Community Links : From dawn until dusk...

I had the pleasure of hosting two meetings this week, in my Village Areas. Two very different meetings, at the extreme ends of the working day.

On Tuesday morning I was up at dawn to meet with local business people from the Village area of Strawberry Hill, over eggs, bacon and coffee at the Golf Club. What's the Community Links Officer doing running business breakfasts you might ask? Well, once upon a time.. Back in  December '13 I ran a community meeting for residents in Strawberry Hill (SH for here on..apologies for the shorthand). One of the outcomes from that meeting was a desire from the community to see more support for local businesses, and to see them more involved with the SH community.

At the meeting we heard that there are thought to be over 100 small businesses working from home in SH. The Council's Economic Development Team is keen to support the development of business networks across the borough. Building this on to my interest in seeing how all local people could do their community bit, I see this as an excellent fit for Community Links.

I was really pleased to welcome 14 businesses to the meeting, on top of which I also received keen apologies from a further six. Everyone I spoke with was grateful for the opportunity to come along and introduce themselves, and were keen to see what happens next... Of course what happens next is up to those that are involved in the group, but my colleagues Susan and Sean and I will be on hand to support them realise their ambitions.

During more regular hours, Lynette attended a 'Dementia Friends' Information Session at Twickenham Library.  Here's what she had to say about it:

"I would really recommend everybody taking part in this free short session (approx. 1:30hrs).  It was so informative and really made you think what it is like to have dementia, and how this can affect your daily activities.  It is a cleverly put together interactive session that offers tips and ideas on how you can interact with people who suffer from this horrendous disease, who you may meet when you are out and about.  I came away with more insight and a much clearer understanding of how I can help make these people's lives just that little bit easier, and feel more confident in carrying on with public life.  My pledge is to spread the word about this truly wonderful training throughout the communities of Richmond."

This short video tells you all about it:

Later in the week I hosted an evening community meeting in St Margaret's, which brings together quite a mix of local people who all seem to have one thing in common - they care passionately about St Margaret's. There is a growing challenge though - acknowledged by some of the regular attenders as well as myself, and that is that each meeting feels like a 'first meeting'. New ideas and new faces are very welcome, but it also means there isn't a sense of progress. The 'original' members were unable to pursue their original project idea, but have agreed to look at others. I'm happy to continue to work with this, but I fear that good will and passion will soon begin to run low if there aren't some tangible projects to get stuck in to. 

What we need in this group is someone who is willing to take on the role of 'lead'. Perhaps, somewhat ironically, this is currently falling to me.. But it cannot be me as I am neither local, nor is it a long term solution! I am looking forward to carrying out the main action of this meeting though...organise a 'green walkabout' of St Margaret's, for local residents to point out opportunities they have seen that have potential for 'greening up' either through a flower bed, patch of grass or a hanging basket.

Until next time!

What was Mr Motivators' key to success?

Another fantastic week draws to a close, and when I take a moment to look back at what I have been involved in, in some way or another, I do wonder quite how it all fits in! Monday I find myself in St Margarets. I organised an open, public meeting, where the invitation was extended to anyone that had an interest in the area. Nothing contentious to discuss, which is often a strong driver for people to come to public events. I was really pleased to welcome a group of people who turned up simply because they love the area they live in, and would like to contribute in some way, if they can. Oh..well, there might have been

some cynicism that the council was ‘up to something’, but that was laid to rest pretty quickly!

Tuesday I joined the discussion about how the boroughs plans to commemorate World War 1 are going. There is a great opportunity for local people who have family lineage connections with the Great War, as well as sharing stories, education and simply reflecting on the sacrifices that were made.

Mr Motivator was
unavailable for comment

Later in the week I attended the launch of Energy Smart Richmond, the borough initiative which should help residents save energy (and money), and help the borough reduce its carbon footprint. It’s not easy though, and as has been a bit of a recurring theme this week, I ask myself… what will motivate people to do something like this?

When you look at the theories of motivation, of which there are many, there are often two basic questions to address. What will doing X cost me? What will I get out of doing X?

To invite a stranger in to your house, spend time with them, process the paper work, then endure the period when work will be carried out on your house is a fairly big personal cost. But it is only a short term cost. The long term benefits...saving money on energy bills, reducing the carbon footprint, perhaps making a better world for our children’s children ... are supremely worthwhile long term gains. 

However, when it comes to motivation, humans are notoriously bad at giving in to the short term costs/wins. Anyone that has tried giving up smoking, or started a new gym regime will attest to this, I'm sure. If you start to throw in easy reasons for people to not opt-in (Will the installer do a good job? How can I trust them? Etc) then encouraging take up will be tough.

Energy Smart Richmond will be a great scheme though, and the Council’s partners, ClimateEnergy are very aware of some of these challenges. Residents can be involved as beneficiaries, street champions, or installers. This is what excites me about this initiative – it can be very ‘Richmond’ orientated. Local trades people are encouraged to do the work, and can receive training to do the best job, local people are to be recruited as street champions to spread the word to their neighbours. This approach has already been demonstrated with exceptional results in Ham, by the Low Carbon Zone Street Champions. Altogether a more people centred approach, I felt.

As an end note, the Community Links Coordinator is NOT about to update his wardrobe with multi-colour spandex. Just for the record.

A flood of community support

Across the country we have seen some incredible images of the devastating effects that the persistent rain has caused to villages, towns and parts of the city.

