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CCH / NFTMO Annual Conference. Community Control – the future Professor Anne Power 6 th May 2005. Innate desire for freedom drives us. Personal control of personal matters Local control of local matters National and international control of…. Individual survival depends on common good.
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CCH / NFTMO Annual Conference Community Control – the future Professor Anne Power 6th May 2005
Innate desire for freedom drives us • Personal control of personal matters • Local control of local matters • National and international control of…
Individual survival depends on common good • Need to share space • Accept common norms & values • Use collective services & provision • Rub shoulders without bumping • Help out, watch out, smile
Families Social groups Schools / doctors Shops communities Home Block / street Neighbourhood Town / city Organisation works at lowest best level
Need for community • Vacuum without • Security with • Informal social links • Practical support • Fun activities • Help in trouble – ‘there for you’
Magnet of community leadership • Learning & stretching • Linking & sociability • Authority & recognition • Success & power • Shared responsibility
Forms of community control • Rejection of authority – young tearaway • Acceptance of authority – landlord • Ownership, management & creation of assets • positive & negative • closed or open
Future • Don’t predict • Inevitable unstable change • Pressures of uncertainty • Fear or confidence? • Stick together • ‘Our common future’
Co-operative structures & practical needs • Clearer message • Louder voice • More pulling together • More visible action & activity • More training • More need & generosity
Will people do it?Do they need & want it? • Isolation • Mobility • instability
How to make communities work • Shared assets • Shared spaces • Kindred spirits • Social life • Anchor
Practical lessons from my experience • Helping people does work e.g. playgroups • Nice things create happiness e.g. Trafford Hall • Solving problems relieves worries e.g. rubbish • People respond to persistence e.g. councils • Tapping help adds value e.g. lawyers, banks • Community in housing, schools, police • Self-help instinct
Solid future if groups add value • Happiness • Social peace • Community cohesion • Service to others