Top quotes from Stronger Things
A round-up of some of the most notable take-aways from New Local’s festival of community power.
There was an incredible atmosphere at Stronger Things – like nothing I’d been part of before in my career.
Some of it was the excitement of coming together again in-person. Excitement to re-connect after a long two years – or put a whole person next to a name and a face.
Some of it was the enthusiasm for change. Everybody there wanted to do better for our communities.
But most of all, I think it was the inspiration that everybody got from our amazing speakers. People took ideas and hope away with them.
Sparks of inspiration to make the little changes in how they work that create the big changes in people’s lives.
We wanted to share some of these sparks with you. So here are some of the best quotes from two fantastic days of debate.
It wasn’t easy – a few of our speakers could have had their own top 10 lists! But we hope these quotes can give you a taste of the inspiration we had at the event.
(And if you want a fuller idea, you can watch videos of all the speakers now.)
Communities know best
“We can’t know what a community needs until we know what a community has” – Cormac Russell
“I’m not an expert. The communities are the experts. The people affected are the experts. We are just the facilitators.” – Nazir Afzal
“We make decisions about people whose lives we do not understand because we don’t walk in their shoes. Our decision-makers do not look like the people they’re making decisions about. That is why we have to have a people-powered health system.” – Olivia Butterworth
Community power starts by recognising that public services don’t have the answers. People do.
Instead of starting with ready-made solutions to what we see as people’s problems, we need to start by building on the good things people or communities have – the ‘stronger things’, if you will. (Yes, this is where the name comes from!)
Trusting people
“It’s not about us asking for trust, it’s about us radically trusting citizens” – Audrey Tang
“Please trust us – we know what we need for our communities, and you’ll probably get more bang for your buck if you do that.” – Tracy Brabin’s plea to central government
“I think it’s less about fear, it’s more about not knowing any other way.” – Rokhsana Fiaz on council leaders who are reluctant to embrace community power
Community power is about national leaders trusting local leaders, local leaders trusting their communities, and all leaders trusting the people. The leaders quoted above have seen the huge impact that trust can make.
Working together
“We’ve got to take off our old organisational lanyards and remind ourselves we all work for the people.” – Donna Hall
“When you speak to people who work in local government and the NHS, they feel just as trapped as everyone else. No one came into public services to work in this way” – Nick Sinclair on working in silos.
“How do we cut the crap of the organisational boundaries that stop us doing things?” – Olivia Butterworth
Making community power real in public services means tackling the obstacles in the way. Looming large among them is a system that keeps people separate, in organisational silos. How can we challenge it?
Political progress
“It has been an evolution for the party – but we are at a point where we absolutely get it. The penny’s dropped. It’s how we’re going to make a difference.” – Angela Rayner MP on Labour’s attitude towards community power
“This is the decade for community power…I want to see a battle between the parties for who can own the community power agenda.” – Danny Kruger MP
“The Community Power Act would give create a permanent legislative backbone for community power, so things don’t change based on the whim of who is in charge.” – Charlotte Hollins
Labour’s deputy leader saying the party ‘gets’ community power. A senior Conservative MP saying he wants to compete with the other parties on embracing it more. Stronger Things showed how community power is growing in strength at Westminster. It’s time to turn that into a Community Power Act.
Embracing change
“The biggest risk we face is not to change.” – Donna Hall
“Be good enough, don’t be perfect. If you’re perfect, there’s no room for the community to contribute.” – Audrey Tang
“Give more power to the community, and you won’t lose it – you’ll gain more power.” – Inayat Omarji
How can we take these ideas and really use them in our daily work? Simply by getting started. Taking the plunge. Embracing the change. Putting communities first, one step at a time.
Full videos of all our speakers at Stronger Things.
Find out more about community power.
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