Big Society- A story and a film

There were reports in the UK press yesterday of a Parliamentary Select Committee which came to the conclusion that the government's 'Big Society' policy was little understood and confusing to people. Commenting on this on Twitter, I referred followers to a blog that I had posted a few months ago about Big Society called 'Right Stick, Wrong End'. I believe that the politicians have grasped the right idea but by giving the impression that it is all about citizens running public services, they are limiting the possibilities and turning people off.  

The impact that Big Society could have is illustrated by this story and film from my past work in Bradford.

In 2004 more around a hundred people - all with a good idea to improve their neighbourhood by making it cleaner and greener - came together to agree which ideas should be awarded some funding. The money that was to be spent, £700,000+ , came from central government. Some were individuals with a passion for a particular action, others were from neighbourhood community groups, others were from schools or larger voluntary organisations. They shared the desire to take action to improve their neighbourhood environments. Many of them had never applied for funding before.


Local politicians and their partners from the public, voluntary and private sectors had been persuaded that involving local residents in making these funding decisions was worth trying.

It was one of the first examples in the UK of what has become known as 'participatory budgeting'. This short film of one of the two decision-making sessions shows the process that we developed.

At the start of the film, you hear the comments of Richard Wixey, then the Director of Environmental Services in Bradford. What Richard learnt from the process is what makes this such a good example of what 'Big Society' could mean.

As he listened to the tens of ideas that people were pitching, he began to understand something of the types of actions that local residents were prepared, and able to do. 

These included 'greening' areas that were being used for flytipping; running education programmes to prevent littering or to encourage recycling; developing allotments and pocket parks; organising neighbourhood clean ups and beautifying public spaces for people to enjoy. 

The process also clarified the sorts of things that local residents could not do. They could not enforce the law or run large scale rubbish collections and recycling.

It led him to reflect that in addition to concentrating on the core of what only his department could deliver, perhaps some of the budget should be used to support and encourage people to take the actions that they were prepared to take. This would both improve the quality of neighbourhood life for everyone and make his department's work more effective.

Within twelve months the funded projects had been delivered right across Bradford District enhancing the environments of eighty neighbourhoods. 

This then is the core for me about what Big Society could be about. Local residents, local government and partners deciding together what it is possible and proper for 'reasonably resourced' individuals, families and communities to do for themselves or in partnership with others; and then to agree what it is that we need government (local and national) to do.

To ensure that where people and communities are not reasonably resourced, or where improvements to community life would be enhanced for all, then a very modest amount of the public budget could be invested in individuals and groups to make their contribution.

It makes economic sense too in hard times for the public purse. Our Bradford experience of devolving funds to neighbourhood partnerships showed that for every £1 of public money invested, the partnerships brought in a further £10-20 to augment that original investment.

The Big Society policy needs to be clearly expressed in terms the nature of the partnership between government and citizens that is proposed. A proposal for a partnership that is good and right in and of itself, not a shirking of responsibility by central  government just because the public purse is strapped for cash.

Yad Vashem, Israel

 "And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name (a "yad vashem")... that shall not be cut off." (Isaiah, chapter 56, verse 5)

The threatening clouds in the sky on Friday matched the feelings engendered by this visit to Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust memorial. Having been to Auschwitz, I was prepared for the likely impact.

The terrible story is carefully laid out along a timeline, starting with a historical summary of Jewish persecution.

On my visit to Auschwitz in 1994, I was undone by how powerfully the place spoke not just to the past, but to the present. It was the time of Rwanda genocide. However the holocaust memorials speak not just to atrocities but to the everyday slights and discourtesies that breed permission for atrocity.

I heard that discourtesy on the flight over to Israel, in conversation with someone from the Jewish community. The person spoke contemptuously about the Palestinian people, blaming them for the lack of peace. It was doubly hard to hear in the face of Jewish history and experience. Time to check out my own behaviour and attitudes.

The three photos are of Jaume Plensa's work referred to in the previous blog.

In See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, three internally lit fibreglass figures have the terms panic, stress, anxiety, insomnia, hysteria and amnesia inscribed on their faces. The Exhibition Guide says:

'The physicality of these words branded on the skin openly reveals conditions of the mind that are usually internal and hidden. Their posture reflects a natural method of defence, to make the body small, curling it in on itself for safety, echoing the protected position of a baby in its mother’s womb.'

The wonderful humanity of artist Jaume Plensa

Photos taken on 1st November 2011 at Yorkshire Sculpture Park @YSPsculpture

Urged on by my friend Jane, I visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to see this extraordinary exhibition. Jaume Plensa's work is normally displayed in urban settings, indeed I discovered I had seen some of his work in the centre of Nice.


