This is my journey: twelve months ago, I attended a Participatory Budgeting (PB) training session with a family friend. I had never heard of MutualGain, PB, or thought that I would ever be attending community meetings with my local police force and local authority. But I am so glad that I did! In the meeting,[…]
When I started working at MutualGain I was not sure what I was in for. I would be living and working at home for the first time since doing my A levels. While I knew the stress would not be anything similar, I wondered how I would cope. The thing that I found particularly interesting[…]
As with many students at the University of Bath, a large proportion of my time in second year was focussed on securing an internship position to gain valuable work experience and develop transferrable skills that could be used in my studies and beyond. Along with most other aspects of life in 2020, this was flipped[…]
The Covid-19 crisis has reinforced what MutualGain have been promoting for a decade – that the most wicked, deep-seated and destructive of problems faced in society – crime, poverty, disadvantage, social care among them – requires high levels of collaboration to address and bring about change. During this intense period of isolation we have seen[…]
This summary contributes to the repository of knowledge that we think has the potential to create a #newworld after we leave this period of ‘lockdown’. See What if a #newworld could be created as a result of Covid-19? for more information. Author: Ian Loader, Oxford. This is Insight Paper 2 for The Police Foundation and forms[…]
First up: if you read this and are intrigued by what could come of some of the questions posed at the end, would you kindly share across your networks and ask people to do three things: Point to any research that can think about this more deeply Share across your networks and mobilise others Share[…]
A few weeks ago Susan and I were fortunate to be invited to the House of Lords for the launch of a new book, Whose Government Is It, edited by Dr Henry Tam. Dr Tam was a senior advisor to the Blair New Labour government and has written extensively on the value[…]
It was 2016. The bare school sports hall was harshly lit with neon tube lighting, flickering occasionally on the few people present who were sat, perched on uncomfortably low chairs; those chairs seemed huge when I was a kid. Conversation was stilted. Despite my repeated outline of reduced staff against a backdrop of austerity budgets[…]
So, there’s still plenty of time to comment on the government’s Green Paper on Housing, with the consultation deadline pointing at 6th November. The five principles that hold it up provide ample food for thought: Ensuring homes are safe and decent; Swift resolution of disputes and complaints; Empowering residents and making sure[…]
The following blog was written by Ernie Hendricks, one of the learners on MutualiLearn. The blog was submitted as part of his endeavours to achieve a level 4 qualification in Building Social Capital Through Community Engagement. People have been asking about the community engagement work I’ve been doing. I figured I’d pen a quick note to[…]
