired National Youth Volunteering Awards ceremony in London, mingling with guests such as James Caan, Natasha Bedingfield and Keith Lemon. Then on the morning of Friday the 18th of March, a slightly less fresh me is battling the rush hour of London public transport trying to get back to Birmingham in time for the Resident University event organised by the 'think and do tank' The Chamberlain Forum.

A train journey to Moor Street and a number 50 bus to the centre later, I just about managed to make it in time for the networking/ lunch session at the Bordesley Centre (the venue for the Resident University). Lunch by the way was served by Change Kitchen a Community Interest Company set up in conjunction with one of our social action project supporters, SIFA Fireside. It was the first time I’d tried the food, but it I sincerely hope that it’s not the last either. I’ve since been reliably informed by an intern at the company that the menu can be catered for vegetarians, vegans and gluten free. So anyone reading this I do highly recommend using them for any future catering events.

Anyway, enough about food.  After a quick chat with someone from SIFA Fireside at the network event and a catch up with future UpRising speaker Estella Edwards of the Future Melting Pot, I went upstairs to the impressive Main Hall at the Bordesley Centre. To kick things off, guests who attended the morning BeBirmingham Big Society event gave a summary on the conference and what Lord Nat Wei (Government Advisor for the Big Society) had said throughout the morning.  It also gave these delegates an opportunity to give their personal thoughts too. One of the best things I heard throughout this was from Linda Hines MBE who is the chair of the Witton Lodge Community Association. She suggested the idea that there was as of yet no such thing as a ‘Big Society’ but there are many small groups and associations undertaking great work in our communities that make up several ‘Small Societies’ which make up the ‘Big Society’. I couldn’t help but agree. Another thing that I picked up on was how the delegates' summaries of the morning events differed to that reported by the local press the following week, which instead focused on the words of a senior local politician in order to create a news story. I guess it just shows how the worlds of the media and politics can differ from the perceptions of ordinary people.

Another good thing that came about from the some of the delegates short round ups was that I finally discovered the identity of a Twitter user who gave me advice and support in setting up my hyperlocal blog site ‘TheB44’.  Small world hey?

Up next there was an opportunity to choose between four different sessions: Social Innovation and Community Hubs; Time2Trade timebanks; the future of neighbourhood management; and Community Organising lead by UpRising Session Two Facilitator Tippa Naphtali.  I opted for the Social Innovation and Community Hubs which was chaired by Hannah Worth of Chamberlain Forum. The panel included Masood Yasin from Hutton Hall, Ray Goodwin from Castle Vale Tenants and Residents and UpRising supporter Paul Kenna from the MEB in Bordesley Green. An impressive panel I have to say!

I was even more impressed after hearing them all speak - particularly Ray Goodwin who spoke of his desire to better deliver services for Birmingham’s most underused library Castle Vale. His vision for the library is entirely my view on what Libraries should be too i.e. not just a place to read and take out books, but to be the centre/ hub of local communities providing various activities, events and services. He even talked about getting rid of the no talking rules, instead encouraging it to create an atmosphere. I hope he succeeds with his plans and that they then become the norm across Birmingham and beyond.

Masood Yasin talked about how community groups can take over the running of community buildings though community asset transfers. Although talking extensively about the benefits of this (of which there are many) he also talked about the difficulties in getting to the status in the first place and how it isn’t for everyone but is certainly an avenue community groups should consider in this age of austerity. Despite the many obstacles that exist he said all could be overcome through strong desire and careful planning and management. My only criticism of ideas such as this (which are great by the way), is that not all groups have the expertise in the whole application process or even if they do have the time to do it.

Paul Kenna gave an account of many social innovative ideas that could be used to deliver community groups and services. He also talked about how doing the job that he does isn’t a normal 9-5 job and that the phone never stops ringing, not that he’d swap his job for anything though (which on behalf of the City of Birmingham we hope he continues to do so for many years to come).

It eventually came to the main event (well I certainly thought it was the main attraction): to hear from the Government Advisor for the ‘Big Society’ Lord Nat Wei. Interestingly this would be the second Lord I had heard speak that week, after hearing from the very impressive Lord Adonis at the Lunar Society Annual Lecture earlier in the week. UpRising really has elevated the group of people that I’m mixing with that’s for sure.

Lord Nat Wei certainly didn’t fit the stereotype of a Lord (I’ll leave that to your own imagination of what that is), his career has varied though founding the Shaftesbury Partnership and working at Teach First, Absolute Return for Kids and I’m told UpRising’s parent company, the Young Foundation too.

He was cleverly interviewed by a member of the Chamberlain Forum as he gave his thoughts on the Big Society. He spoke very well, with clear passion and vision and that has to be applauded. In the past he has said this on the Big Society:

“There is a myth that Big Society is all about volunteering and taking on more than you can bear or have time for... In reality, it is more about having the tools, information, and opportunities in place to play you part”.

There’s nothing there I disagree with, and he spoke more about this and gave various examples of how this could happen around the issues of social innovation and social bonds as ways to better maximise the service delivery. Now the issue of social bonds is one that personally I find morally hard to get my heart to accept - in my head I know that it is way for good social ideas to raise investment for them to succeed.  However, I just find it disappointing that someone has to get a financial return from their investment in order for it be successful. But I can see the huge benefits from it and hope it works. Overall I thought the Lord Nat Wei spoke really well, and gave detailed answers to the Q + A session. He seemed a decent guy to boot.

Next on the agenda was an open discussion on what kind of BeBirmingham we need in order to help support effective partnerships between residents and the public services in the future here in Birmingham. Numerous points were raised including one from De Montfort University’s Dr Miles Weaver who spoke how to better engage and use Birmingham’s three main Universities in partnership. I have to agree that Birmingham is missing out enormously of the resources they could offer in terms students alone.

Eventually it came the turn of myself and fellow UpRiser Keiran Mckenzie to air our views. Now anyone who has seen Kieran speak in public will agree that he has a natural ability to perform and inspire and he certainly did this with his point on how faith can better be used in big city partnerships. I then spoke about how there was a lack of diversity in the room, commenting on how me and Keiran were the only people in the room under 25 (a diplomatic way of putting it) as to me partnership is about engagement and as Birmingham is the youngest city in the UK (according the demographics) then the lack of engagement with the younger generation needs to be solved, with more meaningful ways for them to be involved. The twitter reaction was interesting to our contribution too - here is an example of the feedback:

KateJFoleyKate Foley - The young people from @UpRising are a breath of fresh air #Brumsummit

The day came to end and many people came over to learn more about UpRising and to talk to us in general.  We also met several people from the Young Foundation.  UpRising is certainly making a name for itself throughout Birmingham as people learn more about it. Overall this was a grand afternoon of discussion and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Resident University for organising it.

Lee Marsham