The power of working together

There is a timeless adage that ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ but this must always be balanced against another equally old and relevant saying that reminds us that ‘many hands can make light work’. The competing challenges of exactly what resources, in terms of people and materials are needed to complete a project and how assets are best managed, and by whom, is specialised and complicated work, usually best left to professionals.

There are a few exceptions to these rules and one of them is when faced with an emergency, best laid plans swing into action and all hands set to the pump. Almost two years ago now I was invited to lead the Community Taskforce, a hastily brought together group of enthusiastic amateurs and consummate professionals whose long-awaited emergency plan swung into action in the island’s hour of need. The plan, which we had hoped we would never need, was formulated during the Brexit negotiations, when we realised that food supplies and other essentials could be disrupted. The focus was to amalgamate the providers of emergency provisions to ensure that supplies were handed out fairly and that those who, for one reason or another, could not stock-up, were not disadvantaged.

My task, therefore, was to bring together the voluntary and community sector under one banner to ensure that vulnerable members of our community were properly catered for. It is fair to say that demand far outstripped anything that we had envisioned but the planning had been worth it, and the distribution network held firm, even extending to a digital voucher scheme and electricity top-up cards for those who were on pay-as-you-go meters.

It is only when I look back, I realise that so many of our top civil servants and heads of big business worked tirelessly to do what was needed, but also took the time to get among their staff and volunteers to direct, cajole and motivate as never before.

Spin forward two years and we see foodbank usage at an all-time high, house prices stretching further beyond the reach of average income families and wage growth continuing to stagnate. During the early days of the pandemic, we saw a speedy and resolute mindset in action, and without hesitation, we all genuinely pulled together in the same direction. That was the power of many. We need to instil that collective thinking again to take a positive approach to curing the ongoing problems that we, as an island, are now facing.

Malcolm Ferey is the Chief Executive of Headway Jersey and a member of the Jersey Liberal Conservatives. All views expressed in this column are his own.