In the glorious Yorkshire landscape it was breathtaking and deeply moving. Here is a taste of Jaume Plensa in his words and sculptures.

Living democracy

I wonder how many of us really think much about the quality of the democracy we live in? 


When compared with what we have witnessed across the Middle East, our political arrangements look incredibly benign. Complacency or frank disinterest would be the response of many in this country to debates about the quality of our democracy.


For instance, how many of us have rushed out to read and respond to the Boundary Commission review of constituency boundaries? What are the implications of having fewer MPs representing more of us? 


Are these proposals a good move to strengthen democracy or about saving money by having fewer MPs, or a conspiracy to skew the constituencies in order to increase the chance that a particular party remains in power. 


To my shame, I cannot give an informed response to this issue - and I would say that I am interested and informed about UK politics and democracy! 


On the other hand, the recession is prompting debates about how we organise local and global finances (the Occupy movement); the Health Bill's seeming threat to the NHS has galvanised tens of thousands to debate, march and sign petitions; public service cutbacks are forcing us as a country to weigh up whether public services are the villains some politicians would have us believe. 


All these jumbling thoughts were prompted by an email from a friend at the week-end confirming that he had handed in his resignation from a job that he loves.



He is a senior public servant of long years standing and lives in a country that is openly proud of its democratic credentials and history.


Over the last couple of years, he has become deeply concerned about the 'systematic and methodical' action being taken by corporations and political extremists that have started to do real damage in communities and wider society. From his particular position in the public sector, he has had to deal with the fallout. He has become so alarmed that he feels he can no longer remain in a public position where he is unable effectively to challenge and resist - hence his resignation


Even in an allegedly mature democracy, standing up to challenge powerful interests is still not for the faint-hearted. My friend has not been put off by the thought that he is one man. His soundings and early actions have uncovered others who share the concerns. With his deep understanding of communities and a track record of building citizen participation, he will certainly create a force to be reckoned with.


I am reminded of Margaret Mead's now famous words:


“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” 

Play, Creativity and Impact

Are you and your colleagues or employees fully engaged at work? Are you continually in a position where you have the right challenges that employ your skills, stretch them and cause you to want to develop further? Are there creative opportunities for you to contribute and develop ideas or innovations? If the answer is no, you might find this illuminating.


If you are an employer and are not sure how to maximise the potential of your employees then here is a video that might give some food for thought.
With thanks to 99% - Behance.

The enterprising path to peace?

Stef Wertheimer

Next month I am going on pilgrimage to the Holy Land to visit the sites associated with the life and ministry of Jesus. What though of contemporary sites of hope and vision for peace in the places that I will visit?

This week-end, thinking about this, I realised that I did know of one. When studying with David Cooperrider, co-originator of Appreciative Inquiry, he was explaining to us the concept of 'appreciative intelligence', the ability to see 'the mighty oak in the acorn'.  To illustrate this he told us the story of Stef Wertheimer.

David had been giving a lecture at the Arison School of Management in Israel. He raised questions of where peace was to come from. From the military? From governments? From religious leaders? All he felt were unlikely. He argued that the world of business could be 'the most important ground and force for peace'. Though at that point he said hadn't any examples to back up his thesis!

After the lecture, David was approached by a businessman, Stef Wertheimer, who invited him to go the next day to see this thesis in action. 

On a once barren hilltop, Wertheimer has created the Tefen industrial park surrounded by beautiful homes and neighbourhoods. As well making money, attention is paid to the social, educational and cultural life of the community that lives there. Wertheimer describes it as a 'capitalist kibbutz'. David told us:  'The whole park is based on the principle of co-existence, Arab and Jewish living together, going into business together, building schools and museums together, and dramatically transforming entrenched conflicts into collaborative energies for economic empowerment, development and peace'. 


Three more industrial parks have been set up in Israel and work is well underway to develop these parks in Turkey and Jordan as well. The Palestinian Authority are positively disposed though plans to develop sites there have had to be put on hold for the moment. The fuller story is told in 'The Tefen Model Book' and can be found at: 
http://www.omuseums.org.il/data//The_Tefen_Model_Book.pdf

In the book Stef Wertheimer gives his thinking behind the inspiration: 'Our survival in this region depends, ultimately, on the resolution of current conflicts. Alongside the security issues there must, however, be a road map for economic development, for industrialization, for job creation and for export production. Only by increasing the income levels of all countries in the region, will we begin to reduce the immense friction of disparities between neighboring countries and between the Middle East and the developed nations. While the Middle East produces 60% of the world's oil, it manufactures just 2% of the world's goods. With high levels of unemployment in the Arab countries and a rapidly increasing young population, there is a desperate need to generate meaningful employment opportunities and the hope for a better future.

