We're Right Here

Despite the odds, Claude Hendrickson MBE, one of our campaign leaders, led a successful community-build project in Chapeltown, Leeds, in the late 1980s. Read his story about supporting local people to take control of their own housing, land and assets: https://lnkd.in/epZwxg9x. Claude encourages us all to ask ourselves, “How can we be part of a solution, whether it’s housing, health, or community centers? Community power allows us to actually be a lead partner in delivering solutions.” #CommunityPoweredPolitics

Communities are a serious political and economic force. The new Community Britain campaign by Co-operative Party shares stories of communities solving our nation’s most pressing challenges, like climate change, economic stagnation, and social cohesion. The collection features stories from our campaign leaders, Annoushka Deighton and Inayat omarji MBE. Read it as a blueprint for what our country could look like if the government trusts communities with power, ownership, and resources to shape the places where they live: https://lnkd.in/e9vDH-Td

?? 84% of people feel powerless over key decisions affecting their daily lives, new polling shows. ?? Trust in politics is at rock bottom, according to the poll we ran with Opinium. ?? But, three quarters said giving power to local people would help restore trust. With the English Devolution Bill on the horizon, these findings make it clear that a power shift must go beyond mayors and councils so that local people can shape their areas and futures. Great article in Big Issue today covering our new polling and quoting our campaign leaders Claude Hendrickson MBE and Andy Jackson, and Locality’s CEO Tony Armstrong. Thanks to Greg Barradale for the piece. https://lnkd.in/en2cjm6g

Exciting to see our campaign gain momentum in Parliament! This morning, we spoke with MPs in Westminster about shifting decision-making closer to communities. Our Campaign Leaders, Andy Jackson, Claude Hendrickson MBE, and Hannah Sloggett, outlined how communities like theirs across the country are fixing and improving their areas. They facilitated a great discussion on how to unlock the power of local people to create happier, healthier and fairer neighbourhoods. Together, with the MPs, we explored how the English devolution Bill could put real power in the hands of local people and community organisations. Our community champion Hannah Sloggett, of Nudge Community Builders, reports from Westminster.??

The Devolution Bill is a huge opportunity to shift power out of Westminster and into communities. Over 200 people joined last week’s webinar bringing incredible energy and optimism to make it happen. ? ?? In the webinar, we launched a new campaign toolkit to help you take action for community power. Whether you have five minutes or an hour to spare, you can start making an impact today. Read the campaign toolkit (pdf): https://lnkd.in/guBxqanK If you missed it, you can watch back the recording: https://bit.ly/41q85CG Thanks to our speakers Andy Jackson, Charlotte Hollins, Deana Bamford, Ed Wallis, Inayat omarji MBE, Josiah Sulc, and all of you who joined us on the day!

We can’t wait to kick off our webinar today! Last chance to register for a free ticket. ??? Join over 300 people to hear from an inspiring line-up of community changemakers. Discuss how we can take action to advance the campaign for community power. ??? 27 Feb ? 13:00 GMT ?? Register: https://buff.ly/4gdQnbX

2025 is our year to demand real change. If we don’t push the government to give communities stronger powers, who will? Get the latest updates from our campaign leaders by subscribing to our newsletter. Sign up for: ? Stories of people driving real change ? The latest campaign updates ? Opportunities for you to take action A fresh edition is landing this week. Subscribe now: ?? https://lnkd.in/epkNC-fX

?? Join us this Thursday! Hear about our plan to win stronger rights for community organisations and local people. Local people and community groups have the ideas and skills to improve where they live. But, all too often, red tape, a lack of resources, and a culture of mistrust make delivering that change an uphill struggle. With your help, we can win more power for communities. Join our webinar to learn how you can get involved in our campaign. ??? 27 Feb? ? 13:00 GMT ?? Register:?https://buff.ly/4gdQnbX

What if communities had the power to shape their own futures? ?? The upcoming Devolution Bill is a significant opportunity to win new rights and powers to help us build happier, healthier, and stronger communities. Join us for our webinar next Thursday to learn how you can get involved in our campaign for community power. ??? 27 Feb | 13:00 GMT ?? Register:? https://buff.ly/4gdQnbX

Community-powered politics went down a storm at the Labour LGA Conference! We ran a workshop with local authorities to hash out the strengths and barriers to advancing community power. And it provoked a thoughtful discussion. Here’s a morsel of what was discussed. The strengths: ?? Community cohesion: building strength and resilience together ?? The license to co-produce solutions with communities The barriers: ?? Limited capacity of communities to invest time in creating a power-sharing agreement. So, how can we give them the resources to invest in this process? ?? A lack of trust between communities and local authorities. Could we build trust by having more conversations between communities and local authorities about exploring ways to make the community stronger, healthier, and happier? Thanks to Charlotte Hollins and?Cllr Sarah Courtney for leading the session, and to the participants who offered their insights into advancing community-powered politics!