Community organising in England - what are we talking about? (Lydia Rye, Nottingham Citizens)

1. Community
organising in
England: what
are we talking
about?
By Lydia Rye
Lydia.Rye@nottinghamcitizens.
org

2. A brief history:
 Organising throughout history – faith, education & labour
 Saul Alinsky 1930s Chicago
 US organising – IAF & ACORN etc.
 UK – Citizens Organising Foundation & CUK

3. What is Community Organising?
 Building relational power between groups or individuals in
order to act to bring about change for common good.
 2 key types: Broad Based Organising & Micro Organising.

7. What can organising achieve?

8. What can organising achieve?

9. Other Examples:

100 CCTV cameras to be installed into Nottingham Cabs on June 1 st 2014 after we found 696
incidents of racist abuse against just 130 drivers in one week

A police contact point in the lodge on the Forest Rec Ground and railings along the Mansfield Road
end

A new system for monitoring and tackling the sexual propositioning of school students at the police

A new system for monitoring Stop and Search, and hopefully Stop and Account too, among the
police

Investment of £36,000 in the Women’s Aid Domestic Violence hotline

A reversal of the police’s HR processes for the next wave of recruitment to help them attract BME
talent from Nottingham, Nottingham Citizen members have put forward over 60 candidates

A living wage for all directly employed staff at Nottinghamshire County Council – an average pay rise
of £850 per year for 2,291 people

A pay rise to £7.45 for a further 900 people, improving their conditions by £840,000 a year at the city
council

10. Other Examples:

A living wage at Nottinghamshire Police and Gedling, Mansfield, Ashfield and Newark and
Sherwood District Councils for a further 1,000+ people

A conversation about the Living Wage started with 20 more major employers across the city and
county started this Living Wage Week

Substantial press coverage of the dangers of payday lending

A board level appointment at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust to lead for Mental Health, a
lead Councillor for Mental Health at the City Council and soon a lead for physical health at Notts
Healthcare

Reform of assessment formats at NUHT to every admission is assessed for mental health conditions,
affecting hundreds of thousands of people annually

Commitment of a regular visit from a nurse to Bestwood Village who have not until now had regular
access to medical provision in the Village

11. Today in UK
 Increasing popularity of Community Organising
 Citizens UK – London, Nottingham, Birmingham, Milton
Keynes, Cardiff, Leeds …
 “Big Society” & Locality
 TCC & other alliances
 Party political use of organising

12. Risks & Challenges
 Sustainability – Funding
 Sustainability – Staffing
 Recognition and development of the craft of organising

13. Future Opportunities
 Possibility for impact
 Leadership development
 Institutional Renewal

14. Community
organising in
England: what
are we talking
about?
By Lydia Rye
Lydia.Rye@nottinghamcitizens.
org