For me, the term “Middle East” has no real meaning. Rather, I see two areas separated by their ownership of oil resources, whereby those of us without oil are the eastern Mediterranean countries that formed the old “Levant”. Among the “non-oil” countries are those that would choose to compete on world markets and seek economic independence such as Jordan, Turkey, Israel and, potentially, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority. Successful advancement along this path can lead the countries of our region towards the creation of a thriving economy, towards a work ethic based on reason and responsibility and towards the achievement of peaceful coexistence between like-minded neighbors.

Recent history in other regions of the world has shown that the deep-rooted conflicts of the past can be overcome by investing in the creation of a prosperous future. We can learn much from the success stories of European integration through the development of joint economic interests and of the achievement of economic prosperity through the development of export markets in countries such as Singapore, Ireland and South Korea. These models must be copied by those of us who choose economic and social freedom and peace - those who embrace the goal of being part of the European economy and of the free world.'

Perhaps the Tefen Model, as well as a vital path to peace, has something else to show us. 


The growing wave of protest about the austerity we are all having to embrace because of the misdeeds of financiers, signals a growing desire for more responsible ways to create wealth. Does the Tefen Model of collaborative enterprise, where profit is created and some of it invested in the  development of quality, healthy communities, show us a more humane version of wealth creation?

Values and standards - why Ward Sisters matter

The news reports about the Care Quality Commission findings on the care of elderly patients made for grim listening this morning. Their conclusions about what made the difference between good and poor practice identified the quality of leadership and staff attitudes, rather than resources.


It reminded me of a time in my life when I worked with vulnerable, elderly people as nursing assistant for six months. It was 1973, I was nineteen and taking a gap year from my social work degree. My experience chimes with the CQC's conclusion about the importance of leadership.


The Lancaster Moor Hospital was then a 2000 bed psychiatric hospital, almost a small town in its own right with shops and a Post Office.  Over the years my family were involved in the hospital, at times as staff (my Nan and Mum) and sometimes as patients (Great-grandparents and two Aunts).


It had dozens of wards. At the far end of the hospital were the 'back wards' and it was to one of these that I was sent.


Ward 22  had been newly re-furbished and rather daringly, the male and female wards shared a common day room. The patients were elderly men and women with severe dementia conditions.


Presiding over the wards was the senior Ward Sister. A tall imposing presence, immaculate and with a scathing way with words for the young and thoughtless. The first part of her working life had been in the mills and she had that brilliant ability to lip read and to enunciate her words with her lips so clearly that everyone could lipread what she was saying from a distance of twenty yards. She did not need to shout.


The end of my first day saw me walking home in tears. How was I ever going to cope with people in such a complete state of mental and physical disintegration? How was I going to cope with all the shit and urine without vomiting every day?


By the end of the week I was an old hand, able to change filthy bedding in the early morning, wash the excrement off the ladies, wash hands thoroughly, feed them breakfast and then sit down to enjoy my own breakfast break without a qualm.


So what wrought the transformation? Without doubt a growing appreciation on my part of the uncompromising values of that Ward Sister about how the women patients were to be cared for. All patients were to be treated with dignity. With such good standards expected as a norm, I was also given the background of each patient, so that I was able imagine their past and look for signs of it in the present. As a result, what had at first seemed irksome and distressing, became part of a satisfying sense of achievement.


Key practical arrangements that I remember:
- at mealtimes, every member of staff, including the Sister and Charge Nurse, helped to feed those that needed such help;
- the atmosphere was kept cheerful and light, we bantered, sang and even danced with patients;
- it was seen as important that we had time to sit and talk with people, listening to stories of their past and a daily routine was established that allowed this;

- no-one was to be 'toileted' in the dayroom in front of the other patients. If there were any 'accidents' in the day room, portable screens were to be erected around the person;
- teeth did not remain in jars at the side of the patients' bed!

It would have been so easy for high standards never to have been established on those 'back wards'. Doctors rarely came except when there were acute episodes, nor were there many visitors. But the staff on the wards were proud of their work, there was an excellent spirit and good relationships between the staff on that ward. 


My mum was the first Volunteer Co-ordinator appointed by the hospital. She remembers that a formal, measured quality of care across the hospital was established later that decade. One initiative that emerged from that was the recruiting of volunteers to come in to help with feeding patients. 


I wonder what sense of professional satisfaction is being felt by those nurses whose wards came out badly in the CQC report today? What has caused them to lose sight of the values that motivated them to come into nursing in the first place? I hope someone is going to provide them with a proper opportunity to design the right kind of care for their patients. Care that is worthy of their profession and most importantly worthy of the people they serve.