As I write, from an office in Twickenham, there are nervous mutterings relating to the Thames and bank-side settlements. Shepperton has already suffered a flood, with many people affected.

My father, a Somerset man who normally lives in a community that has dominated the news all week, has found himself homeless - as the water on the Somerset Levels has crept upon and consumed the village I grew up in. It really has been a tough time, but I have been absolutely blown away by the community response to the situation.

On-line, via a facebook group, there has been a mobilisation of community support, resources and activity unlike anything I have witnessed before. It has reached the stage where the group has received more food donations than it can actually distribute. Locals are pouring seemingly endless support to those affected. Even when there has been some blame throwing, finger pointing, or other expression of frustration and anger, the community response has generally been one of re-uniting and focussing on helping those in need, rather than looking for someone responsible.

I've heard locally about similar community responses to those in need - and should the worst happen in Richmond, I believe that neighbours will not let each other down. There is something about a disaster that seems to bring out the best in people - something of what people call the Dunkirk spirit. It has united people in a way I would not have imagined - aid has come from groups as diverse as Khalsa Aid, a Sikh charity based in Slough.

May you all remain safe, dry and warm this coming week.

(If you want to keep track of the latest flood news/updates - visit the Council's Flooding Webpage)

A vision of the future...?

“The future is not an inheritance, it is an opportunity and an obligation.” Bill Clinton

Perhaps it’s a little brave (and embarrassingly cliché) to use a politician’s quote to start this post, but I was really attracted by the opportunity and obligation that ‘Teflon Bill’ refers to here. It is particularly relevant to our activities this week. The team has been a part of some great examples of local people and groups making the most of opportunities to improve their areas for future generations.

Prince Charles approves...

I have been attending the Prince Charles endorsed Enquiry by Design Ham Close visioning events. There is a huge opportunity for Ham on the table through our Uplift programme, so it’s worth spending time on getting it right. I’d describe the process as being a little slow ,but very authentic. ‘Slow’ may sound critical, but (and I do love a terrible analogy) for me it was like instant vs. fresh brewed coffee - both are coffee, but one is simply better. 

What I mean is that, whilst slower, taking this participatory approach gets a better result for the community. Whatever the outcome from the process, it has been thorough and I've heard some really interesting things about Ham's history, present concerns and ideas for the future. The outcomes will be grounded (no coffee pun intended) in grassroots, local input.

Lynette has been involved in similar things in Barnes. She told me it was great to see so many local residents turn up to support the Barnes Ponder Community Meeting on Monday evening.  Lots of great ideas were formed on how to take the Ponder outcomes forward, including suggestions of having a sensory garden in one of the parks.  She’s really looking forward to working with Emma and the Barnes Town Team, the Barnes Community Association and local residents to turn their ideas in a reality.

I’ll finish with a suggestion for any people involved in community engagement to read a blog post from Kate Goodall. Quite amusing, and top tips to remember when we are asking people what they want. It can be a dangerous, and misleading question! 

http://kategoodall.wordpress.com/2013/10/29/cogitation-cogitation-cogitation/

(Thanks to Tom in our comms team for the link to this… I’ve always thought it was a cog.)

What exactly is volunteering...?!

This seemingly simple question often pops in to my mind, especially when the Community Links Team are out and about, talking to the myriad people doing good things around the borough. Once again I found myself pondering this after talking with ArtsRichmond this morning. There are many interpretations and definitions; Google nails it down quite well with "working for an organization without being paid."

However, it is this sense of 'work' that often gets the term in to trouble. The evocative image of gap year students building schools in Africa resonates with most people as volunteering, and certainly has 'work' at its core. 

However, what about those people that give up hours of their life to run groups, activities and events for others because it's something they just enjoy doing? This has a sense of work though, as there are duties, responsibilities, often timescales to meet etc..

The real dilemma comes when we think about the people that attend these groups and activities. As a Community Link Officer, I might invite residents to come along to a public session to discussion solutions for a community issue. Unpaid, yet they are giving up their time to provide their knowledge and understanding to help achieve a goal. Yet, how many people see that as a form of volunteering? Volunteering England have a broader, yet more detailed definition which starts to capture this:

any activity that involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit the environment or someone . . . other than . . . close relatives. Central to this definition is the fact that volunteering must be a choice freely made by each individual. This can include formal activity undertaken through public, private and voluntary organisations as well as informal community participation.

So, I guess we could start to include lobbying and campaigning as volunteering. No final answers today it seems!

New Years Resolutions, Repetitions and Revolutions

And we're off! 

Richmond Upon Thames' Community Links team are now blogging. We wanted to be able to let people know about our work in a new way, and we hope any readers or fellow bloggers enjoy what we post here. This first blog has been oh-so-wittily titled to reflect the time of year in which we are launching our contribution to web.

Resolutions? We have agreed to get out and find more people with brilliant ideas for their community, who only need to know who to talk to, or where to access support.

Repetitions...? As well as the new resolutions, we want to keep doing what we've done so well in the last year - keeping in touch with people, groups and organisations who are already doing great things within the borough.

Revolutions?! A little less Che Guevara, and a little more James Dyson - looking for new and different ways in which we can go about our business. Such as writing a blog about our activities, thoughts and reflections on Community Linking in the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames.

We look forward to working more with the brilliant people of Richmond throughout 2014.


John, Lynette and Mamta.