From our work at the RSA we have found that a large number of people do not know anyone they could turn to if they wanted to change something locally.

This #BigSocShop / #BigSocNet relates to thinking around #emptyshops and #learningcafes.

I will not be a reluctant participant in Big Society, but will remain a whistleblower of broken promises.

Best, Rob

Also, if Big Society requires more of anything – in this case you say, ‘more action by citizens, social enterprise and charities’ – how will you get that without a plan and/or someone in charge? I believe ‘wing and a prayer’ is a somewhat short term strategy.

I seem to remember that most of this centralisation came about precisely because when people were left to their own devices services became very patchy and tended to focus only on notions of ‘deserving poor.

What I would also like to see amidst the creative ambiguity and messiness is a clear focus on how we describe and articulate the support and development needs for very local, small and informal groups.

I’m already getting a sense from the early rumblings of the localism bill that we may be in danger of falling back on the old top down ways of operating, focusing on council and voluntary sector sub contractor worlds but not addressing the 9/10th of the VCS who never had any money or contracts in the first place and whom, rhetorically are the most obvious Big Society constituency.

I want to see the messiness of community development, very early level community enterprise and all the simple encouragement and support that local people can access, being made much more concrete – because history and experience tells us that big words and expectations have a habit of not translating.

The Community Empowerment agenda and neighbourhood renewal promised us a 20 year plan and abolition of neighbourhood inequality so we have been here before many times and often.

Big Society is right to focus on the grassroots of civil society but we’ll all have to work very hard to ensure we not only adopt a very open and freeing approach – no plan, no leaders – but also ensure we don’t leave to chance the real distribution of power and resources and ensure this does not become a vacuum or vacuous so that people fall back on always doing what they’ve always done.

If you’re a hard pressed well meaning council officer having to write a committee report to your local cabinet committee on ‘enabling the Big Society in Humberside, Harrow or Hackney’, chances are, under pressure, you’ll still stick to the tried and tested capacity building and command and control and the most easily available trusted few in the VCS, so that is my challenge to myself and others on this one

Julia Middleton’s video presentation does not in my opinion strike me as being the most inspirational of leaders. Couple that with the way she & her subordinates appear to have tackled the criticism of conspiracy & behind the scenes networking for a common cause, smacks of naivety.

Maybe if graduates of Common Purpose publicly highlighted the fact that they have attended the charities courses, Common Purpose may face less criticism from the conspiracy sector.

My first impulse is to jump up and say “Bring your Big Society to Stoke-on-Trent”, but first of all I’ve already done that and second of all it’s probably better to start thinking about what places “like” Stoke-on-Trent can offer to all this and the Apps store in particular.

So as well as ideas and a broad range of views to bounce those ideas off, we have practical skills here. It’s an area that lacks resources so a very accessible app store would help us to turn ideas into action without money.

We have thriving creative communities here who can turn written ideas into things that will look beautiful and eye-catching on screen: animations, icons, shiny social maps and diagrams etc. And of course mugs! My unabashed motive here is to get people commissioned and North Staffordshire’s work sold, but if that prospect isn’t on the table at this stage I think the Apps store could make a great wide-ranging project for students to get their teeth into.

I guess the hyperlocal bloggers have a role here too, to write about the people they know who aren’t themselves waving up and down and shouting “Hey you, the Big Society’s HERE!” As can the local and national politicians, of course, who are often the ones most often in contact with the local community pests/activists.

Just a few thoughts, as ever you’re very welcome to come and see us in Stoke!