empowerment sw our society jun 2011
DESCRIPTION
Emma Lees & Sophie Ballinger's presentation at the Empowerment Works eventTRANSCRIPT
Emma Lees & Sophie BallingerCommunity Empowerment in the South
West Taunton, 29 June 2011
Who are we?
Supported by
@juliandobson
@johnpopham
@sospot
@dosticen@davidwilcox
@LadyLowe
@watfordgap
@philralph
How did we start?• Day 1: 1 blog post• Day 2: 4 people in a café• Day 4: Online forum launched• Day 12: 100 people attend event
…all for free
From north focus to Our Society
• Interest from a wider audience• Step away from/challenge BS label
Is Big Society a “dead parrot”?
I’m not an ex parrot!
North focus to Our Society?• Interest from a wider audience• Step away from/challenge BS label• Co-design process for official launch• Gap in the market?
Big Society Network is not a network…
Successes• The online community:
500+ members, 20k web visits (70k views)
• Press interest from Channel 4, BBC Newsnight, BBC Radio, Guardian, Third Sector, Civil Society, and more
• Invitations to the table… Nat Wei (RIP)• Big Lottery challenge – Your Square Mile• 5 events, 250 people
Our Society Dudley
• Our Society in someone’s job description
• Our Society South-West?
Limited resources• Spend to date: approx £129 online
costs, travel, CDX support• Freebies: Venues & food, eventbrite,
logo/brand, goodwill…
Challenges• The debate• Diverse membership• Keeping it fresh• Online versus offline• Do actions speak louder than words?
Challenge: Identity v. ownership
• We are not an organisation• Individual opinion• Clear mission statement• Links to local networks• Save the baby!
What’s next?• Different approach to events• Continuing to do more for less• Honest, open debate…• Sharing & promoting stories• Supporting local action• Localism in practice/Our Society local
Ta!
@[email protected] 489 812
07970 154 810
Join Our Society: www.oursociety.org.uk
Get CDX updates: bit.ly/CDXSignup